Although cliché to say it (and I'm loathe to use clichés), when it comes to our humble burg's parks, Cincinnati's park system is literally and figuratively one of the city's "crown jewels."
Commonly referred to as ranking in the top three city park systems in the country, with 100 parks and approximately 5,000 acres of greenspaces under its purview, the beauty lies not just in its physical attributes but also in the execution. Under the peripatetic yet supremely skilled leadership of Director Willie F. Carden, Jr., the Park Board and the private, non-profit
Cincinnati Parks Foundation have forged a sterling example of the quintessentially successful public/private partnership.
Upon first moving to the city, I was amazed at the depth and breadth of our city parks, from the small enclave at the end of my former North Avondale street (
Avon Woods) to the grande dames of Eden, Ault, Alms, Echo, Airy and beyond. And it didn't require an extensive automobile trip to access them, whether at the end of the street or a short ten minute jaunt away.
Noted landscape architect George Kessler, when visiting Cincinnati to produce its first Parks Master Plan in 1907, observed that "Cincinnati is particularly adapted to the connected park system . . . Few cities in the world are provided with such precipitous hills and integrated streams which thrust themselves directly into the heart of the community." Kessler's plan envisioned taking advantage of the topography and views, with broad tree-lined boulevards linking the parks. He stressed the importance of relieving congestion of crowded conditions and traffic in the city, and the need to secure land before it was developed. His plan promoted the use of hillsides to provide distant views and overlooks and to create desirable residential neighborhoods. While, with the exception of Victory, Columbia and Central parkways, many of the tree-lined boulevard aspects of the plan were not realized, the current parks still owe a great deal to the founding principles articulated in the Kessler plan.
Over the years, the Park Board, in conjunction with the Parks Foundation, has performed admirably in carrying out the spirit if not the letter of the Kessler Plan. According to its raison d'être, the Foundation's mission is to "build broad-based private/public partnerships supporting the conservation and enhancement of our City's parks and greenspaces. The Foundation was created by the Board of Park Commissioners in order to increase private and philanthropic support for the Cincinnati Parks. Based on recent headlines, it seems to be working.
At the opening of the Jacob G. Schmidlap Stage and Event Lawn this May - the first completed portion of what will ultimately be the $125 million
Cincinnati Riverfront Park - it was announced that the park received a new private donation of an additional $21 million. This is on top of the $8 million in private funds already raised. While $17.75 million will be available immediately, the remaining amount is to be used to generate additional private donations in order to meet the stated goal of $40 million in private funds. As Foundation President Cathy Crain observed, "the beauty of the park system is the public/private partnership that leverages the necessary funds to support it." Moreover, as Crain also noted, the Parks are "doing an enormous amount with a lot less." Indeed, according to a 2008 study by the Trust for Public Land, Cincinnati ranked 15th in total parks spending per resident at $154. This was based on both operating and capital expenditures, excluding zoos, museums, aquariums and cemeteries. By way of perspective, Washington D.C. Ranked #1 at $259 per resident, while Detroit, by way of contrast, spent $26 per.
That ranking may be eroding, however, as a shrinking city budget has repeatedly slashed the park budget's general funding. In 2008, the public component of the park's funding was $5,038,665, which was reduced to $4,747,329 in 2009 and $4,493,265 in 2010. In 2011, the Park Board's approved general fund target began at $5,303,030, with the increase intended to cover the new Riverfront Park and the renovated
Washington Park. Instead, however, the parks ended up with $3,911,780 for 2011, a $1,391,250 reduction from target, and a considerable chop from last year.
Balancing the budget on the backs of the parks, one of the city's aforementioned "crown jewels," seems less than ideal for a city seeking to attract new residents and expand its tax base. Fortunately, the Park Board and Foundation, under Carden's direction, has proven increasingly adept at absorbing the budgetary blows.
While the private funding component, along with an admirable army of volunteers, can be counted on to plug some of the holes, it's clear that cuts will need to be made, from the relatively small - less frequent grass mowing and trash pickup, to perhaps the extreme - closing certain parks and no longer maintaining greenspaces such as Victory and Torrence Parkways or the planters on Ft. Washington Way. The never-ending budget cuts lead to some tension in the mix, as the public has been accustomed to meticulously maintained parks, while expecting them to be operated on a shoestring budget. Meanwhile the workload continues to expand, with the Park Board taking on the added responsibilities of Sawyer Point, Washington Park and the Riverfront Park, with increasingly limited resources. As Crain observed, "people have to understand it's not the park's fault when things don't work as they used to. We simply don't have the money."
That said, she also emphasized that the public "trusts and gives to the Foundation - it's the perfect public-private relationship." Moreover, the recently announced blockbuster gift to Riverfront Park demonstrates that the well of private contributions is far from dry.
Do yourself a favor and check out the city's many parks, including the recently opened space on the river. While you don't need to write a check for $21 million, they will most assuredly accept a lesser amount.
Photography by Scott Beseler.