Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Middletown sprucing up parks
Spring is goal to complete most of work
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — About the time crocuses stick their heads out of the ground to welcome the spring, four parks will be getting face-lifts, and construction may be started on a skate park.
Nearly $461,000 will be spent, including grants totaling about $336,000, said Preston Combs, public works director.
About 75 percent of the total will be used for a major improvement of the 98-acre Smith Park, which is by far the most widely used park of all 30 in the city. Thousands of youngsters play sports there each year, and it's a popular spot for people of all ages, Mr. Combs said.
The city will begin letting bids next month for that work.
A contract was granted last week to Walnut Grove Fence and Playground of White Oak for work on three small but busy neighborhood parks, Mr. Combs said. That work could begin next month.
The Smith Park funding includes a $204,000 Ohio Department of Natural Resources NatureWorks grant and $125,000 from city coffers. The work will include rehabilitating two buildings that serve youth sports programs; new signs; resurfacing the popular, 20-year-old fitness trail; and extending the trail's outer loop about a mile to link it with the Bicentennial Commons Park on the Great Miami River. City crews will widen and repave existing trails, Mr. Combs said.
“We see a real need for this work” in Smith Park, Mr. Combs said. “It's starting to show some age.”
A $132,000 Community Development Block Grant will be spent for work on Barnitz, Avalon and Dixie Heights parks, said Jung-Han Chen, senior planner.
“If the weather cooperates in February, we will probably go ahead and start that work,” Mr. Chen said. “We anticipate the work can be finished in 60 days. We want it ready for the kids when the weather breaks so they can go play. That's the whole purpose of this work.”
Work on the Smith Park buildings should be nearly finished by mid-summer, but the trail work will continue into late 1999, said Denise Bolton, recreation administrator.
The work is welcomed by many residents and the numerous groups that use the park, Mrs. Bolton said.
“This is a park where a lot of activities take place,” Mrs. Bolton said. They include youth sports, jogging, bicycling, picnicking and fishing, Mrs. Bolton said. Smith Park is also the site of the balloon fest, some Middfest activities, car shows and the annual youth fishing derby.
Baker Concrete Construction Inc. of Monroe plans to build a skate park in the northeast corner of Smith Park as a “Make a Difference Day” community service project. That work likely will get start ed in the spring, too, Mr. Combs said.
Late last year, teen-agers who love skateboarding and in-line skating were clashing with police and business owners because officials said they damaged public and private property. After the skaters begged Middletown city commissioners to provide them with a place to skate, Baker agreed to donate the bulk of labor and materials for a serpentine, concrete park. Suburban Rails of Athens, Ohio, agreed to donate the design work, and other greater Middletown businesses said they would contribute. A cleanup of the area and initial groundbreaking were held in October.
“They (Baker) have gone above and beyond to make this happen,” Mr. Combs said.
Is there room for strangers in our homes?
St. Louis swells for Pope's arrival
The pope's schedule
I-75 gas spill should be cleared by morning rush
Riverfront commission ready top go
Cincinnati Riverfront Advisory Commission
West plan falls short of wishes
West plan's details
Western residents, county split on development plan
Conductor Shaw called a giant of choral music
Man charged with setting home on fire
N.Ky. loses educators convention
Tax foes to battle increase for schools
Mourners make trend of wake
Actress comfy with role in 'Couch'
Colognes, perfumes can take your breath away - really
Etiquette for the over-perfumed
Ft. Washington Way closed next two nights
Hand transplanted in Louisville
2 plead guilty in slaying
Aquarium signs get attention
Beating death examined
Butler already owns favored site for jail
Covington divided over street widening
Custody war brings sea of legal paper
Developers are building 2-acre park in Blue Ash
Dogs, cats give elderly a boost
Eastgate area park-and-ride premieres
Fort Wright settles claim
Inclusion of disabled lauded
Lebanon activist's traffic-death trial to start today
Middletown sprucing up parks
Music museum picks up pace
Prison guard waives drug case hearing
Safety work will close Ohio 73
Time running out for Ky. GOP
TRISTATE DIGEST Asthma attack kills Lebanon prisoner
Trustees expected to approve contract with UC professors
