The Cincinnati Parks system comprises around 10 percent of the city’s land and approximately 5,000+ acres. The system includes five regional and 70 neighborhood parks plus 34 nature preserves, as well as parkways and neighborhood gateways. They also maintain Cincinnati’s Street Tree program on 1,000 miles of City streets, operate five nature centers, an arboretum and one of the larger public plant conservatories in the country [exhale]. Given its high profile (one of the top three urban park systems in the nation per USA Today; a rating of “Excellent” by the Trust for Public Land), I don’t think anyone would refer to the parks as some sort of “undiscovered jewel” or anything of that sort, but I never cease to be amazed by the quality of the Cincinnati Parks as well as the support they receive. From dynamic head, Willie Carden Jr. down to the rank and file, the park crew is in constant peripatetic motion, and the results are impressive and worthy of being singled out for some Soapdish-style accolades.
Downtown’s Piatt Park is the city’s first park, dating all the way back to 1817, and Eden Park got its start in 1859, however much of the current success can be attributed to some master planning in the early 1900s when the Board of Park Commissioners huddled up and hatched a master plan. Helmed by noted parkitecht and 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair planner George Kessler, the city went about aggressively acquiring and setting aside the necessary land for much of the system that exists today. Kessler also emphasized using the hillsides to create dramatic views and overlooks which, in turn, would create desirable surrounding neighborhoods.
One theme that stands out, and a parallel that can be drawn to our current world, is that many of the historic structures in place at the parks were built via WPA programs during the Great Depression, including the Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park. The park projects that were already in planning stages gave Cincinnati a decided advantage in applying for federal assistance. Of the 135 structures existing in Cincinnati parks today, nearly half were produced during the period from 1929 to 1943, a permanent legacy courtesy of the New Deal. Similarly, as we move forward into the era of the “Great Stimulus,” the massive and truly impressive $120 million 50 acre Riverfront Park in progress on the Banks should be well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities. For example, recent news reports indicated that federal stimulus dollars will pay for most of a $35 million parking garage planned in the Banks riverfront development project, allowing work to start there years ahead of schedule. The approximately 550-space garage would be built immediately west of the Freedom Center Underground Railroad museum. According to reports, funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will cover $24.7 million and the private developer is scheduled to kick in $2 million that could be used for the garage. The City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County will each have to pony up between $2.9 and $4.2 million.
Tea-bagging activists, mouth-breathing WLW frequent-dialers and myopic local officials and bloviators have seized upon this good news with typical gift-horse-in-the-mouth aplomb. This is probably the same posse who marched on City Hall last April and requested that the stimulus money be returned. It should be noted that, already, the Banks is benefiting from greatly reduced raw material costs. The possibility that this project can now be moved up 4 to 5 years is huge where, in the construction world, time = money. Unfortunately, critics would prefer to adopt an isolationist approach to such opportunities. While there are certainly valid arguments to be made about the use of stimulus money, fiscal policy and the federal government’s role in the process, now is not the time to stand on ceremony while falling on the sword. The money will be out there, and if Cincinnati doesn’t take advantage, other similarly situated cities will. If that were to occur, it would be disastrous. Falling behind in this day and age is simply not an option.
It is stunning to hear public officials make vague statements alluding to how we need to cut back on big projects during times such as this. Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz’s flip-flop on the streetcar system is Exhibit A here. Again, myopic pandering reigns supreme. The fact is, some of the greatest civic and private projects in this country were built during the Great Depression. They were also well-positioned to be nearing completion when the economy turned around. The Banks as well as the Riverfront Park, the first phase of which is scheduled for completion in 2011, should be front and center at the stimulus trough. By the way, speaking of the Riverfront Park, rumor du jour is that a local restaurant group has the inside track on the restaurant that will be opening there.
But mayhaps I’m rambling a tad with all the skewering and such….so back to my original topic, Cincinnati’s park system. Last Friday evening was one of those perfect confluences of early summer, sunny, warm, cool at night, clear skies…and a wine tasting and tour of several parks courtesy of the Cincinnati Parks Board. Dubbed Views & Vines, the fundraiser bivouacked initially at Mt. Echo, on the near west side, with wines from Tino Vino and assorted hors d’oeuvres. If you have never been to Mt. Echo, it’s an easy trip up, and the views of the city and the bowing curve of the river are indeed as good as advertised. From there, the moveable feast packed into a cadre of tour busses, accompanied by a police escort, and motored quickly over to the Ted Berry International Friendship Park along the river. This park, Cincinnati’s newest, has really come into its own with the art installations and riverside trail. It also provides a nice green counterweight to some of the unattractive (for now at least) condo structures rising on the Northern Kentucky side of the river. In the park center, we were treated to yet another wine offering, as well as food from Andy’s Mediterranean Grille. Bonus fact, I did not realize the curved benches in this park were inspired by Gaudi’s Park Güell in Barcelona.
Departing from the river, the caravan ambled up to Clifton and Burnet Woods, where wine quaffing participants took turns sampling salads from Bella Luna and trying out the old stone slide adjacent to the nature center while avoiding concussions in the process. Bonus fact here is that the park system stocks the pond at Burnet Woods, the only place in Cincinnati where you can legally fish without a state license. Burnet Woods also has a hand-cranked planetarium, the oldest one West of the Alleghenies (as an aside, I love it when people use the phrase “West of the Alleghenies.” It is a popular one here, and is always a Commander McBragg style setup for some ancient yet venerable old structure or institution). The busses then cruised back to Mt. Echo for Montgomery Inn victuals and live music of the Django-swing variety provided by the Hot Club of Terrace Park, as fireworks from the Reds game provided the visual stimulus for a great conclusion to the evening.
Kudos to the Cincinnati Parks Foundation for a great event. For more information on the park system, click
here. A well run urban parks system is not something to take for granted, and this is certainly a diamond in Cincinnati’s tiara as far as livable cities go. Dare I say it, for my money, it’s certainly one of the finest urban parks systems West of the Alleghenies.
Photography by Scott Beseler
Theodore Berry International Friendship Park
The Banks
Views & Vines
4 bus caravan for Views & Vines
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