According the the City, a letter and a Council resolution are adequate to ensure that control of the current Washington Park Elementary School site eventually reverts to the Cincinnati Park Board.

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) has begun to raze the school at the north end of Washington Park and plans to use it as a 219-space surface parking lot for construction workers of the nearby SCPA site during the day and for Music Hall patrons at night.

The City's Historic Conservation Board approved of the parking lot on October 8.

In a letter dated September 28, Over-the-Rhine Foundation Executive Director Michael Morgan had alleged that the contract between the City and CPS contained vague language regarding the eventual transfer of the property to the Park Board and made no mention of its use as a parking lot.

There is a real worry in the neighborhood that the parking lot could become permanent.

On Thursday, City Manager Milton Dohoney presented a report to City Council stating that CPS Superintendent Rosa Blackwell had provided a letter to the Park Board stating that it was their intent to transfer the land once construction on SCPA is completed.

He also notes that City Council passed a resolution declaring the Cincinnati Parks Centennial Master Plan as the official guide to their future parks policy decisions. That master plan endorses the preservation of Washington Park greenspace.

However, neither of these documents could stop CPS from selling the land to whomever they please.

As the only other party to the contract with CPS, the City is taking a "hands off" stance on the subject, and it's not even on the City Solicitor's radar.

For its part, the Park Board has agreed to begin redevelopment of Washington Park at the south end.

Previous reading on BC:
OTR Foundation asks City to look into CPS contract (10/19/07)