05/03/2024
The City of Hillsboro was honored to be awarded $5,204,536 in Appalachian Community grant funds during yesterday’s announcement by Governor DeWine and colleagues from the Department of Development and Governor’s Office of Appalachia. The vision of Crossroads Park has been years in the making with every inch of the park planned through local collaborations. The city took action with acquisition, completing environmental assessments, renderings, community input, and began planning events to have evidence-based metrics to gauge the impacts and sustainability. Crossroads Park will include an outdoor gathering space, amphitheater, renovation of an existing building to serve as a community center, water feature, playground and beautification of the surrounding streetscape. The amphitheater area will include a stage and restrooms, a separate restroom/concession stand, a light/sound booth, and several lawns with paths to facilitate movement and seating. In addition to Crossroads Park, the surrounding area was also incorporated into the planning to further the overall visual and regional impact. Nearby basketball courts received over a $50,000 facelift and fundraising efforts are paving the way for future pickleball courts. Also, the city was recently awarded a 1.2-million-dollar grant for a Rails to Trails project, with over 2.4 miles in trails leading to the park. Crossroads Park will also serve as a trail head for the trail. ‘Large’, ‘Impact’, ‘Regional’, ‘Visual’, have always been the keywords for this project to ensure transformational change and to be catalytic in nature for future development and generational investments.