Around a year ago, Crescent Springs proposed renovating a city park. A month later, in October 2023, plans and costs were finalized. Now, Lou Hartfiel Memorial Park sits empty as old equipment has been removed, and the city waits for grant funding to contribute to the park’s cost.
The park, discussed at Monday’s city council meeting, aims to be “all-inclusive,” with wheelchair-accessible equipment and flooring. Because of these features, the plan was selected as one of a variety of other parks that will receive funding from the National Park Service. Although the project has been approved for the grant, the city has not yet received the money and cannot move forward with renovations.
“I’ve been emailing with the state on a weekly basis,” said Mayor Mike Daugherty. “They’ve promised us that we will be in the next ‘batch’ that they put with the National Park Service.”
Daugherty said that he has not yet received any more information regarding a timeline for the funding.
“It is a high priority of mine, and I know of council’s, to get this resolved and get the park back open to where it should be,” said Daugherty. “We’re ready to go once the National Park Service says, ‘You’re totally approved.’ We’re kind of at their mercy right now”
According to Daugherty, the city does not have permission to provide funding itself to later be reimbursed and must wait for the grant funding to start renovations.