The park is to remain a passive nature reserve, said John Wannemacher, president of the Miami County Park District Board, at the park’s dedication Oct. 1.
During the years, many Miami County residents have donated large tracts of land for parks, he said. Among them are: Rose and Tom Timmer, who gave 114 acres that will become Honey Creek Preserve, at 4536 Ohio 202, north of Ohio 571 and east of Tipp City in Bethel Twp.; the Howells, Bravos, and Hobarts, who donated 80 acres in the center of Troy, now the Hobart Urban Nature Preserve; and Mark and Dorothy Knoop. The Knoops donated 239 acres through a trust that will eventually go to the park district as part of a 414-acre tract in the Lost Creek Reserve and Knoop Agricultural Heritage Center, east of Troy, in Staunton Twp.
Others have helped through money donations and tax levies, Wannemacher said.
“John has always had the best interests of the city of Troy and Miami County in his heart,” said Jerry Eldred, executive director of the Miami County Park District.
The 110-acres of the new John A. Wannemacher Reserve were originally owned and used as crop land by Emerson Wagner and Thomas Given, who donated a $112,000 conservation easement to the park district in December 1999, Eldred said. When the property went up for sale two years ago, the park district used a $270,383 Clean Ohio Conservation Grant, private contributions and some levy funds to purchase the land for $230,000, he said. With added development costs of $84,383, the total cost was $314,383.
The park district’s contribution ended up being just $10,000, as the district also got a Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Program grant of $34,000, Eldred said.
“I love to see preservation,” said Concord Twp. Trustee Sue Campbell, who lives down the road from the new park. “Once you build houses, it’s usually not turned back into farmland,” she said. “John’s been dedicated to the area.”
“Ohio could use Miami County as a standard for all other counties to emulate” in preserving land for future generations to enjoy, said Ohio House Rep. Richard N. Adams, 79th District. “We need to make sure things we value are maintained in perpetuity.”
He presented Eldred with a framed resolution adopted by the Ohio House of Representatives congratulating Wannemacher on the opening of the park named in his honor, stating, “It is a fitting tribute to you for your outstanding record of service to the Troy area.”
Eldred presented Wannemacher with a framed picture of two bucks in the park taken by the park’s development director Kevin Swanson.
“I’m very humbled to have this park named after me and to be so honored,” Wannemacher said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author