Donations make Oak Hill Park a reality

  • By Sharon Haught
  • January 18, 2010
  • 616
                        
The generosity of the community is undoubtedly one of the things that makes Wooster a great place to live. Nowhere is that generosity more on display than in the development of the latest addition to Wooster’s already strong park system – Oak Hill Park. A trio of generous donations - two by private citizens and another by one of Wooster’s oldest service organizations - have gone a long way towards helping the city of Wooster make the 100 acre parcel nestled on Wooster’s north end into what will be a unique haven for the city’s residents. The property on which the park will be developed was purchased earlier this year by the city from the Don and Alice Noble Foundation with $500,000 in grant funding under the Ohio Public Works Commission Clean Ohio Program. The Foundation in turn announced its intention to donate a half million dollars to the Wayne County Community Foundation that can be used by the city to defray the costs of developing the property into a non-traditional city park. A few short months later the members of Wooster City Council voted unanimously to accept a gift of $50,000 from the Rotary Club of Wooster to construct a pavilion at the park. During that September 21st City Council meeting, then Rotary Club president Darin Campbell announced that not only would the organization pay the costs of constructing the pavilion, its members would actually assist in its construction. Now another member of the community has stepped forward to provide funding for one of the park’s key features – a handicapped accessible walking trail. During their January 4th meeting, the members of Wooster City Council voted unanimously to accept a gift from Joan and Gene Buehler to construct a quarter mile of level trail at the Park. “The money was donated to the Wayne County Community Foundation so it is coming to the city in the form of a grant as needed as we develop the property,” said Wooster Parks and Recreation Manager Chuck Malta, who characterized the gift as “an unsolicited act of kindness on the part of Gene and Joan Buehler.” “Gene and Joan wanted to give something that everyone could participate in,” said Wayne County Community Foundation Executive Director Ferenc Relle who noted that the smaller inner loop the Buehler’s donation will fund could not only be utilized by people who are handicapped but also by those people who don’t want or have the time to take the longer loop. “Gene and Joan wanted to give something that everyone could participate in,” said Relle. “They wanted to give something that a lot of people - as a matter of fact the entire community - could actually use.” After looking at the over 300 funds the Foundation manages, the Buehler’s opted to designate their donation for the construction of the handicapped accessible walking trail at Oak Hill Park. “This is quite a benefit to the community and we are very grateful for this generous donation,” said Council representative Barb Knapic. “I think it will be such an asset to the community to have this.” “It’s so nice to have people in the community who will contribute to make such a difference for our handicapped folks, who will now be able to use the trail at that facility, which was very thoughtful,” said Knapic. Councilman Mike Buytendyk expressed his appreciation to the Buehler’s as well, adding “what makes Wooster great is we have people and organizations like the Wayne County Community Foundation.”


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