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BROOKFIELD -- It was the summer of 1976 when Brookfield Township Community Park off Stewart Sharon Road officially opened to the public, providing a place for families to enjoy recreational activities and the outdoors.
The 30-acre park includes numerous ballfields, concession stand/pavilion, walking trails and Jenny Junction Playground.
Trustee Shannon Devitz said the park has seen many improvements and additions in those 50 years, including most recently approximately $35,000 in American Rescue Plan funds for adding disc golf to the park.
"We had people in the community asking us to add disc golf to the park. The course goes through the wooded area in the park utilizing space that we had not previously used," Devitz said.
The community park is the township's main park.
Devitz said the center green has a park area, and there is a pocket park in Masury with exercise equipment.
Devitz said she applauds those who started the park back in the 1970s.
"This park is a gem. We are very lucky to have it. What they pushed for back in the 1970s is what myself and so many others are benefitting from. They laid the foundation back then and we as trustees today look at ways to build upon it each year. As a parent, this is a place for my son to come and play and gather with his friends for different sports," Devitz said.
She said many sports teams play at the park, not just those from Trumbull but also Mahoning County and Mercer County in Pennsylvania. Devitz said the park hosts the Trumbull County adaptive sports league.
She said ARP funds also have been spent on Jenny Junction Playground.
Devitz said trustees are seeking grant funds to make a larger Americans with Disabilities Act pavilion to be used for farmers markets and evening markets.
"This could be a gathering space that people could rent out for larger community events. With a farmers market, we can have people come here and get what they need,'' Devitz said.
She also credits the local youth baseball league, which utilizes the park and has invested funds into the park including lighting for the fields.
"That was a huge addition that now allows the kids to play games longer. They are working on raising money for lights at another field," Devitz said.
She said what is challenging for trustees is there is no direct funding source assigned to the park, so money comes from the general fund.
"There were attempts to get a park levy passed years ago, but it failed,'' Devitz said.
She said a seasonal part-time employee who works on maintenance and mowing grass at the park is covered by the general fund.
Devitz said a new sign was paid for by the township and efforts have been made to upgrade the parking lot lights to provide adequate lighting.
"We are doing what we can a little at a time. My main focus is to upgrade the pavilion. I would like to get rid of the current ones and get a new larger open-air pavilion closer to the road,'' she said.
HOW IT BEGAN
Trustees at a recent meeting recognized John Miller, a former trustee, and Don Gibson, a community member, who in 1971 began the effort to get a park for the township that opened on June 20, 1976.
Trustee Chairman Dan Suttles, who was a senior in high school in 1976, said the two men were the ones who launched the project and helped the township receive funding from an Ohio Department of Natural Resources Nature Works Grant of $80,000.
Suttles said Miller and Gibson spoke with then-trustee John Lapoh and the others to purchase land off Stewart Sharon Road. He said the 30 acres of land was purchased for $6,000 and then sat there for a few years
Miller went out to the community to get support from businesses for proceeding with getting the park established.
Suttles said the Youngstown Air Reserve Station sent military personnel, who worked with community volunteers to clear the land, put in dugouts and prepare the fields.
Volunteers built a playground, picnic shelters, picnic tables, a restroom, concession and maintenance buildings, backstops and dugouts.
Suttles said coal mine shafts on the property were cleaned out and filled in.
"They told us people would work at the park property on the weekends. It was a community effort. There were many people involved to to get the park going," Suttles said.
Suttles said Miller told him that a hot air balloon was launched 100 feet into the air with him in it to see the park on opening day.
Gibson threw the first pitch for baseball that day.
Suttles said ARP funds and other funding has been used for security cameras at the park and an electronic gate to keep the park closed because of past vandalism.
He said $3,500 was and used to renovate and upgrade the Jenny Junction Playground.
That playground was put in to replace a former play area in memory of 14-year-old Jennifer Lynn Boley, who was killed in 1995 by a lightning strike at the park.
Suttles said water and electric lines have been extended to the northern part of the park for possible future plans to host festivals. He said there has also been discussion of possibly having a paved walking trail at the back of the park that could connect to the Brookfield schools property.
"The park we have today would not be what it is if the folks years ago did not give up in getting the park established," Suttles said.
Suttles said before the park was established, youth would play on fields located in the area where Sparkle Market sits today.
The Trumbull County Engineer's Office designed the park and the Navy Seabees, who do many free community service projects, cut the road into the park. Volunteers later built two more ballfields, including one that is handicapped-accessible, and the open play area at the back of the park.
"The new park filled a needed void. We have many tournaments at the park that bring large crowds," trustee Mark Ferrara said.
He said the youth baseball and softball leagues have donated funds to resurface the fields, install new fencing and dugouts, and build a fifth field on land it leases adjacent to the park.
Ferrara said he looks forward to the disc golf course being well used.
"I'm not into disc golf, but I am amazed how many people play and how the course is used. People enjoy playing disc golf," he said.
Ferrara said a ribbon cutting for the disc golf course is being planned.
Ferrara said it is important to thank and remember the volunteers who built the park and have supported it through improvement and maintenance efforts over the years.
"We are blessed to have such a nice park that has been here for the past 50 years. There are so many different ways people can enjoy the park," Ferrara said.
Brookfield resident Cody Walter said he takes his daughter Lily, 5, to the park because it is close to their home in Brookfield.
"It is a place where we can spend time together. She likes coming here for the swings and other play areas," Walter said.