DD Board plans facility additions

CELINA - Mercer County Board of Developmental Disabilities plans to build pickleball and bocce ball courts and a putting green at its site on Mud Pike Road for Special Olympians thanks to a state grant.

Also, several counties have jointly been awarded $225,000 to purchase a pair of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restroom trailers equipped with universal changing tables that will appear at local events.

Mercer DD was awarded $90,887 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Home and Community Based Services funds to support citizens with developmental disabilities and their families.

Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Director Kim Hauck announced that $14.9 million in ARPA money will be distributed across 67 counties for things such as universal changing tables and accessible public places and parks.

Mercer County DD will use the grant to renovate its basketball court and install a pickleball court alongside it and construct two bocce ball courts and a putting green designed for wheelchair users at its site at 4980 Mud Pike Road.

The additions will help Mercer DD expand its Special Olympics offerings for wheelchair users, said director Shawn Thieman.

"The one thing that we're not super at is getting people with wheelchairs activities and things that they participate in (with Special Olympics)," he said. "Bocce ball is a great sport and it's basically just a long piece of grass or turf."

The putting green will allow for wheelchair users to better participate in the unified golf team, he said.

"So this area, it'll be handicap accessible. Hopefully it's creating an area built specifically for people with disabilities," Thieman added.

Mercer County has 144 individuals aged 12 to 60 involved in various Special Olympic sports, such as unified cheer, cheer, basketball, unified golf and more.

"It's for us. We want it (the new courts) to be something that we own and can control in that way," Thieman said. "(We can) have some tournaments and bigger events. It's exciting."

Construction at the facility should start this summer, Thieman said.

Additionally, Mercer, Champaign, Shelby, Darke, Hardin, Logan, Miami, Preble, Sandusky, Union and Wyandot counties will jointly receive $225,000 from the same grant program to buy two ADA-compliant restroom trailers equipped with universal changing tables.

The trailers will be for all of the participating counties to share for various events in their communities.

Mercer DD coordinated with the county fair and had an adult changing table at the 2023 fair that Thieman said was very well received.

"I couldn't believe how people received that and how enthusiastic people were in the community to hear that we were going to have a changing room station," he said. "Not just our people, but that was nursing homes that were excited about it."

The excitement led Thieman and his staff to start thinking about other community events beyond the fair that could use an adult changing room, he said.

"What about Lake Festival? What about Coldwater Picnic? What about CountryFest over at Maria Stein?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be neat if we had something where our people with disabilities would feel like they could go to any of those places and have at least the ability that if they needed it it was there?"

Thieman has already reserved the trailers for the aforementioned events and said he is looking forward to working with event organizers to promote the trailers.