CINCINNATI — A redesign of a park in Walnut Hills is in the planning stages, but designers hope to grow the skinny park.
Johnston Park is between Interstate 71 and Eden Park and currently houses the Cincinnati Art Museum's Art Climb. The park lies at the intersection of Walnut Hills, Mount Auburn and downtown Cincinnati.
While most people might pass the park by and not notice it is there, designers are working on ideas to help make this park as unique as the neighborhoods it connects.
Part of the early designs involve growing vegetation over a fence which covers I-71 to help screen the sight and sounds of the highway.
Designers also said they want to grow floral displays and gardens in the area. This would give the park an interactive experience which shows the history of Walnut Hills and incorporates the nearby Cincinnati Art Museum.
The new Cincinnati Ballet Center also plays into the designs. When the parking lot of the new center is empty, the Ballet hopes to use it for outdoor performances.
Steven Schuckman, the Cincinnati Parks manager of Planning and Designing, said he hopes that the redesign presents an opportunity for people to get out and be active and healthy.
"It's so important now for people to get out and enjoy parks, for their own health, to walk those 10,000 steps or however many steps are going to do," Schuckman said. "Certainly, we've seen now, for at least 10 months with a pandemic, how important it is for people to get out in public space."
An official design will be presented to the Cincinnati Parks Board in March and, if approved, fundraising for the project will begin. There's no word on how long construction of the redesign would take.
