Grant Park in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood could be in line for a nearly $12 million makeover, with a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, to discuss major renovations to the East McMicken Avenue park, WKRC reported. The proposal, led by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation, known as 3CDC, would remake the neighborhood park with new places to play, gather and spend time outdoors.
3CDC is seeking almost $6 million from the neighborhood’s tax increment financing, or TIF, fund to help pay for the project, according to WKRC. The proposed plan would add a water play area, an inclusive playground, sports courts and a dog park, along with other improvements, WKRC reported.
Ownership of the park would not change under the proposal. According to the city’s website, as reported by WKRC, Cincinnati would keep control of the property, while 3CDC would manage and maintain the park. Grant Park, at 73 East McMicken Avenue, serves as a community gathering space and green space for families and residents in northern Over-the-Rhine.
The plan heads into the meeting without a formal show of support from the neighborhood. On Monday, the community council voted to postpone a letter of support, WKRC reported. Even without that letter, 3CDC plans to submit its funding application by Friday, and no final decisions were to be made at Wednesday’s meeting, according to WKRC.
The October discussion builds on plans first laid out publicly over the summer. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported in August that 3CDC was working on the redesign of the 1.2-acre park with Human Nature, the firm behind Washington Park and Ziegler Park, and that early drawings showed sports courts, a dog park and a playground. At that time, the Enquirer reported, the project was estimated at $9 million — a figure the current proposal now puts at nearly $12 million.
The Enquirer also reported that Grant Park sits a few blocks southeast of the $48 million Findlay Community Hub and would serve as an extension of that facility, and described the park as long considered one of the most dangerous open areas in Over-the-Rhine. Supporters of the renovation say a rebuilt park, tied to the nearby community hub, could give northern Over-the-Rhine families a safer and more welcoming everyday destination.
What happens next turns on the funding application 3CDC plans to file by Friday and on the city’s review of the requested TIF money. Residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting heard the details without a final vote, and the postponed community council letter means neighborhood leaders have not yet weighed in formally. NewsForce247 will follow the application and the city’s decision on the nearly $12 million proposal.