Boardman Park Adds 27 Acres of Greenspace

BOARDMAN – Attendance has risen steadily at Boardman Park over the past several years, reaching nearly 500,000 visitors in 2019. 

Part of the attraction, says Executive Director Dan Slagle, is the wide range of amenities, whether new additions or long-time standards such as its event venues, disc golf course, tennis and pickleball courts and four miles of walking trails.

New to the park are 27 acres of greenspace donated by the Arni Nashbar family and American Food Forest, bringing Boardman Park’s total area to 294 acres, 194 of which are natural habitat.

“The park’s greenspace provides powerful and crucial environmental functions that contribute to many of life’s essentials,” Slagle says.

These include mitigating stormwater run-off, cleaning the water and the air and returning oxygen to the atmosphere, he explains. 

“There are approximately 38,100 trees within 294 acres. These trees will intercept 14.5 million gallons of storm water each year and will remove 6.4 million pounds of atmospheric carbon,” Slagle says.

The park, known as “The Green Oasis,” continues to operate on the equivalent of a one-mill tax levy as it has for the 72 years since it was created. 

At the same time,  operation costs have increased 40%, largely because of the increased attendance, according to Slagle. 

To offset the costs, Boardman Park has renovated older facilities to make them marketable for events and added fees for some recreational events. It also pursues government grants and private donations.

“Boardman Park will continue working diligently in order to serve the recreational needs of its community and stay focused on future improvements all the while keeping the park a green oasis in the heart of Boardman,” Slagle says.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.