Ahrens Park
The Ahrens/Paschall Memorial Park, opened in 1994, is home to eight youth softball and baseball fields, outdoor basketball courts, a tennis court, four pickleball courts, a sand volleyball court, a golf driving range, several playground areas, three shelter houses, a sledding hill, community gardens, green spaces, dog park, and a one and a half mile outdoor walking path.
The Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation has provided millions of dollars over the past thirty years to help support the ongoing operations and capital needs of the Ahrens/Paschall Memorial Park since 1993, when the park was being built.
Playground Features
The playground areas feature play structures from Miracle Recreation Equipment, the company founded by the late Claude W. Ahrens in Grinnell. Installed in 2018, the playgrounds – one area for 3-5 year-olds and one area for 5-12 year-olds, feature a wide range of play structures and sensory play panels throughout. The younger playground offers handicap accessible features tooffer inclusive play for all children. The accessibility features of this playground include ramped units and transfer points for wheelchair bound children, as well as sensory play panels for kids of all abilities. The transfer points allow kids to use their upper bodies to crawl through play areas. The swing set in the younger children’s unit has an “inclusive seat,” a chair with a high back and shoulder harness.
Surfacing for all of the areas includes rubber poured in place and rubber mulch, considered the #1 safest play surface for playgrounds. The older age appropriate playground area features Miracle’s “biggest and best” Mega Tower with six different slides.
parkrun is a place where people can come together to walk, run or volunteer—and feel good—which is why it’s called The Feel Good Movement.
parkrun started in the United Kingdom in 2004 with a mission to make the world healthier and happier through free, inclusive and accessible community events. People of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and walks of life come together every Saturday morning and participate by walking, running or volunteering. There are almost 100 parkruns throughout the United States, and almost half a million people participate in parkruns around the world each week.
Grinnell is the latest community to join the parkrun family. The volunteer-led initiative takes place weekly on Saturday mornings at Ahrens Park at 8:00 a.m. May thru September, and 9:00 a.m. October thru April. Participants are invited to complete a 5K (3.1 mile) double-loop by walking, jogging or running. There are also a variety of volunteer opportunities. Dogs on leashes are welcome as are young children in strollers.