'No truth' to rumor of Classen Park sale

Classen Park in Corryville is not for sale to developers, according to City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr.

In a report to City Council, Dohoney dismissed a rumor received in an e-mail communication received by Julie Murray, a member of the CUF Neighborhood Association board of trustees that the one-acre park at Calhoun Street and Jefferson Avenue (BIRD'S EYE).

"There is no truth to this rumor," Dohoney writes.

The property lies near redevelopment sites owned by the Uptown Consortium and the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC).

Towne Properties has been selected as the preferred developer for both of those sites.

In her communication, Murray said that redevelopment of the park made no sense given the amount of undeveloped land in the neighborhood, and pointed out that the park was the only place for students of Corryville Catholic to play.

Dohoney says that several years ago, CHCURC approached the Cincinnati Park Board about selling Classen Park for development in return for a new community park space closer to the center of the CUF neighborhood.

Some greenspace would have remained at the Classen Park site after development.

The idea gained no traction, and contact between CHCURC and the Park Board on the Classen Park property fizzled out.

Classen Park is owned by the Cincinnati Park Board and is zoned PR Parks and Recreation, meaning that a series of public rezoning hearings would be necessary before it could be developed.

Previous reading on BC:
Is Classen Park for sale? (4/9/08)