Best of 2007
The Best of Cincinnati - Mt. Storm Park & Rapid Run Park were announced in Cincinnati Magazine’s “Best of Cincinnati” issue as the best places for Downhill Slides. Keep these two locations in mind this winter when snow heads our way!
A definite highlight occurred on the morning of September 6, when Mr. Carden welcomed Governor Strickland to kick off his “What’s Hot in Cincinnati” tour at Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park.
The Women’s Committee for Riverfront Park hosted its first Hat Luncheon under a festive tent on the future site of the proposed park, on May 17, 2007. Plus, the Park Board received great news in November that the omnibus appropriation passed by Congress included over a half million dollars of federal funding to the Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction of Riverfront Park in 2008!
On April 17 the Park Board and volunteer partners dedicated “Everybody’s Treehouse” in Mt. Airy Forest. This wonderful, wheelchair accessible treehouse was privately funded and built by volunteers from the community. Thanks again to our treehouse partners, the Cincinnati Rotary, the Home Depot, Messer Construction, Baker Concrete, the Marvin Lewis Community Fund and the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati.
A new continuous paved path weaves through the Bettman Nature Preserve in Evanston, providing wheelchair access through the top of the wooded site. The Katherine T. & Fletcher E. Nyce sensory garden frames the pathway and meadows. The project was made possible by a group of donors with matching funds provided by the Park Board.
Parks was proud to host the kick-off of the 2007 Solar Tour in Cincinnati at Eden Park, on Saturday, October 6. Our Mayor’s Green Initiative “green building demonstration project” gave visitors an opportunity to check out the wind turbine and solar panel converters inside the building that bring the energy directly to the power grid.
After being closed for renovation, the Trailside Nature Center in Burnet Woods was re-opened in June, with great response from the surrounding neighborhoods.
Everybody was excited when the M3 Trail Bridge, built by our summer Green Leaf youth and named in honor of Mayor Mark Mallory, was unveiled in August. The Mayor and City Council provided funding for the Park Board to create 50 Green Leaf jobs in order to hire young people from Cincinnati neighborhoods, ages 14-17. Their summer work in Parks taught the students valuable job skills that will also serve them well in future endeavors.
