Record-Courier staff writer

Could Wingfoot Lake in Suffield become a new state park?

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has hung out the "For Sale" sign on the 522-acre lake and its 150-acre private recreational park. The blimp hangar on the southeast end of the lake is not on the market.

The Portage Park District, which has been unable to get an operating levy approved by voters, is not in position to buy the lake and recreation area located to the south of Waterloo Road.

"We have to be very careful to prioritize our efforts at this point," said Chris Craycroft, district director.

She said Goodyear contacted the park district about two years ago, and board members toured the facility, which includes sports fields, playgrounds, picnic shelters and a variety of other recreation outlets. The park is also home to the clubhouse for the Goodyear Hunting and Fishing Club.

"If we were a well-established, well-funded park district, maybe," Craycroft said. But Goodyear wants to sell the lake and acreage, not donate it. And there are a lot of improvements that would have to be maintained.

Plus, a recreation and picnic area is not really in the Portage district's plans.

"We're more looking toward natural resource conservation, not high impact recreation," Craycroft said.

"We have five properties right now we have chains across the drive because we can't afford to do anything with them," she said.

Keith Price, director of corporate communications programs for Goodyear, said Goodyear purchased the lake in 1916 to guarantee it had water for its rubber plants in Akron. Later, it developed a recreation area around the lake, and in 1968 the recreation area was limited to company employees, retirees and their families.

"Over the past 40 years the size of our Akron workforce has declined. And in recent years attendance and usage (of the park) has declined," Price said.

The company decided it is no longer efficient to operate the park for the company's exclusive use.

"So we decided to look to sell to someone who will use it for outdoor related recreation, that the public can enjoy," Price said.

He said government bodies that operate other parks would certainly be potential buyers. "The state would fit that description," he said.

Price said the company has no time line or deadline on when it wants to complete the sale.