MANSFIELD — Dr. Julie Chaya will tell you improved health comes in a variety of ways.
The Richland Public Health commissioner stood in the middle of one of those ways on Tuesday morning.
Specifically, King Street Park at 778 King St. on the city’s north side, is a green oasis just south of U.S. 30.
“With public parks also comes public health and there’s so many wonderful physical activities and healthy eating opportunities that happen at all of those parks,” Chaya said after a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking a partnership between RPH and the city of Mansfield.
“That’s why Richland Public Health has made that investment to make sure that everyone in Richland County is having a safe and an enjoyable time as they are participating in those activities in the great outdoors here in Richland County,” Chaya said.
(Below are photos from a ribbon-cutting event Tuesday morning in King Street Park with Richland Public Health and the city of Mansfield. The story continues below the images.)
“Richland Public Health is very passionate about making sure that we are making our local parks and other places and spaces throughout our community accessible and inclusive to all through a couple of different grant initiatives, as well as private donors,” Chaya said.
One of those grants is a $14,468 donation RPH is making for city parks scheduled to be accepted by City Council on Tuesday evening.
Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry, Public Works Director Louis Andres and parks director Mike Woogerd participated in the event at the three-acre park that includes a new playground, swings, basketball court and concrete walkways and sidewalks.
“Early on in my time as mayor, we started doing drive arounds for the city and that includes our public works director, our engineer and our safety-service director,” said Perry, who took office in January 2024.
She said King Street Park was one of the first they visited.
“We pulled up and it looked much like today. The grass was mowed, it was trimmed and I was like, ‘This looks better than I feared, right?’
“And then we got out and we started walking around and the swings were broken and the playground was broken and the basketball court was completely grassed over and everything was tipped and not straight,” Perry said.
“Our takeaway was it’s important to not just drive by, but you have got to get out (and look). And then to also just think about the hundreds and thousands of people that live within walking distance of this park.
“It’s very residential here and they needed better facilities. Quite frankly, they deserved better facilities,” she said.
The mayor said Andres has worked with Chaya and RPH on improving the city parks, including King Street.
“The health department has been very instrumental in almost every single park that we’ve touched so far in this administration.
“They’ve really been very generous in providing amenities and things that are related to public health and so we really appreciate not just what you did here, but throughout the (parks) system,” Perry said.
“We were able to use some of our leftover (American Rescue Plan Act) dollars to kind of finish out some of the larger things. I do want give a shout out to the engineering office. They actually did the engineering for the walks here and at Johns Park, as well as the basketball court.
“This neighborhood really has a great place to gather,” Perry said.
One of the new amenities at King Street Park and others are new tick stations.
“We have invested in tick stations to be present at trailheads throughout Richland County as well as city of Mansfield Parks,” Chaya said. “Ticks are becoming more and more prevalent in our community. We really want make sure that if those bugs are biting, that they’re not spreading things like Lyme disease.
“Those vector-borne diseases can be very detrimental to our citizens’ health. So we want to make sure that as you are out and about enjoying the great outdoors in Richland County at all of our different wonderful parks that you have the opportunity to do a tick check for both you and your pets,” Chaya said.
Each tick station has information on how to conduct tick checks.
“It even has a pair of tweezers and a jar where you can stick those ticks in. We’ll collect those specimens and keep track of them to see how many are popping up in our community and possibly even get them tested as well to see what diseases they might be carrying,” Chaya said.
The commissioner said RPH was ready to assist others.
“I want to make sure that other community members and partners know throughout Richland County that if you do have a park or a playground that could use a little bit of TLC, please contact us at Richland Public Health,” she said.
“We really want to partner with you and make that dream come to a reality in your neck of the woods in Richland County, as well,” Chaya said.
