Foundation gives $25K to Boardman Park campaign

The $2.3 million capital campaign aligns with the park master plan.

Staff Report

BOARDMAN — The Youngstown Foundation has contributed $25,000 toward Boardman Park’s capital campaign.

The $2.3 million park capital campaign would fund an expanded community center, restrooms at the Maag Outdoor Arts Theater, a wall-climbing course and other additions that align with the park’s master plan established nearly eight years ago.

The campaign asks everyone in the community to be part of the fund-raising effort to keep Boardman Park the “Green Oasis” we all love and enjoy, said park Executive Director Dan Slagle.

The Youngstown Foundation’s contribution will ensure that Boardman Park will be able to continue to provide area families a recreational haven in the heart of the township, Slagle said.

The foundation’s board cares deeply about and supports numerous community projects and organizations, he added.

The area continues to benefit from the forward thinking of early industrial pioneers who helped form and develop the area as a result of their success. William F. Maag Jr., a former publisher of The Vindicator, was instrumental in the establishment and development of the park. John Stambaugh, Philip Wick, Henry Butler, L.A. Manchester and Frank Hitchcock were among the first to establish the Youngstown Foundation.

The foundation celebrated its 90th anniversary in April. It traces its origin to the board of directors of the Dollar Savings and Trust Co. They created a trust known as The Youngstown Foundation to be devoted to educational, benevolent, charitable and public purposes. In 1994, Dollar Savings merged to form National City Bank and is now the trustee of the Youngstown Foundation.

Planned park improvements include expansion of the community center and the Georgeanna Parker Activity Center, structural improvements to the Detchon House in the park’s historic village, addition of restrooms and a concession area at the Maag Outdoor Arts Theater, creation of a central meeting place in the historic village, climbing wall challenge course in the southern part of the park, green space acquisition and development of additional hike-bike trails.

Last year, park facilities took 2,335 reservations, and about 256,850 people used those facilities including open-air pavilions, indoor meeting rooms, St. James Meeting House and the gazebo.