From Columbus Ohio — Columbus Local News –  By KRISTIN CAMPBELL — Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 4:42 PM EST

With a three-season shelter house and an herbal grove approved for two local parks, improvements to both Fryer Park and Gantz Park are getting closer to completion.

Monday, Nov. 3, council set aside $25,000 for design costs related to the multi-season shelter at Fryer Park on Orders Road. The building will feature moveable walls along its exterior and a fireplace inside. The building would seat as many as 200 people, and a grill, benches and tables will be added in the vicinity of the shelter house.

The project will be completed through a continuing partnership with the Grove City Rotary Club and a new pairing with Grand Aerie Fraternal Order of Eagles, which has its headquarters in Grove City.

The FOE has pledged $100,000 over four years and Rotary has pledged $50,000 over five years to help pay for the project. The total cost is estimated at $300,000.

Council members have asked parks officials to look into the possibility of converting the building to a four-season shelter, but Councilman Larry Corbin urged fiscal conservatism.

“I think we ought to find out how much it would cost to open it four seasons,” he said.

Council members also approved a $20,710 appropriation for engineering costs related to the herbal grove that is planned for Gantz Park on Home Road.

The new addition would be located behind the Gantz Farmhouse to the west of the large red barn where recreation school classes are held.

Plans show a two-tiered, circular garden that takes visitors down one of two sloping, tree-lined path to the lower level, where a labyrinth surrounded by a walking path make up the center of the garden.

The project is being paid for in part by the Gardens at Gantz volunteers, a group of plant enthusiasts who tend the gardens, teach classes and offer tours at the Home Road park and historic farmhouse.

The group has formed a fundraising committee and pledged $15,000 toward the project. The fundraising committee plans to sell commemorative bricks to be installed in the park, and they are also planning to compile a cookbook next spring.

Also at their Monday meeting, city council members approved a switch of the city’s telecommunications services to AT&T. Currently, for all of the city’s phone services in all of their buildings, the bill runs about $4,800 per month. Officials said the new contract will lower the cost to about $3,000 per month.

“Our information services people did, in my opinion, a good job negotiating,” city Administrator Phil Honsey said.

Council members also approved a special use permit for True2Form Collision Repair Centers, which is planning renovations to a building at 3965 Brookham Drive. Representatives from the company showed plans and drawings to council members, outlining the improvements they intend to make.

Among those are functional improvements including the paving of a gravel lot and construction of a fence to hide damaged cars from view. The new occupants also plan to reconstruct the entryway and change the roofline to make it look more like an office building and less like a metal warehouse. Juniper bushes will also be planted at strategic points to camouflage parked cars and increase visual appeal, officials said.

The next regular council meeting will be held Nov. 16 at City Hall, 4035 Broadway. Council members meet in caucus at 7 p.m. and open the regular meeting at 8 p.m.