The Kiwanis Club of Findlay wanted to put together a big project for their 100th anniversary. They settled on building a park for families to enjoy off of County Road 236. That piece of land was owned by the Hancock Historical Museum, and wasn't seeing a lot of use.
The park is named after a longtime club member, James Brucklacher, who was also one of the founders of the Hancock Historical Museum. Club members say that he would have been happy to see kids enjoying a park like this one.
"Every day I came out I asked myself if Jim would be proud, and he would be," said Rick Kidwell, a Findlay Kiwanian. "It ended up being a very beautiful project, and we’re just so pleased to be able to offer this to the community."
Irvin Reinhart, president of RCM Architects, is a member of the Findlay Kiwanis. He contributed to the project by donating his company's services in helping to design the park, and says that a lot of local companies were part of the design and construction process.
He hopes that this park will have a lasting effect on the community surrounding it. "The Kiwanis' mission is to serve the children of the world, and there’s no better way that we can do that than with playgrounds like this and projects like this," Reinhart said. "It’s been so gratifying too because the neighborhood, even during construction, was coming out - all of the houses in the area were coming out and saying 'we’re so happy that you’re doing this for us', it's extremely gratifying."
The project cost $180,000, which was raised by the club over the last year.
