Sterkel Community Park for all: where everyone belongs

Sterkel Community Park for All began as a vision to create a safe, inclusive space for people of all abilities to play, gather, and grow, and today, it stands as a vibrant community treasure.

Sterkel Park Mansfield, Ohio
2025
Midstates Recreation
est 1 min

Transforming a quiet corner into a welcoming space for everyone

A few years ago, Sterkel Park in Richland County offered little to its community. With aging equipment and an unused tennis court, it wasn’t the welcoming place families needed. That changed when Newhope/Richland County Department of Developmental Disabilities, led by Superintendent Michele Giess, envisioned a park that embraced everyone, from children to adults, regardless of ability. Together with Midstates Recreation, Michele and her team listened carefully to the community’s hopes and created a plan centered on inclusion, interaction, and joyful movement.

Interactive, accessible, and welcoming: a park reimagined

Thanks to the support of EMH&T landscape architects, local businesses, donors, and a determined community, even through the challenges of a pandemic, Sterkel Community Park for All came to life. Today, it offers something for everyone:

  • Playground equipment for children of all ages
  • Exercise stations for teens and adults
  • Pickleball, ping pong, and game tables
  • Shaded seating, picnic tables, and accessible restrooms
  • Poured-in-place surfacing for safe, accessible movement
  • Lappset Interactive playground equipment, Memo and Sutu, installed on accessible pads, inviting players of all abilities

The layout encourages parent–child interaction and supports visitors of all physical and cognitive abilities. What was once an underused space is now a joyful, inclusive gathering place where families laugh, neighbors meet, and no one is left on the sidelines.

Lappset Interactive products like Memo and Sutu enrich the park experience by combining the fun of digital gaming with outdoor activity, social connection, and physical movement. Memo, with its seven LED-equipped pillars, fosters memory, movement, and teamwork, blending education and play. Sutu, an interactive ball wall, motivates players of all skill levels to challenge their agility, speed, and accuracy with light-up targets and engaging games. Both products are built to last, designed sustainably, and inspire play for every heartbeat.

Sterkel Community Park for All

Everything You Need to Shape the Future