By Jackie Borchardt

July 18, 2018 - Ohio Governor John Kasich said there was no question about naming Ohio's newest state park after Olympian and former Clevelander Jesse Owens. 

Kasich said Tuesday the sprinter and fellow Buckeye is one of his heroes, "one of the two or three people I always focused on and thought were really great leaders."

The new Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area encompasses 5,735 acres of land in Morgan County that previously belonged to American Electric Power. The state plans to spend $26 million over the next three years to buy a total of 13,000 acres of what's currently AEP's ReCreation Land.   

Ohio Governor John Kasich was joined by Jesse Owens' daughters, Marlene Owens Rankin and Beverly Owens Prather, for a ceremony dedicating the new Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area on Tuesday.

Photo by Jackie Borchardt

When complete, Jesse Owens will be the largest state park in Ohio, Kasich said, "dominating all other state parks." 

Kasich was joined by Owens' daughters, Marlene Owens Rankin and Beverly Owens Prather, as well as OSU football coach Urban Meyer and basketball coach Chris Holtmann, at a dedication ceremony inside Jesse Owens Stadium at Ohio State University. 

Owens moved from Alabama to Cleveland when he was 9 years old and was a track star at Cleveland's East Technical High School and Ohio State University. He competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, one of 18 African-Americans to medal at the games held in Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.  

Kasich planned to plant four trees at the park in McConnelsville on Tuesday afternoon, in honor of the four medals won by Owens. 

Owens' daughters said their father loved the outdoors and spent as much time enjoying nature as he could at his Michigan summer home. 

"The idea that families will have the opportunity to experience nature in a park bearing his name is more than he could have ever imagined," Marlene Owens Rankin said. 

The park comes from the more than 60,000-acre ReCreation Land, former coal mining land that was reclaimed for outdoor recreation and made available to the public for free. For decades, outdoor enthusiasts have visited the area for hunting, fishing, camping and other activities. Two of the site's six campgrounds were included in the first land purchased for the state park: Campgrounds G and C, now called Maple Grove and Sand Hollow, respectively. 

Area excluded from the park remains free, but visitors still need to obtain a permit, available at sporting goods stores and bait shops nearby as well as the McConnelsville AEP office. 

State officials have said the purchase of the land ensures the area remains free and open to the public, which would not be guaranteed under a private owner. 

Kasich said he hopes the new park helps others remember Owens' courage. 

"It inspires me to stand tall to avoid the pitfalls we all run into as human beings and to try to bring a brighter, shinier, sunnier day to all the lives that we touch," Kasich said. 

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