Prospective residents look at factors beyond home values and the caliber of a community’s schools. Granted, those are important, but there are many variables that make a house and its surrounding neighborhood feel like home. One such vital factor is the accessibility of public recreation greenspace. Promoting the collective health and wellbeing of a community’s residents is a worthwhile and important pursuit. Facilitating residents’ enjoyment of outdoor recreation is a cost-effective wellness alternative to paying considerable sums for prescriptions and hospitalization.

As part of necessary budgetary cutbacks, Middletown disbanded its parks department 20 years ago, but under the umbrella of its public works department, the city has continued to expand its park offerings with events and activities that enhance civic camaraderie as well as fitness.  

Growing community connections
Jeri Lewis grew into her position as community project coordinator with parks under her purview after several years as a local leader for civic events including launching Movies in the Park as a volunteer nine years ago. Lewis’s team of six public-works employees manages the city’s 33-park system, which will entail a 2025 total maintenance and improvement budget of $1.2 million, plus approximately $200,000 to stage events.

“We’re fortunate to have such an abundance of parks for a city our size,” Lewis said. “Wherever you live, there’s a park in walking distance with a wide array of amenities and activities.”

Smith Park, located at the intersection of Tytus Road and Verity Parkway, is the largest of the city’s parks, which spans 96 acres and offers a seven-acre fishing pond with a floating dock, trails, soccer fields, a splash pad for keeping cool in the summer, and a baseball diamond. Keeping up with trends, new pickleball courts will be installed to help people of all levels of athleticism hop aboard the popular recreational trend.

Lewis noted that Sunset Park is Middletown’s second-most popular park. Sunset has a more compact footprint, offering a comparatively small 15.2 acres of space, but its convenient location near downtown makes it a hub of events such as Food Truck Fridays during warm months, an outdoor concert series, kids’ camps, and a variety of other activities that help the parks appeal to residents of all ages. Fall Fest, which takes place the last weekend of every October, has become a signature Sunset Park event, but its popularity has necessitated a move to the more spacious Smith Park next year.

Events will remain a catalyst to Middletown parks’ popularity, as Middletown launched open-air movie nights and Arts in the Park children’s camps this past summer, and this coming March will feature Middletown’s inaugural St. Patrick’s Day celebration, a downtown event likely to increase park visits. This holiday season, Middletown will be replete with Yuletide spirit as it sets up an ice-skating rink in Swallen’s Lot at 39 North Broad St. downtown, on the site of a former, since-demolished, namesake department store, and set up a Christmas illumination extravaganza with Light Up Middletown at Smith Park.

Every year, Middletown’s parks attract roughly 400,000 annual visitors. As such, security and safety are primary considerations to help the venues appeal to residents and visitors. Beginning next year, the city will begin installing at least two security cameras at each park to help deter vandalism and other criminal activity.

Lewis said the city plans to revive a dedicated parks department over the next few years. The city has made its park system a priority through its development of a master plan, which was unveiled in September 2021 and outlined plans for its public spaces through 2030. In addition to evaluating the terrain and tree cover of Middletown’s parkland, it classified each parks as one of five types of properties – plazas, mini parks, neighborhood parks, community parks, nature preserves, and undeveloped parks – and evaluated each property on several criteria: pavement, landscape, safety, and security, and overall quality as excellent, good, fair, or poor, and its level of connectivity and accessibility to the community.

Lewis noted the city-wide commitment to events, such as the successful slate of gatherings initiated by Downtown Middletown Inc. and the city, and noted that one organization’s successful event symbiotically elevated interest in other city amenities.

Joe SimonMiami University-Middletown developed its trail as part of its original land gifted from Armco (now Cleveland Cliffs). A 2023 renovation provided bridges and additional signage and benches.
Inspiring minds
Originally known as Armco Park in honoring Middletown’s iconic steel company (now Cleveland Cliffs), the trail at the University of Miami-Middletown has long been a rustic refuge for the community. The company originally gifted 144 acres to Miami University to build a Middletown campus, and school administrators assumed administration of greenspace. In 1978 the Miami University-Middletown Trail was formally recognized after a major campus renovation.

The trail remained a prized community asset for decades, but as the campus workforce was decimated during the COVID-19 campus shutdown, the trail became overgrown and impassable in some sections. As campus life resumed, the school began making updates and refurbishing the trail, clearing out the overgrowth and adding bridges, benches, directional signage, and a visitor’s kiosk. In summer of 2023, the Miami University Middletown Nature Trail reopened with five revamped loops of unpaved paths.

Jennifer Clark, the senior of external relations and communications for Miami’s regional campuses, said the school was currently fundraising to create a $25,000 endowment that will pay for the trail’s upkeep in perpetuity.

Joe SimonSmith Park, located at the intersection of Tytus Road and Verity Parkway, is the largest of the city’s parks spanning 96 acres .

Key Middletown Parks

• Baker Bowl Skate Park Amenities: Located on a half-acre on the northeast corner of Smith Park, and named in honor of Monroe’s Baker Concrete Construction Company, which built the facility, the all-concrete Baker Bowl Skate Park features three separate areas for beginner, intermediate, and advanced skaters.
• Bull’s Run Sanctuary and Arboretum Amenities: Located at 3609 Rosedale Rd., Bull’s Run features an arboretum with labeled species of trees, a seasonal display garden of plants native to Ohio, birdwatching areas, and a Creekside walking trail.
• Douglass Park Amenities: Set on approximately 30 acres, Douglass Park is the site of the Middletown Community Center and offers a variety of athletic spaces, including basketball courts, football fields, sand volleyball, tennis courts and a splash pad.
• Lefferson Park Amenities: Set on 23 acres, Lefferson Park offers a four-field softball complex and 16 pickleball courts to provide ample space for enthusiasts of the nation’s fastest-growing sport.
• Miami-University Middletown Trail Amenities: Originally dedicated in 1978 and renovated in summer 2023, the trail offers a 1.5-mile loop with slightly rolling terrain. Recently installed improvements include directional signage and additional bench seating,  
• Sherman Park Amenities: A compact park set on 3.8 acres, Sherman Park offers a baseball diamond, lighted basketball court, picnic tables, and playoff equipment.
• Smith Park Amenities: The centerpiece of the Middletown park system, Smith Park is set on 96 acres and offers a seven-acre fishing pond, soccer fields, a splash pad, picnic shelters, skate park, and a walking trail.
• Sunset Park Amenities: The 15-acre park offers a lighted basketball court, tennis courts, and sand volleyball, and its close proximity to downtown makes it a popular spot for special events.

For a complete list of Middletown Parks, click here.

You can read earlier articles in the Soapbox Partner City Middletown series here.

The Soapbox Partner City Middletown series is made possible with support from Cincinnati Commercial Contracting (CCC) and the Middletown Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton.