Four open houses are scheduled for July 26, 27 and 30
The basketball court at Cleveland's Zelma Watson George Neighborhood Recreation Center
The City of Cleveland is in the first phase of planning the future of its parks and recreation programs and is looking for input from residents. The City has scheduled a series of open houses to get resident input on planning the future of the city’s parks and recreation programs.
Open houses are scheduled for July 26, 27 and 29, on both the east and west sides of town, and the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects is hoping for broad participation at these events to ensure that residents’ voices are heard and accounted for in the planning process.
Here are the meeting dates, times, and locations:
- Wednesday, July 26, Gunning Park Recreation Center, 16700 Puritas Ave [44135], 6-8p
- Thursday, July 27, Zelma Watson George Recreation Center, 3155 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr [44104], Noon-2p
- Thursday, July 27, Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center, 8611 Hough Ave [44106], 6-8p
- Saturday, July 29, South Branch Public Library, 3090 Scranton Rd [44113] 10a-Noon
Two pop-up engagements will be held, as well, during Wade Oval Wednesday on July 26 at 5:30p and at Public Square July 28 at noon.
The City of Cleveland currently operates 179 unique parks and recreation sites encompassing nearly 1760 acres. These sites include 155 city parks, 23 recreation centers, and one golf course that collectively house 111 baseball fields, 108 playgrounds, 88 basketball courts, 70 tennis courts, 40 indoor or outdoor swimming pools, and hundreds of other public amenities and programs.
The goal of the city’s multi-phased planning process — the most comprehensive in the city’s history — is to create a 15-year master plan that will provide a roadmap to ensure just and fair capital investment in the city’s resources in ways that meet the needs of city residents, community groups and other stakeholders.
Planners will look at the city’s Neighborhood Resource and Recreation Centers (NRRCs), parks, pools, playgrounds, and similar spaces across the city as well as the quantity and the quality of programs provided.
The planning process is led by the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects [MOCAP].
“This is an incredible opportunity to revitalize public spaces in every neighborhood across our city,” said Mayor Justin M. Bibb in a release. “This plan is all about access and equity, removing barriers, building community, and creating places and experiences that enrich peoples’ lives.”
Cleveland resident enjoying a dip in one of city's municipal indoor pools
The three-phase planning process is expected to take 18 months to complete. The goal of the first phase is to identify the current and future parks and recreation needs of Clevelanders, community groups, and stakeholders over the next 15 years. The second phase is the creation of a long-range plan that will reconcile existing conditions with the community needs assessment. The third phase entails a strategic plan outlining the best methods to finance and implement the long-range plan.
The open houses are being organized by OLIN, the Philadelphia-based landscape architecture firm selected to guide the planning process, along with local community partners including ThirdSpace Action Lab, Neighborhood Connections, designExplorr, OHM Advisors, and others.
“This plan will provide a playbook for the City to follow over the coming decade,” said OLIN CEO Lucinda Sanders. “For that playbook to be responsive to the needs of Clevelanders, we are hosting these open houses as one way to hear directly from residents what they would like parks and recreation in the City to look like in the future.”
OLIN’s previous Cleveland work includes the Eastman Reading Garden at the Cleveland Public Library and the plaza and greenspace surrounding the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building.
To learn more about the project visit www.cleparksrecplan.com.
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