Lisa Hlavinka | The Gazette

From cornfields to baseball fields.

It was a fleeting dream that crossed the mind of Owen Blakslee when he was an 11-year-old boy absent-mindedly plowing his father’s cornfields on Weymouth Road in Medina Township.

Six decades later, Blakslee’s childhood daydream came true on Sunday as he, along with other members of the Blakslee family, celebrated the grand opening of Blakslee Park on the spot where his family’s cornfields used to be.

Today, instead of cornfields, there are three baseball fields, two soccer fields, a maintenance garage and salt shed on the property. The township is currently seeking grant money to purchase more land and equipment to expand the park, trustee Mead Wilkins said.

Blakslee Park is named after Gad Blakslee and his family, who in 1817, settled on 640 acres of land near what would become Weymouth Road and Fenn Road. Their land was part of the original Western Reserve land grant, the Blakslees were the first white settlers in Medina Township, said Bette Collins, a Blakslee descendent.

The family farm was made up of about 85 acres when Collins was a girl living with her father, Max Blakslee, in his home across from the park.

Now, there are only about 50 acres left of the family farm, Collins said.

While much of the old farm has gone to land development, Collins said she is happy that the 28 acres bought by the township will be used by the entire community.

“We don’t need another housing development,” Collins said. “This is the best use of the land. My father would be very pleased to watch the kids play baseball. It’s great to know the land will be like this for many years to come.”

However, not all of the history is lost with the new park, Wilkins said.

Surprising the Blakslee family, Medina Township trustees obtained two gristmill stones from the old Blakslee farm, on permanent loan from the Medina County Historical Society. They are now planted in the ground near the maintenance garage, with a plaque explaining their origins.
The stones, dating from 1843, were used with a mill wheel to grind wheat into flour. Before that, the family would have to travel for 10 days by ox to get to the nearest mill in Stow, Wilkins said.

Wilkins said he was impressed by the turnout, and pleased with the sunny, warm weather that held out until the end of the celebration at 5 p.m.

The smooth day contrasted with the planning of Blakslee Park, which was six years in the making.

Four years were spent constructing the park. The township spent a year building a drainage system and moving a gas well on the property. In the end, $2.2 million was spent on Blakslee Park, including $700,000 for the maintenance garage and salt shed. Roughly $400,000 was put toward purchasing the 28 acres, Wilkins said.

The hard work seemed far behind as children played baseball, ate hot dogs and frolicked with animals at the petting zoo. Dozens of cars lined up for the antique car show.

Fox 8 weatherman Dick Goddard, who has sung with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra many times, opened the ribbon cutting ceremony by singing the national anthem. Goddard has lived across from Blakslee Park for about 10 years.

“I watched the whole progress,” he said. “It took years to get to this point.”

After the tumultuous planning and construction, Wilkins said he was thrilled the grand opening of Blakslee Park went without a hitch.

“Today, we finally got some good luck,” he said. “I think this is a huge asset to the community and it’s family-oriented. We’re trying to encourage healthy family interaction.”

Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.