CINCINNATI — Lytle Park reopened on Friday after over a year of renovations that had been planned for several years before that..
The city held a press conference Friday morning, including a "ceremonial 'turning on of the fountain'" in the park.
The 2.8-acre green space now features a new hardscape with plazas and brick walkways, a decorative fountain, a running track, new landscaping, lighting, a new bocce ball court, playground and benches, the city announced.
The renovations were made possible partially through a $3.2 million donation from Western & Southern Financial Group, while $1.1 million in funds were contributed by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Western & Southern has also agreed to commit annual funding to support the park's ongoing maintenance, according to a release from the city.
According to city officials, renovations of the park became necessary after ODOT's ventilation project was completed on the Lytle Tunnel in 2017.
However, the renovations briefly ground to a halt in 2019, after the trees within Lytle Park became mired in litigation; community activists filed a lawsuit seeking to save the trees in the park, which the renovation had planned to remove in favor of different foliage.
The fight began over four 50-year-old London Planetrees in the park.
Western & Southern, which was paying $1.6 million to help renovate the park, wanted those trees replaced by a row of 4-inch saplings "that will produce trees consistent in height and appearance." Activists argued the London Planetrees were specifically selected because of their hardy nature and ability to thrive and improve air quality in urban settings.
In the end, the city agreed to move the remaining trees to other spaces in the park and the lawsuit was settled. The city broke ground on the park's renovations in November 2022, estimating it would take at least one year to complete the work.
