What is it: A new life-sized chess/checkerboard will be ready to welcome players in downtown Sandusky’s Washington Park in the spring.
The project began to take shape around the City of Sandusky’s bicentennial celebration in 2018, according to City of Sandusky Recreation Superintendent Jason Werling.
In 2018, the
Friends of the Sandusky Greenhouse supported the project by applying for $4,000 in grant funding from the
Wightman-Wieber Charitable Foundation. Additional parks and recreations funds provided by the
Mylander Foundation also were used to fund the project.
“The project was delayed due to other pending projects in the park and then the pandemic,” Werling says. “It was pushed to get done this year by Project Manager Megan Stookey, as there were other concrete projects scheduled.”
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In the 1930s and 1940s, a giant checkerboard was located in Washington Park, close to where the red popcorn wagon now is situated. (Photo/Sandusky History Blogspot)A historical callback: The board isn’t the first time a project of this type has been in Washington Park, as there was a similar feature in the park in the 1930s and 40s. According to the
blog “Sandusky History,” the 12-inch-square concrete checkers had a metal loop on top, and players used a hook to move the pieces around the board.
The gameboard was popular among locals and tourists alike, including John Glenn Sr., father of astronaut John Glenn. When he visited Sandusky in March 1964, according to the blog, “he was sad to learn that the giant checkerboard had been dismantled several years ago.”
Why is it important: The project provides a passive option for recreation in Washington Park, Werling says. The checkers will be available throughout the warmer months and chess pieces will be available for special events and designated times when the
Red Popcorn Wagon is open. There will also be two concrete tables added with inlaid normal-sized checkerboards on top.