OhioHealth is committing $100,000 for the Mansfield Rising: Downtown Investment Project.

The money will be specifically used toward creating a permanent linear park, which will encourage pedestrians to walk between the Imagination District and the downtown historic Carousel District, which are less than a half mile apart.

A press conference was held at 9 a.m. Thursday at OhioHealth Mansfield at 335 Glessner Ave.

"One way to complete our mission 'to improve the health of those we serve' is to create safer and more appealing settings for people to walk within our communities," Vinson Yates, president of OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital and OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, said. "We have close partnerships with the Buckeye Imagination Museum, Renaissance Theatre and Downtown Mansfield Inc., and this linear park will be able to tie our community partners together while beautifying a portion of downtown Mansfield and creating a designated space for people to walk."

Linear parks, which are parks in urban settings, transform alleys, parking lots and under-utilized properties into safe walkways and greenspaces for gathering, exploring and art.

Mansfield Rising created a temporary pop-up, linear park in parking areas along Third Street during the fall of 2021.

"We were impressed by the partnerships and collaboration for the pop-up projects and the number of people who visited and participated in the space," Allie Watson, senior community investment officer with the Richland County Foundation and member of Mansfield Rising.

OhioHealth also contributed to the West End Neighborhood Improvement Project in Mansfield. The first phase of the project updated the streetscape on Glessner Avenue with improved street lighting as well as new crosswalks, sidewalks and trees. The neighborhood is adjacent to the OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital campus.