The Ohio Parks and Recreation Association recently honored Hanby Park in Westerville with its 2018 Governor's Award. Hanby Park was one of the Association's top three picks.
The design of the park is meant to connect the city's extensive system of trails and parks with its Uptown district. New connections for hikers and bikers make it easier to move between the park system and other destinations such as the Ohio-to-Erie Trail (OET), and the Westerville Public Library. The shelter in the park is known as the ‘Train Depot’, and is used by cyclists riding through the community on the OET to take a rest, since it's a halfway point on the ride.
The award is given to parks and programs that have had the greatest impact on the community's quality of life in the preceding 12 months. The Association first named 14 first-place winners and then selected the final three from those. Hanby Park's win came in the category of Capital Improvement Projects from those efforts costing $1m or less. Officials might like to use flyer printing to share good news like this with residents.
Other criteria used to pick the winners were the fact that the project or program impacted the community's qualify of life; the effort was innovative; it addressed a need and set specific goals which were met; and the results could be proven. Westerville also won awards for its Thomas James Knox Rink (second place), while the Outdoor Adventure and Skills Camp took a third.
