MANSFIELD — Jordan Tackett took over as Richland County Park District executive director about 90 days ago.
Just in time for “60 things in 60 days.”
The two-month celebration of the district’s 60 anniversary — as well as the 30th anniversary of the B&O Trail — culminated Sunday afternoon with a community celebration at the Gorman Nature Center.
The two-hour party at the 150-acre park along Lexington Avenue featured guided hikes through its five miles of trails, live music, doughnuts and apple cider, animals, S’mores, announcement of the fall parks photo contest and, of course, birthday cake.
Tackett, a Bellville native and U.S. Air Force veteran, had been the district’s operations director for two years before being hired into the director’s role in early August.
So he had an idea regarding the amount of work needed to pull off the 60 days of celebration, an idea first put forth by board member Gail Laux.
“It was such an exciting idea that we all jumped on board without realizing just how much work this was all going to be,” Tackett said with a laugh Sunday afternoon as the center’s parking lot began to fill up.
“I’m actually very happy we did it because, this has just gotten us so much public support and public exposure to our parks. It has really paid off,” Tackett said.
“There has been a lot of activity. A lot of community support. A huge turnout at a lot of our events. It’s been exciting,” he said.
(Photos taken Sunday during the 60th anniversary celebration of the Richland County Park District at the Gorman Nature Center along Lexington Avenue. The story continues below the images. Photos by Carl Hunnell.)
Tackett said the ongoing improvement in the county’s parks would not be happening without a 0.65-mill, 10-year property tax levy voters approved in 2023, collection of which began in 2024. It generates about $1.6 million annually and means the district doesn’t have to rely solely on money from the county’s general fund.
“For decades, the park district operated here out of Gorman Nature Center. We had the Bike Trail and not much else. We were really just kind of stuck at that size and honestly didn’t really even have enough staff or enough money to run (the district) the way we would like for the public,” he said.
“With the levy, we’ve been able to open up multiple new parks, including Fleming Falls Park and Preserve. That’s been open to the public for a couple of years and we have more development planned there.”
Two new parks are under development– the 96-acre Oxbow Woods, near Finnegan’s Run near I-71 and Ohio 97, and 215-acre Bloominggrove Wetlands, near Bloominggrove, upstream of the Clearfork Reservoir in western Richland County.
“We’re actually able to adequately take care of things now, too,” Tackett said.
“If you’ve been around here at Gorman Nature Center, you’ve seen major improvements over the past year which would have been impossible with without this tax levy,” he said.
The 60th anniversary celebration has helped better “brand” the park district, according to Tackett.
“For years, it seemed like all of our parks had their own identity. We’re working to fix that now. We’re doing a bit of a rebranding project where we’re making it more clear that all of this is under the umbrella of the Richland County Park District,” Tackett said.
“Each park is always going be its own unique thing, but we want everyone to know that this is something their support, their tax dollars, are making possible and and all of these parks are under our umbrella,” he said.
For a lifelong outdoorsman like Tackett, the move to the executive director’s role has had its challenges.
“I am in more of an administrative role. It’s been an interesting transition, having to rethink my relationship with the staff.
“But it’s also very exciting because now I get to engage more deeply with some of the other leaders around the county and with our partners,” Tackett said.
“It’s exciting to see where we’re going and I’m really happy to be at the helm and able to help lead the park district into this exciting new era.”
(Photos taken Sunday at Gorman Nature Center during the 60th anniversary of the Richland County Park District. These photos are courtesy of Jeff Hoffer.)
