MANSFIELD, Ohio – OhioHealth announced today that it will be committing $100,000 to the Richland County Foundation for the Mansfield Rising: Downtown Investment project. The monies will be specifically used toward creating a permanent linear park, which will encourage pedestrians to walk between the Imagination District and the Carrousel District, which are less than a half mile apart.
“One way to complete our mission ‘to improve the health of those we serve’ is to create safer and more appealing settings for people to walk within our communities,” said Vinson Yates, president of OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital and OhioHealth Shelby Hospital. “We have close partnerships with the Buckeye Imagination Museum, Renaissance Theatre, and Downtown Mansfield, Inc., and this linear park will be able to tie our community partners together while beautifying a portion of downtown Mansfield and creating a designated space for people to walk.”
Linear parks, which are parks in urban settings, transform alleys, parking lots, and underutilized properties into safe walkways and greenspaces for gathering, exploring, and art. Mansfield Rising created a temporary, pop-up linear park in parking areas along Third Street during the Fall of 2021, and the concept was well-received.
“We were impressed by the partnerships and collaboration for the pop-up project and the number of people who visited and participated in the space,” said Allie Watson, senior community investment officer with the Richland County Foundation and member of Mansfield Rising. “The success of that project gave us the confidence to move forward with a permanent solution and this gift will help it become a reality.”
OhioHealth also contributed to the West End Neighborhood Improvement Project in Mansfield. The first phase of the project updated the streetscape on Glessner Avenue with improved street
lighting as well as new crosswalks, sidewalks, and trees. The neighborhood is adjacent to the OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital campus.
About OhioHealth
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.
Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area. It has been recognized by FORTUNE as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” 15 times since 2007.
OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com.