CINCINNATI -- Collapsing bridges. Cracking sidewalks. Crumbling shelter buildings.
Those are a sampling of the problems plaguing a handful of Cincinnati’s parks. But park leaders say they don’t have the money to fix those issues anytime soon.
Cincinnati taxpayers turned down a parks tax last fall that would have funneled cash to the parks board so they could upgrade some of the city’s public spaces. Now, the Cincinnati Parks Board has no plan to fix hazardous conditions – including buckling steps or broken handrails – at parks throughout the city, Otto Budig, the board’s chairman said Thursday.
“We have a dire situation on our hands that gets worse every year,” Budig said during a regular board meeting. “What are we going to do about it? How are we going to deal with it?”
Among the most pressing park problems presented to the board Thursday:
- Deteriorating and unused historic building as well as bathrooms at Inwood Park in Mt. Auburn
- Collapsing steps at Jackson Hill Park in Mt. Auburn
- Pothole-ridden sidewalks and roadways at Burnet Woods Park in Avondale
- Broken, unusable steps at Fairview Park in University Heights
- Crumbling concrete at a defunct amphitheater that sits behind Music Hall in Over-The-Rhine
- Rusting steel at a fishing pier in Sawyer Point in downtown
- Cracking playground surfaces at Alms Park in Mt. Lookout
“The idea that we have one of the best parks systems in the country is a myth,” Budig said of the laundry list of issues.
The city gave the parks $15 million last year to maintain the system and $2 million for capital projects – money typically used to make upgrades or invest in new projects. The parks board, which estimates it faces a backlog of $55 million in maintenance across the parks, had hoped to bring in more cash from taxpayers with the failed levy on the ballot last fall.
Now the board is pinning its hopes to get more money from the city in next year’s budget. Some City Council members have pledged to push for more funding to the parks since the levy failed.
“Hopefully, we’ll find some advocates for this,” Budig said.
Parks director Willie Carden said he is actively shopping around the parks’ needs to City Council members.
Still, it’s a stretch. The city is also facing a projected $14 million deficit in next year’s budget. And, Budig said Thursday he’s not under any illusion that parks funding will be a top priority for the city; funding for police, fire and roads has to come first.
Carden said he is facing reality: The parks system is preparing to close trails the board can’t afford to fix up.
The parks board owns roughly 65 miles of trails throughout the city. Each mile of trail costs roughly $80,000 to fix, Steve Shuckman, the parks’ planning superintendent, told the board.
Shuckman said he’s working on developing a master plan that will determine which trails will be closed and which will stay open.
Trails that need too much work – ones with massive trees blocking the walkways, crumbling stairs and eroding paths – might close.
Carden said Friday employees will take a look at every trail in the parks system and decide from there which trails need to be shut down. The parks system could start closing trails as soon as June, he added.
“If it’s a four mile trail and it’s a disaster, that’s a candidate (to close),” Carden said.
