A top leader for the development group in talks to renovate Downtown’s Piatt Park admitted it was a mistake to say the park needs renovation to prevent “persistent misuse.”
During a May 12 presentation to a Downtown community council, the chief operating officer for the Center City Development Corp. (the nonprofit group known as 3CDC) walked back a slide that ignited criticism among park supporters of a proposed deal to lease Piatt Park to her company.
“We made a mistake in including that slide. We shouldn’t have done that,” Paula Boggs Muething said. “Broadly speaking, we care very deeply about everybody. We want Piatt Park to be welcoming to be everybody. The parks are for everyone and we have proven that in Washington Park, in Ziegler Park, in Elm Street Plaza and in Fountain Square.”
In April, the Cincinnati Park Board OK’d a plan to lease Piatt Park to 3CDC so it could seek state funding. It’s a part of a mixed-use project that includes the nearby vacant Garfield Suites Hotel that 3CDC is purchasing and other properties.
One slide in the presentation 3CDC gave to the park board described challenges at the park, including “persistent misuse” next to a photo of volunteers providing a meal in the park. The phrasing drew calls for a pause to the agreement from members of a group called Cincy Food Not Bombs, who regularly offer food to homeless park patrons.
Some Downtown residents have reported trash and rats left behind after the group’s meals, and city officials have discussed requesting that the group clean up better afterwards.
In the weeks following the announcement, one of the members of the group and a nearby resident, Alexandra “Al” Dalton, was arrested after sneaking a sheathed sword into Cincinnati City Hall. City prosecutors said Dalton had been critical of the Piatt Park deal and posted a video of the sword on social media saying, “So, we’re keeping the park?”
‘Could not agree more’ with keeping Piatt public, parks director says
Cincinnati Parks Board Director Jason Barron said he “could not agree more” with keeping Piatt public, but acknowledged the benefits to working with a development group to renovate the park.
Barron said the parks departments’ limited resources are spread across the city for all of its parks, including funds from the city’s $1.6 billion sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway. While Piatt hasn’t been renovated for upwards of thirty years, Barron said many other parks across Cincinnati are in the same boat.
By joining into 3CDC’s wider $128 million project to renovate nearby businesses, Barron said Piatt Park’s $7.2 million in renovations can get squeezed in too.
Barron said the deal came together quickly because of Ohio’s application deadline for a mixed used development grant program. Still, he acknowledged that an agreement to lease the park to 3CDC was bound to raise eyebrows.
“Obviously, the word lease has a little charge to it. But I was the one that signed the lease,” Barron said. “The lease is very clear that all of the operational control, everything, is still in the control of (Cincinnati) Parks.”
More engagement to come, 3CDC says
Downtown residents raised a number of questions for Muething and Barron about the park, including whether the planters and tree canopies will be removed.
It all depends on what the community wants, they said.
Muething said the development group is still in the process of securing financing for the project. She said 3CDC will engage the community more once it learns whether it will get any money from the state.
“Do you guys genuinely think about the people that you impact? Do you really see us?” one resident and Food Not Bombs volunteer said. “I don’t think you do.”
After the meeting, Barron said he appreciates the responses from people in the community, both good and bad.
“It shows that people love the parks,” Barron said. “We’re going to do extensive community engagement. And it’s my job to show that.”
Enquirer reporter Patricia Gallagher Newberry contributed.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 3CDC admits ‘mistake’ in calling Piatt Park homeless meals misuse
Reporting by David Ferrara, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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