Ashland's Newest Places to Walk Were Paid For by Neighbors

The two newest places to walk in Ashland this fall share a funding source, and it isn't the city budget. Donations and member support paid for the Southern Boone Area YMCA's new trail loop and the fields beside it, at a total of about $460,000. The newest landmark at the city's dog park is a memorial bench and plaque that a local Eagle Scout built.

At City Park, the work the city itself is handling is still at the pricing and planning stage. Public Works is collecting prices to replace the walking-trail bridge, and the proposed playground is a $335,000 planning concept. The parts you can use today came from donors, Scouts and volunteer groups, and the bigger public repairs are still on paper.

The loop on the west side of the Y

The new trail is an 8-foot-wide asphalt path running 0.63 miles around the west side of the YMCA property. According to the Boone County Journal's report on the opening, it is open to everyone in the community, whether or not they have a YMCA membership. Planning for the trail and the new football and soccer fields started in 2019, so the loop took roughly six years to go from idea to pavement.

Branch Director Kip Batye put it simply to the Boone County Journal:

"We're extremely excited about the trail. It's been a long time coming."

The rules are posted at the trail and summarized in the paper's Around Town column. They're short enough to remember:

The loop has 15 benches, and community members who backed the project sponsored each one. The Around Town columnist suggests a use for them: 10 sit-and-stand exercises at each bench for a leg workout. The YMCA is also taking donations to plant more trees around the trail in the spring. That means the loop will look a little different next year, and neighbors are paying for the change.

The fields inside the project are finished but still need grass to grow in. Batye told the paper the YMCA hopes to have soccer on them in spring 2027. For now, a fall walk on the loop passes fields that are still filling in.

A bench, a plaque and a dog named Tuff

Across town, the volunteer pattern continues at City Park, 315 North College St. On Sept. 12, 2026, the same day as the Fall Festival, the city renamed its community dog park Tuff Memorial Dog Park.

Tuff lived in Ashland for most of her life. According to the City of Ashland's announcement, she was a "live find" search and rescue dog who deployed with her owner, Tom Andert, and Missouri Task Force 1 after the Sept. 11 attacks. The team flew out of Whiteman Air Force Base and arrived in New Jersey that evening. Starting Sept. 12, Tuff and her search partner Hawk worked the rubble at Ground Zero for 11 days. She came home to Missouri and lived out her retirement here until 2013. The renaming fell 25 years after the attacks. ABC17 covered the dedication the same afternoon.

The permanent piece of the memorial came from a resident, not a public works line item. Lex Long of Ashland built a commemorative bench and plaque as his Eagle Scout service project, with support from Ashland Troop 134. The city's release says he first wanted to honor Tuff after visiting the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in 2021. The Park Board's October minutes mention the unveiling of the Eagle Scout project as one of the things members discussed after the Fall Festival.

The entrance is still in progress. ABC17 reported that the temporary sign will be replaced with a permanent one once the city redesigns the entrance, and that volunteers hoped to finish that work by the end of the year. At the Oct. 19 Park Board meeting, members discussed the permanent sign and the Public Works director asked what material they wanted it made from. If you visit in early November, plan on the bench and plaque being there and the final signage still being decided.

City Park's own projects are still at the estimate stage

The donor-built projects are finished or close to it. The city's work at City Park is earlier in the process. The Oct. 19, 2026 Park Board packet lists where each item stands:

1. Pavilions and gazebo. Public Works has started power washing them and is listing the materials needed for repairs.
2. Walking-trail bridge. Public Works is getting prices to replace it.
3. Outfield fence. The YMCA removed a temporary outfield fence that was in poor condition and needs replacing.
4. Old flagpole. The board voted to remove the abandoned flagpole base and keep the plaque that was mounted on it.

The biggest item in the packet is the playground. A planning concept dated Oct. 19, 2026 proposes two new play structures. One is for ages 5 to 12, with a 42-by-37-foot footprint and room for 65 to 70 children. The other is for ages 2 to 12, with a 28-by-19-foot footprint and room for 30 to 35. The concept also adds a three-bay inclusive swing set with a regular belt seat, a toddler bucket and adaptive seating. It would expand the sandbox, add rubber safety surfacing, improve accessible routes, keep the mature trees in the current play area, and return unused areas to grass.

The conceptual budget is $335,000. The document says plainly that this figure is for planning, grant development and refining with vendors and engineers, and that it is not a final bid or construction estimate. Compare that with the YMCA project. About $460,000 in donations and member support has already paid for a finished loop and seeded fields. The playground concept proposes going after the 2027 round of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant program, with application packets due Nov. 13, 2026. The document notes that eligibility and the local match still have to be confirmed.

The concept's scope is also narrow on purpose. The $335,000 figure is separate from the shelter, gazebo, bridge and dog park maintenance work. It also leaves out the larger watershed, pond, trail reconstruction and park lighting projects, which the city treats as future phases because they involve drainage, property and capital planning. In practice, the City Park walking track you use today is the one you'll have for a while, and any new playground depends on a grant round that funds 2027 projects, with the city's application due Nov. 13.

The December evening volunteers are still organizing

The same pattern carries into the holidays. The biggest downtown event on the calendar belongs to volunteer and civic groups. The Ashland Betterment Coalition, the Ashland Optimists, Boone Health and the Boone County Journal are hosting "Jingle & Mingle" on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 3 to 5 p.m. in downtown Ashland and at the Optimist building. The Around Town column lists story time, crafts, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, face painting, a hot chocolate bar, carnival games, balloon animals and food. Organizers are also planning more activities across the business district. The Christmas parade and tree lighting follow at 6 p.m.

The parade is still being planned. At the October Park Board meeting, a representative for the Ashland Betterment Coalition said the group was still planning, still looking for volunteers, and had permission from the school to use the high school parking lot. The board also discussed the parade route. If you want to help with the event, the Betterment Coalition is the group to contact, and it was still asking for volunteers as of the Oct. 19 meeting.

On a weekday afternoon this fall, that means a loop at the Y and a stop at Tuff's bench, both paid for by neighbors. Then in mid-December, an evening downtown that volunteers are organizing right now.

At ProMO Real Estate, Phebe Tutt follows what's being built in Ashland, from new trails to City Park's playground plans, because those changes shape daily life in Southern Boone. If you're wondering how local updates like these factor into what your Ashland home is worth, start with Get Your Instant Home Valuation and then talk it through with Phebe directly.