• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

MarionMade

People, Places, Products, Programs

Visit Us On FacebookVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On YoutubeCheck Our FeedVisit Us On Instagram
We Are Having Fun!We Are Presidential!We Are Generous!
  • Get Involved
  • About
  • Events
    • MarionMade! 5k Sign Up
  • People
  • Places
  • Products
  • Programs
  • Links
  • Contact

Marion City Parks Department

By MarionMade! on November 28, 2021

Chateau Park
Chateau is one of the hardest-to-notice parks but has 8-acres.

Marion City Parks Department employs seven full-time staff and six seasonal staff. They operate and maintain 19 city parks, 21 green spaces, 14 ball fields, the aquatic center, and Marion Municipal Airport. Lincoln and McKinley parks have been in Marion for over 100 years.

“The goal of the Marion Parks Department is to provide and promote safe and well-maintained parks, recreation areas, and public lands,” says Superintendent Mike Cheney. “We serve our community by listening. I have listened to the community, to the Board of Park Commissioners, to the City Administration and Council, and to my staff.”

These oases of green provide residents with playgrounds, ball fields, courts, and picnic shelters to enjoy the outdoors with friends and family.

Founders Park is home to Marion’s farmers market, summertime Third Thursdays, and Fitness at Founders. Downtown also has beautiful little Busby Park with its murals and benches, located outside of the soon-to-be-open Amato’s Woodfired Pizza.

The Marion Park department also operates and maintains the Lincoln Park Aquatic Center, as well as the baseball and softball complex. The “old” pool was razed during the winter of 2012.  The deck was cracked and uneven and nearly everything was worn out.  The new Aquatic Center was completed and opened in May 2012. In the winter, the large hill draws local families for sledding.

Garfield Park
Several parks in Marion have ball fields, including Garfield Park.

“The new Aquatic Center requires at least three times the lifeguards and support staff.  There seems to be a higher level of pride with the staff, and there are much larger crowds using it,” says Cheney.

On the east side of town, there’s baseball and horseshoes all summer long at Garfield near Harding High School. One of the hardest to notice, nestled in the middle of Chateau Ridge, is 8-acre Chateau Park with its playground and basketball court.

Across from the Harding Memorial is Veterans Memorial Park, with its stately monuments to each of the major wars. The northern-most is Quarry Park, whose lake and trails can be accessed from both Hillman-Ford Road and West Fairground Street. This is a popular fishing spot.

The west side of Marion is dotted with small neighborhood parks, including Glenwood and Rotary on LaTourette Street with walking trails and soccer fields, Roosevelt on Bellefontaine, as well as Baldauf on Owens St. and Oakland on Uncapher Ave. There’s also Patterson and Olney and Martin Luther King Jr. Parks, on their namesake streets, respectively. Additionally, there is Brandy Winfield Memorial Park, occupying 8-acres on Blake Street, honoring Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy fallen in the line of duty in 2004.

Sawyer Ludwig Park
Sawyer-Ludwig attracts Marion residents with its disc golf course.

Five Leadership Marion! classes through the Marion Area Chamber of Commerce have assisted the Parks Department. One, Marion PEP Club, recently opened the Marion Rotary Centennial Playground located in McKinley Park. McKinley Parks also hosts the summer concert series on Sunday evening. Another, Kaufman Dog Park Rescue Pack, has raised $10,000 to add upgrades to the dog park located in Kennedy Park. A third class improved the Dan Stewart Edible Forest & Community Garden at Sawyer-Ludwig Park by adding benches, planting trees, and cleaning up the beds. A fourth class started, Restore the Glory Marion, focused on the fields of Lincoln Park. In 2011, the first Leadership Marion! class to partner with the parks department worked to beautify Quarry Park.

Green spaces are city-owned grass properties without structures or park amenities.  Examples include Forest Lawn Blvd between Church and Center Streets and the Quarry Street Cemetery. The Parks Department also assists with the maintenance of the downtown streetscape with flower planting, tree, and plant watering, and litter control.

Marion parks also host disc golf, pickleball, and wide-open spaces for children to run and play.

The parks department moved to Marion Municipal Airport in 2014. Additional information, such as shelter house reservations, can be found online at www.marionohio.us/parks or by calling 740-382-1634.

“All successful communities have community members who strive to rise above and beyond their expectations,” Cheney says of his department.

Recent MarionMade! Stories

  • Nachurs Alpine Solutions

    NACHURS ALPINE SOLUTIONS Built on quality, integrity, and innovation, Nachurs pioneered liquid fertilizer – first in the United States – in Marion in 1946 and, later, in Canada in 1973 – formulated to meet the nutritional demands of crops and growing conditions on both sides of the border. In 1998, The Na-Churs Plant Food Company […]Read More »
  • Pam Hall

    A little over two years ago, Pam Hall was at the top of her game. She had been the president of the Marion Area Chamber of Commerce for 18 years. Before that, she had been the co-owner of a successful engineering consulting firm and is a proud wife and mother. Hall had a long list of accomplishments […]Read More »
  • Volunteers Bring Comfort to Local Hospice Patients

    With kindness and compassion, a group of dedicated local volunteers supports those in hospice care. While many people fear death and dying, these local volunteers make sure patients and their families are not alone during this difficult time. Several hours a week, until the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of local volunteers from their 60s to their […]Read More »
  • Brock Meadows

    BROCK MEADOWS. With a passion for helping people discover winning strategies that fit them personally–taking them from where they are, to where they want to be–Brock Meadows is a MarionMade success story in the fitness and nutrition world. Meadows’ entrepreneurial spirit started early. He graduated from Ridgedale in 1992 and Bowling Green State University in […]Read More »

Share Your MarionMade! Story

Click Here to share your story about MarionMade! people, places, products, and programs!
  • Get Involved
  • About
  • Events
  • People
  • Places
  • Products
  • Programs
  • Links
  • Contact

Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Downtown Marion Love INC Marion Public Library Marion Area Chamber of Commerce Marion CANDO! Marion Community Foundation United Way of Marion County Marion Technical College

© 2023 · MarionMade! is a community initiative led by Marion Technical College · Website is powered by Neighborhood Image