Environmentally-friendly improvements to Pleasant Ridge Park won't be coming anytime soon, according to a report from Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr.
The report to City Council is in response to a communication from Janet Teske to Vice Mayor David Crowley that presented a preliminary site plan for the 9-acre park that included an environmental walking path, a series of rain gardens, and a rooftop garden for the community center's filter house.
The plan has the support of the Pleasant Ridge Community Council and many community members, who were hoping to secure City assistance to fund it.
Although Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) and Cincinnati Park Board staff have met with Teske, Dohoney says that her plan for the 9-acre park is ambitious - and expensive - estimated at more than $351,000 to complete.
"The Recreation Commission supports the basic concept and goals of the plan, but funding is a major challenge," Dohoney says. "In addition, there are recommendations to remove and relocate several existing amenities that would greatly affect our current users."
In the report, Dohoney lists a number of improvements that CRC has made to the park over the past few years:
- Air conditioning installed in the gymnasium and ball fields renovated in 2008
- Pool filtration system replaced and tennis courts renovated in 2007
- A new pool house completed in 2006
- 1,000 Hands Playground constructed in 2000
It is unclear if the community will seek other sources of funding, or wait until the next budget cycle.
Previous reading on BC:
Improvements sought for Pleasant Ridge Park (6/16/08)
