BROOKVILLE — Boy Scout Troop 47 Leader Matt Moler informed the park board the Scout Troop will build a Christmas arch near the main entrance of Golden Gate Park as part of this year’s Christmas in the Park drive-thru event.

The Boy Scout Troop had planned to build a Christmas tunnel along the park’s exit, but after further review, it was determined it would be too cumbersome and too expensive to construct for this year.

“This year, due to timing and the complexity of trying to do a tunnel or the arch, we are going to look at building an arch,” Moler said.

Moler said the Scouts plan to build the arch at the entrance to the park near the Golden Gate Park sign.

“We’re looking to put a span across the road where the Golden Gate Park sign is and where the road narrows right after you pass the parking area,” Moler said.

“It probably will just be an arch and not a tunnel with any depth to it,” Moler continued.

Moler indicated the height of the arch will be 13 feet 6 inches.

“I think that’s what ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation) requires,” Moler said.

Moler said the Scouts will decorate the arch with lighted icicles.

“We’re debating between just a lit sign we would hang on it that says ‘Merry Christmas,’ or we talked about using pixel signage so we can control what the message says, but that will cost more money,” Moler said.

Moler said the more he examined the exit area of the park where plans were to build a tunnel, the more he realized the difficulty and expense to build it.

“It’s pretty complicated at the exit. There’s not a lot of room to build a tunnel,” Moler said.

Moler said after learning the chain link fence that runs along the exit road wasn’t park property he realized the tunnel couldn’t be anchored to it.

“We looked at putting a utility pole or something substantial to anchor the tunnel because there’s only about a foot of ground between the road and the fence,” Moler said.

Moler said he also looked into purchasing a steel frame.

“For something rigid that is free-standing, we looked at using Unistrut and the cost was between $11,000-$15,000 just for the Unistrut with no lights on it,” Moler said.

“Our pockets aren’t that deep and that’s not the kind of fundraising we can do at this time of year,” Moler added.

Moler said there are other ways to build the tunnel that could be cheaper.

“But that requires a lot more work,” Moler said.

Moler also noted the trees along the exit road make constructing the tunnel more difficult.

“There are a lot of trees that have grown out quite a bit over the road, which would make building the tunnel really complicated. We would probably have to move some of those trees,” Moler said.

“It’s just going to take more time and more funding to build it. It’s a project for another year,” Moler said.

The annual Christmas in the Park kick-off is Friday, Dec. 1, from from 6-8 p.m. at Golden Gate Park, located at 545 Upper Lewisburg-Salem Road.

After the kick-off event, the park will be open to view the Christmas displays from 6-9 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2024.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].