Close to 200 Acres of Blossom Music Center Land Sold to the National Park

Close to one-third of the 780-acre  has been sold to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The park's $3.96 million purchase of the 233 acres was funded by a fiscal year 2010 appropriation from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, said a media release issued Wednesday by the national park, the Trust for Public Land and the Musical Arts Association, the governing organization of the Cleveland orchestra that owns Blossom.

The fund uses revenues generated from offshore oil and gas drilling leases, rather than taxpayer dollars, to acquire critical new lands.

"Our partnership with The Trust for Public Land has ensured that funding to acquire a portion of the land for Cuyahoga Valley National Park has been secured. The sale of the land has no effect on our current operation of Blossom Music Center, the most beautiful and acoustically superior outdoor musical venue in America," Gary Hanson, executive director of The Cleveland Orchestra, said in a press release.

The property sale is expected to be the first of two to the national park. The Musical Arts Association has been seeking to sell land around the popular music venue since 2007.

The purchases will add important forest and waterway resources to the national park, officials said.

"Protecting this vital landscape is a big benefit to the park," Park Superintendent Stan Austin said. "The acquired lands now become a part of the largest forested block in the park. This land is extremely valuable because it helps sustain critical woodland species and protects several watersheds.

The conservation of this and the next phase of Blossom Music Center properties will connect more than 5,000 acres of forest ecosystems in the national park, one of the top 10 most-visited U.S. national park.

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