Over the course of July 2025, the Public Services Committee met at each of the 12 parks on the South Side to identify maintenance needs and discuss potential improvements to request. The following is the summary of our findings and requests, as well as notes from our meeting with Recreation and Parks staff in November 2025.

Slides from meeting with Recreation and Parks

General requests

• Mileage markers on walking paths
• Bike racks at parks that do not have them
  • Properly spaced inverted U style racks are preferred over other types of racks (see ODOT Multimodal Design Guide Section 6.3.9)

Response from Recreation and Parks

• These are easy requests that will be incorporated going forward
• Recreation and Parks uses the same U-style bike racks that the Department of Public Service uses now

Deshler Park

Questions

• Where is the shelter house planned to go?

Maintenance needs

• Graffiti on picnic tables

Requests

• Additional playground equipment/activites for children, such as sensory stations — the playground at Linden Park was given as a good example
• Additional picnic tables and/or 4-top game tables with chess/checker imprint
• Additional benches along the walking path
• More trees planted (not in central green space)

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Design on the shelter will begin in 2026, and is expected to be located near the playground
• Shelter will be a typical neighborhood park shelter size (usually 4 tables underneath)
• Different possible styles of shelters were presented
• Graffiti has been powerwashed from the picnic tables

Fairwood Park

Maintenance needs

• Repair damaged fence near entrance of park along Fairwood Avenue

Requests

• Crosswalk with flashing lights on Fairwood Avenue at entrance to park (likely need to coordinate with Department of Public Service)
• Additional portable toilets (at least one near each shelter house)
• Additional dog poop bag stations (there is only one near the entrance of the park)

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Addition of lighting along park drive and walking park will be constructed this year (there were some permitting delays)
• One of the shelters is currently not accessible to people in wheelchairs, improvements are expected soon to correct this
• Damaged fence will be contracted out for repairs
• All parks are being reviewed to revise portable toilet locations and placements
• Dog poop station will be installed near the trail entrance off the rear parking lot

Karns Park

Maintenance needs

• Shelter support posts have been damaged and are graffitied
• The lone light fixture in the park is frequently damaged (was damaged at time of park visit)

Requests

• Add signage with park rules, shelter reservation information (consider anti-graffiti coating)
• Add additional trash cans that are less likely to be stolen (e.g. plastic trash cans)
• Replace perimeter wooden posts with more substantial fence similar to what is provided at Kobacker Park, Smith Road Park
  • Vehicles are often driven into the park, often from the southern edge and northeastern corner
• Add additional lighting
• Coordinate with police department to potentially add police camera

If the above issues can be addressed

• Consider adding an second shelter house, as the current shelter is in high demand
• Add additional picnic tables near trees that will eventually provide shade as they grow
• Plant additional trees around the perimeter of the park

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Recreation and Parks no longer installs shelters with decorative columns (like those currently at Karns Park) because they get damaged
• Renderings were shared of the new, enlarged playground that will be constructed in 2026

Kobacker Park

Maintenance needs

• Remove hand sanitizer station (not maintained)

Requests

• Add 4-top game tables with chess/checker imprint
• Add dog poop bag station

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Hand sanitizer station will be removed
• Need for dog poop station will be assessed; there are a limited number of stations that are provided yearly for new additions and replacements

Martin Park

Maintenance needs

• Remove hand sanitizer station (not maintained)
• Weeds in playground
• Improve mowing and trash removal frequency
  • Adjacent resident indicated maintenance of the park has declined over the past two years, and overflowing trash cans and tall grass can be an issue at times
• Adjacent vacant lot is often overgrown (likely need to coordinate with code enforcement)

Requests

• Relocate park sign for better street visibility (currently blocked by trees)

Lincoln Park

Questions

• What are the planned improvements? Visuals would be helpful
• Is there a plan for the eastern green space (east of the school)? Area appears to be underutilized

Requests

• Add benches and trash cans along walking path
• Add picnic tables under tree coverage near the basketball court

