LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The proposed Liberty Food Park recently received preliminary approval from Liberty Township trustees.
The facility would be the first of its type in the area. It would be located across the street from Lakota East High School and occupy over three acres of property at the corner of Wyandot and Lakota lanes. The complex would provide indoor and outdoor dining, three sand volleyball and bocce ball courts along with a live music stage, family-oriented entertainment, a bar and a variety of eateries.
The single, two-story building will have 13,000-plus square feet of space and sit a few hundred yards from Cincinnati-Dayton Road.
Developers recently told township trustees they have built a similar, mixed-use dining and entertainment facility in the nation of Belize and that their latest venture would bring their first such complex to America. Developer and Liberty Township resident Michael Ewers told trustees about his desire to bring the complex to his home community.
“It’s really inspired by markets that have been in Europe for many years," Ewers said. "What makes this unique is that it’s going to be very family-friendly."
Ewers said a half-dozen dining and dessert concepts all under one roof will allow the building and its exterior activities “to be a community experience." The restaurants are designed to be incubators for new food chefs, who will sign three-year leases so they can later be “cycled out. New eateries will be invited in to maintain a variety of cuisine offerings.
Ewers said construction of the Liberty Food Park is expected to take about one year with an opening in 2023.
The Liberty Food Park, he said, will be designed to cater to the many young families who will be attracted, in part, by the multiple food choices allowing all family members to dine at the single location, but with each member enjoying the different fare.
Trustee Tom Farrell called the complex “innovative and unique.”
“I look forward to having it in Liberty Twp.,” said Farrell.
The proximity to Lakota East and its campus – located across Lakota Lane on the eastern border of the complex - will also provide another after-school outlet for one of the region’s largest high schools.
Fellow trustee Todd Miniear described the facility as “a really cool concept.” He predicted it will eventually become “a go-to place in Liberty Twp.”
“It’s going to be a really great family spot for Liberty Twp,” Miniear said.
