Toledo’s ongoing riverfront transformation was featured prominently last week at the nation’s largest conference focused on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment.

Dave Zenk, executive director of Metroparks Toledo, was one of four individual recipients of this year's Phoenix Awards at the National Brownfields Training Conference August 5-8 in Chicago. The annual conference is hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International City/County Management Association

Zenk was nominated by The Mannik & Smith Group, Inc. (MSG) of Toledo in the State & Local Brownfield Leadership category for his leadership of the Glass City Riverwalk project.

The award recognizes brownfield practitioners at the local level “whose dedication and leadership has elevated our practice and made brownfields fundamental to how their communities evolve,” according to the hosts.

The first portion of Riverwalk, Glass City Metropark, opened in 2023. The 70-acre park built on a former industrial site includes 15,000 feet of trails, 17 acres of trees, a 27-acre prairie and more than 3,000 feet of improved shoreline. Numerous unique features, such as an ice skating trail, make the park a year-round destination. The park is the first 25 percent of Glass City Riverwalk, which includes 300 acres of greenspace flanking the river and connected by a five-mile multi-use path.

At the conference, Sally Gladwell, a principal at MSG; Jennifer Van Horn, chief planning and capital projects officer at Metroparks; and Matt Killam, chief outreach officer at Metroparks presented a workshop, “Destination: Recreation—Metroparks Toledo Creates Common Ground in a Revitalized Riverfront.”

MSG and Metroparks also presented a poster at the conference entitled, “Glass City Riverwalk: A network of brownfields becomes a regional attraction.”