By Daniel N. Slagle Jr.
Boardman Park Executive Director
BOARDMAN, Ohio – Boardman Park, the “Green Oasis,” is celebrating 75 years of serving the recreational and educational needs of our community. On behalf of the Board of Park Commissioners and our staff, we would like to express our deepest gratitude for the community’s ongoing support and appreciation of Boardman Park and its mission.
Our purpose is to create wholesome opportunities to live and interact with family, friends, neighbors and communities.
Boardman Park offers a variety of recreational facilities and programs year-round that enhance the quality of life for the community it so proudly serves. The park also provides environmental benefits such as mitigating stormwater runoff, preserving wildlife habitats and protecting wetlands.
As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Boardman Park District, we reflect on several important aspects of its history and growth.
The seed from which the Green Oasis would grow was planted Nov. 4, 1947, when the voters of Boardman overwhelmingly approved establishment of a township park district.
But that seed may never have been planted were it not for the generosity of the late William F. Maag Jr., who, in 1946, donated 72 acres to the township in order to establish a park.
Since 1947, the size of the park has more than quadrupled. Today the park provides 60 acres for active recreational purposes and preserves 234 acres as greenspace and natural habitat.
The mission statement of the park remains: “to provide a diversity of recreational and educational opportunities in an environment that lends itself to pleasant family experiences, and to preserve areas of natural habitat.”
Pursuant to its master plan, the Green Oasis has evolved into one of the most unique and popular recreational facilities in the Mahoning Valley. And without question, the appreciation and support of the community is responsible for making the park a viable recreational and natural resource.
Over the years, the park has experienced a significant increase in the number of visitors; today, close to half a million people visit the park annually.
We believe that the continued increase in the number of visitors clearly demonstrates that the park is one of the most popular areas for family recreation in the Mahoning Valley. The popularity of the park can be attributed to our community’s positive response and enthusiastic participation in the diverse and multigenerational programs we offer year-round, as well as our unique footprint of recreational facilities.
Visitors can reserve indoor rooms and outdoor pavilions and use tennis, pickleball and sand volleyball courts, baseball fields, an 18-hole disc golf course, bocce courts, Marge Hartman’s Paws Town dog park and four miles of accessible walking trails that transverse the natural areas of the park.
Throughout the decades, the Board of Park Commissioners and its staff have served as prudent stewards of the tax dollars entrusted to them.