3 minute read

The Friendliest Community Around!

from Brunswick 2023-24

from Brunswick 2023-24, page 3

Welcome to Brunswick! o

By Ken McEntee

Sixty years ago come December, Captain Ted Neura, a Brunswick High School graduate, was killed in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta on his way home from his tour of duty. While serving in Vietnam, Neura established an orphanage that provided recreational areas for local youth. Neura Park, on Brunswick’s western end of Route 303, was dedicated in his honor in 1975.

Last fall, an inclusive playground that allows children of all physical abilities to play together, opened in the park. The playground, which includes equipment designed for wheelchairs, quiet areas for kids who have sensory-related challenges and other features, became a town project that involved

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7 Continued from page 3 of the unifying things in our city,” Falconi said.

The playground developed from a void recognized by Leann Alferio, a Brunswick school teacher who works with special needs students. “We’re very happy that the playground is there,” Falconi said. “It has rejuvenated Neura Park. And I know that the kids are happy it’s there. The important thing is that it’s something that all kids can enjoy and disabilities are not a hindrance to having fun.”

At the southern end of the city, another project — a multicultural mixed-use market planned on Route 42, just north of Sleepy Hollow Road — may help to spur economic development in the area, Falconi said. “We want to make sure that we can bring in more businesses to Pearl Road (Route 42) in that area,” he said. “Market 42 is an excellent vehicle to help make that happen.”

Market 42 — which has been compared to Cleveland’s famous West Side Market — is scheduled to open in the spring of 2024. It is expected to include a seasonal farmer’s market, restaurants and 18 townhouses, along with a nature trail through adjacent wetlands, said Nick Kyriazis, the project’s developer. “It’s an exciting project and I think it’s going to be a good addition to that corridor there,” he said. “In the city’s five year plan, they want to transform that corridor into a commercial area and I think this project will spearhead more development in the area. I thought it would be a good idea to put something there to bring in fresh local produce and meats and also have restaurants where people from Brunswick, Medina and Strongsville can come to.”

As of June, the market, which will host about 30 vendors, was about 60 percent occupied before construction had started, Kyriazis said. “We have a great local brewery, a butcher shop and a fish store coming in among other businesses,” he said. “We have restaurants including Mediterranean food, barbecue, Italian and an ice cream shop.”

Tim Smith, councilman-at-large and former economic development director, said the growth of Brunswick’s business community is “exciting.” “I’m happy to see the continued growth of the city, especially in the economic

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7 Continued from page 5 development area with the addition of all the new stores that have come in, like Meijer [Supercenter, which opened in May 2022],” Smith said.

Debbie Boehmke, executive director of the Northern Medina County Chamber Alliance, said business is thriving in Brunswick. Many of the city’s new and existing businesses are locally owned, she noted. “The chamber prides itself in supporting local, family-owned businesses from The Tangled Vine, which is a cute little coffee and wine shop, to the Grounded Bean, which is a brand-new coffee shop on Pearl Road [in the former Gyro George location] to MDG Flooring,” Boehmke said. “The local businesses here all support one another. We are a close community of people who love to connect with each other.”

Along with ample shopping and dining options, Brunswick businesses also offer family entertainment in such venues as Scene 75 and Mapleside Farms.

“There is so much to do in this beautiful city of ours,” Boehmke said.

Sheila Watson, real estate broker and owner of RE/MAX Omega, agrees. “Brunswick is a great place to raise a family,” she said. “I moved here when I was 12 years old, married my high school boyfriend and raised my kids here. We are a safe community with down-toearth, friendly people.”

That may be one reason why the city’s housing market is strong. “Homes are selling over asking price,” she said.

“There’s a waiting line because we have so many people looking to buy.”

When Smith moved to Northeast Ohio from Michigan about 34 years ago, Brunswick stood out as a place to call home, he recalled. “What I saw then is still true today — I think Brunswick is one of the friendliest communities that I visited,” he said. “I went to all these different cities and I didn’t know anything about any of them, but the one I visited that seemed the friendliest was Brunswick. And I still think it’s that way today.”