Sunday, July 27, 2008
By Denise Dick
Peterson Park was featured in a nursery magazine.
POLAND — A town jewel is getting national recognition.
Peterson Park, located at U.S. Route 224 and state Routes 616 and 170 in the heart of the village, was featured this month in American Nurseryman.
The article, headlined, “Poland, Ohio’s Pie-Shaped Paradise,” talks of the genesis of the park and its design. A photograph on the magazine’s cover shows the landscape surrounding the statue of Revolutionary War heroes Col. Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Gen. Casimir Pulaski. The community was named to honor the two Polish military men.
The park, the site of a former gas station, was a project of Poland Town One Streetscapes, a community group that focuses on beautification and quality-of-life issues. The 4M Company of Boardman was the project’s architect with American Beauty Landscaping, also of Boardman, designing the landscaping.
Artist Tom Antonishak of Poland sculpted the statue of silicone bronze. It initially was planned to stand in front of the Poland branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, but was erected at the park instead.
Antonishak said the work took six years from conception to completion.
Robert Mastriana of 4M, who is also a Streetscapes member, said the park’s design followed suggestions from the Project for Public Spaces, an international organization that “helps communities design downtowns to make them more livable.”
The organization, for example, suggests that spaces in high traffic areas be elevated and surrounded by greenery to give visitors the feeling of being enclosed.
Park planning began in 1997 with erection of the clock tower at the tip of the triangular space. At that time, the gas station remained.
Streetscapes’ first project was the clock tower, Mastriana said.
Two pergolas flank the Revolutionary War heroes’ statue, surrounded by flowers, greenery, movable benches and wrought-iron fencing. The town Christmas tree stands near the triangle’s tip.
American Beauty Landscaping received an award from the Ohio Landscaping Association for its work at the park. Roger Myers, founder of American Beauty, said the company has received several state and national awards for its work, but those have been for residential rather than public sites.
The park required some special design consideration.
“It’s a very exposed site to the elements, to salt spray from three major roads, to exhaust,” said Chris Mikol, chief designer for the company.
Designers selected plants that would withstand that exposure while keeping with the Colonial era, he said.
The plants chosen don’t require a lot of maintenance either, Myers said, although Streetscapes members have done an excellent job maintaining the park since its summer 2006 dedication.
Larry Warren, Streetscapes president, said the park is used by different community organizations.
“Last year, the 50th class reunion from Poland High School met here and brought a picnic lunch,” Warren said.