Sugar Grove Fire Tower Restoration

The Rockbridge (Sugar Grove) fire tower is currently owned by a person in the Forest Fire Lookout Association.  This person has committed to donating the 110 foot metal Fire Tower to the Lancaster City Parks to be restored.  We collectively (the City of Lancaster, Ohio Parks and Recreation Department, Friends of the Parks Lancaster, Ohio and myself) have embarked on removing, restoration and setup of this Fire Tower to the Charles F. Alley Memorial Park, Berne Township,  Lancaster, Ohio.  We wish to keep it here in Fairfield County to tell its story!  Unfortunately, its current location does not provide for good security and more.  It lacks the accessibility that Alley Park will afford and he (the current owner) does not have the resources to restore it in it's current location.  The City of Lancaster Ohio Parks runs an awesome 26 parks, 2 swimming pools, a senior citizens center with over 600 acres all in a city of just under 40,000.  Unfortunately, they do this so well on a very limited budget and cannot fund this restoration either.  THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN!!  The current location does not provide the space, security and conducive location for restoration in place.  A placard will be placed in its current location at Firetower and Dupler Rds. with it's history and current location noted. This of course will depend on the property owner once the tower is relocated.  Once moved to Alley Park it will anchor the new disc golf course in the restored gravel pit site that was completed in 2011.  A new restroom and shelter house is also being considered for this area and in conjunction with the tower site will be a great addition!  Can we fund that too?   YES WE CAN!  It will provide for added trails on the "backside" of Alley Park in the future.  It will also be easily seen by many travelers coming to the beautiful Hocking Hills area, while in its current location it is not.   This will facilitate more easily the telling of its story of forest fire management in the area! It will be opened for major Park events while still sitting at nearly its same elevation and provide for some excellent views! I hope that everyone can get behind this project! It's going to take serious fundraising since the removal, restoration and re-site will take money and manpower. Once restored it will then be turned over to LPRD for ownership and continued maintenance.  We will be looking for individual donations, group donations, grants, materials and labor in kind. LPRD will be providing logistical support, labor in kind and more to this project. But it's going to take YOU, the Fairfield County/Hocking Hills residents, fire tower enthusiasts, groups, and more getting behind this project to help move it forward! ALL MONEY raised will be maintained by the Friends of the Parks (Lancaster, Ohio), a registered 501c3 organization.  If you have suggestions on additional funding sources please let us know.  It would be great to take it down as soon as possible due to some current structural issues and fundraise as it goes. But we will take it systematically to do it right and on budget.  PLEASE keep a watch here, Facebook (Sugar Grove Fire Tower) and in local media outlets for updates as we go.  We thank you and sincerely hope you will enjoy the progress of this project!  Thank you!

Dave White, Director
Forest Fire Lookout Association (Ohio)
Retired, Alley Park Manager/Park Ranger LPRD