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Completed capital projects:
  • Lincoln Park pool development
  • Barack kitchen renovation
  • Barack gym LED lighting & rewiring
  • Barack HVAC mechanical upgrades
  • Barack HVAC smart control integration
• Active capital projects:
  • Lincoln Park futsal/multipurpose court addition, walking path and lighting addition
• Recreation and Parks is revisiting the amount of lighting in the original design, a security assessment of the park was performed
• Do not currently plan to install additional trees as part of the multipurpose court/walking path project, but the Division of Forestry could add them later (gets better cost as part of larger scale tree planting projects)

Millbrook Park

Maintenance needs

• There are overgrown weeds and downed branches along the rear fencelines of the park that need to be cleared
• Concrete sidewalk in the park is in need of repair (tripping hazard)

Requests

• Tall fence between basketball court and parking lot
• Potentially a grill near the picnic tables
• Potentially an additional light in the park (potentially on the wood pole by the basketball court)

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Completed capital projects:
  • Playground replacement
  • Parking lot and basketball court resurfacing
  • Basketball goal replacement
• Maintenance team will look into clearing the fence lines in the winter months
• Should be able to incorporate sidewalk improvements in 2026 or 2027 hard surface inpromvements package

Smith Road Park

Maintenance needs

• Parts of the asphalt walking path are in need of repair
• Parking area along Innis Avenue is rutted with standing water (likely need to coordinate with Department of Public Service)

Requests

• Additional activities/equipment for children
• Portable toilet is desired

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Maintenance team is assessing all parks for portable toilet locations and placements, and whether to add additional parks
• Path resurfacing could be included in a future hard surface contract
• Open green space: installation of soccer goals, for instance, has always been dependent on a coordinated soccer league, however they are currently testing having soccer goals based on community requests at Maloney Park
• Rutting along the parking area is a Department of Public Service issue

Moeller Park

Maintenance needs

• Replenish mulch in playground
• Replace missing trash can on north side of park (near intersection of Hanford Street and Bruck Street)
• Plant new tree to replace large tree that fell

Requests

• Add more playground equipment for small children (e.g. teeter-totter, additional toddler swings)
  • Fire truck structure was popular with small children and was never replaced
• Additional picnic tables under tree coverage
• Small shelter with electricity is desired

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Mulch replenishment was completed in October
• Missing trash can will be replaced
• Forestry will inspect and add trees into a future planting season’s schedule
• Park is approx. 10 years from playground replacement

Southeast Lions Park

Maintenance needs

• Repair damaged fence along 6th Street
• Prune hanging limbs from several trees
• Address lighting issues (lights under the shelter turn on at a set time, but light poles in the park do not)

Requests

• Add tall fencing along the Hinkle Avenue and 6th Street sides of the basketball court to prevent basketballs from going into the street

Other notes

• Wood utility poles have been laying along the south edge of the park for a few months

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Broken pillar cap on the fencing will be replaced soon
• Forestry will inspect the trees and create work orders as needed
• Lighting
  • Lights under the shelter are under Recreation and Parks control with a local photocell
  • The park lights have a different power source being supplied through the streetlight circuit which is managed by the City of Columbus Division of Power
  • It was also noted at the meeting that lighting had been worknig correctly recently (the timer had to be reset)

South Side Heritage Park

Maintenance needs

• Refresh basketball court lines
• Remove/replace 5 dead trees along western perimeter

Requests

• Replace missing bench by basketball court

Response from Recreation and Parks

• The missing bench had been removed for repair and will be replaced
• Forestry will inspect and add trees into a future planting season’s schedule

Southwood Mileusnich Park

Maintenance needs

• Baseball diamonds are in severe disrepair, with standing water

Requests

• Engage community to reimagine park’s use if the baseball fields are obsolete

Response from Recreation and Parks

• Working to determine if there is a league using the baseball diamonds; had been told Schiller Recreation Center used them (there was a kickball league that was using them a few years ago)
• Merion Village Garten Club is interested in doing landscaping beds along the edge of the park, and South Side Thrive had asked about additional trees at the park
• The field sare maintained by the Sports division, while Parks Maintenance does the mowing, trash removal, and park fixture maintenance