The Clermont County Park District has submitted an application for a grant to fund the possible purchase of 105 acres to add to the 53-acre Sycamore Park in Batavia Township.

The Clean Ohio Fund grant is for $844,922 and will cover the entire purchase if approved, said Clermont County Park District Director Chris Clingman.

"The owner is donating a portion of the value of the property in conjunction with this so it's considered a bargain sale," he said.

The application's review should be completed by Monday, Oct. 27.

"It will become an extension of Sycamore Park," Clingman said, "It will have hiking trails on it and it will stay primarily in its wooded form."

If the grant is approved and sale completed, the new area will not be open for public use for several months.

Park-goers should continue to observe proper signage and stay off of the property until it is opened by the park district, Clingman said.

"It should be complete by the spring, but there are some things we'd have to do to make it more usable by the public," he said.

While no plans are concrete, Batavia Township Administrator Rex Parsons said the new land would add to the experience of using Sycamore Park.

"I think any time you take land and set it aside for use for the public that's a great thing," he said.

The Clean Ohio Fund grant will be on the ballot in November, listed as Issue 2.

"This is a program to provide funding to parks across the state that doesn't raise taxes," Clingman said.

According to the Clermont County Park District Web site, the park already features picnic shelters, two playgrounds, a paved hiking trail, access to the East Fork of the Little Miami River and tennis and sand volleyball courts.

Sycamore Park is at 4082 Ohio 132 in Batavia Township.