Advisory board backs moving Lions Park shoreline study toward design and grant-seeking

Members of an advisory board to the city manager voted to encourage staff to advance preliminary design and pursue grant funding for a Lions Park shoreline restoration after reviewing a high-level study from SmithGroup. The presentation described three conceptual options for the Sandusky Bay shoreline at Lions Park, with estimated costs ranging from about $600,000 for minimal beach nourishment to about $2.2 million for a multi-phased design that includes offshore “mini-islands,” wetlands and a pedestrian walkway.

The study, delivered to the board by city staff and SmithGroup consultants, evaluated historical structures and prior reports and identified erosion, trapped sediment and local stormwater outfalls as primary drivers of poor water quality and shoreline instability. “This is just a high-level outlook,” the presenter told the board, emphasizing that further design, community engagement and permitting would be required before any project moved to construction.

Why it matters: the concepts combine public-access improvements with ecological habitat creation aimed at reducing turbidity and improving water quality. The study notes prior technical work — including a 1933 rock breakwater, a 2006 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach study, a 2017 Ohio Department of Natural Resources Sandusky Bay initiative and a 2024 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities…