POLAND TOWNSHIP — The township park continues to go to the birds, thanks to the swift action of a recent Eagle Scout project.

Gordon Moore, son of Tim and Andrea Moore and a senior from Mahoning County Career & Technical Center, recently completed a chimney swift tower that will allow the small, unique birds to nest safely.

When Gordon wanted to complete his Eagle Award requirements, he and his father Tim Moore met with park manager Ken Filicky to discuss possible projects. The one Gordon found the most interesting was constructing a nesting tower for chimney swifts. The swifts are the only birds that can fly straight up, thus the reason they tend to nest in towers and chimneys.

“Over the years, numerous chimney swifts have been spotted in the park,” Filicky said, “but a suitable nesting site was lacking.”

When Gordon agreed to take on the project, the park offered to supply the needed materials. The actual tower, according to Gordon’s father Tim Moore, was constructed at Heck Ya Hot Dog Shop on U.S. 422 in Youngstown.

“The owner loaned us space in a warehouse to build the sections for the tower,” Tim said.

Last month, a crew came out to the site and laid the concrete base down. The location for the tower is on open ground in the cross country track area.

“Our chimney swift tower is situated on the cross-country course,” Filicky said. “It is optimally located in an open field.”

Once the base hardened, the work began to put up the tower in sections. Gordon said the interior of the tower had to have wooden perches for the swifts to connect their nests. Once completed, the finishing touch was a red cap that kept out rain, but left a large enough opening for the birds to navigate.

Gordon climbed a large red ladder and sat on top while giving his thumbs up to the project.

“It went well, but it was more planning and took longer than I thought it would,” Gordon said. “I didn’t realize there would be so many materials. It looks like a sided box, but we had to make an inside wood layer for the birds to attach nests to, insulate it, and mount it in concrete.”

Gordon did have a good team with his parents, adult members of Troop 44 and fellow scouts from the troop.

“I learned a lot about how much goes into planning and building,” he said. “I learned to delegate to each person’s strength and get things done.”

Filicky said the completed tower will forever be an important part of the park and its mission.

“Gordon Moore’s Eagle Scout project is a valuable addition to our wildlife management program, enhancing birding opportunities for park visitors,” Filicky said. “To date, 189 species (of birds) have been identified in the park. I would like to extend my gratitude to Gordon’s family and scout troop for their diligent efforts.”

Tim said his son’s Eagle Court of Honor likely will take place in two or three weeks. The project gave Gordon a lot more than just the Eagle award. It helped him begin to fine tune his future goals.

“After high school, which for me is quite soon, I will be chasing the dream of starting my own business,” Gordon said. “I would like to specialize in resin floors as this is something that I have done before and thoroughly enjoy. I have been making things out of resin for quite some time as well as it being one of my hobbies.”

He said he is also looking at joining the Americorps National Civilian Community Corps, where he can continue to use skills he picked up in scouting.

“In the future decade, I plan on having my engineering and inventing certifications,” Gordon added. “I also plan on having invented a useful product that I can use the money from to create more products and create my own company. I would love to have my own company that not only allows me to create my own inventions, but also allows others to get the funding they need to turn their ideas into reality.”

Gordon and the many visitors to Poland Township Park can sit back and enjoy the chimney swifts as they fly in and out of the tower.