City Year in Preview: Outlook includes new recreation and parks projects
Bexley officials have deemed 2023 as the Year of the Parks.
The initiative will include a series of developments from Jeffrey Mansion, 165 N. Parkview Ave. in north Bexley, to the city’s newest park, Schneider Park, 2130 Astor Ave., in southwest Bexley.
One of the issues that the Bexley Recreation Board will take up is whether to adjust the policy that enables individuals who rent Jeffrey Mansion’s event spaces to serve alcohol, department Director Michael Price said.
Currently, both Bexley residents and non-residents can receive permits to serve alcohol at events when they rent Jeffrey House, the main portion of Jeffrey Mansion, Price said. However, only Bexley residents can serve alcohol at rental events at the newer Carriage Court space.
In early 2023, the board will consider whether to recommend that City Council begin to allow non-residents to serve alcohol when they rent the Carriage Court space, with the goal of increasing rentals and bringing in more revenue for the city’s Recreation and Parks Department, Price said.
“The practical impact for us is that we’d go from having a clientele of 14,000 in Bexley to a much bigger base in the central Ohio area,” he said at council’s meeting Dec. 13.
In 2022, Jeffrey Mansion grossed a total of $85,703 in rentals, compared to $54,395 in 2021 when the renovation and expansion of the mansion was completed and the Carriage Court space opened, Price said.
In 2021, the Jeffrey House held 25 rental events, including seven where alcohol was served. In 2022, Jeffrey House held 30 rental events, including eight where alcohol was served.
In 2021, the Carriage Court hosted a total of 14 rental events, including nine where alcohol was served, Price said. In 2022, the Carriage House hosted 25 rental events, including eight where alcohol was served.
“We do not see any difference between Bexley residents and non-residents in terms of the impact of alcohol in the facility,” Price said. “Of the events that we’ve had in the Carriage Court booked by Bexley residents … roughly half of them are booked by Bexley residents for, frankly, non-residents to use the space. That’s something we don’t really have a lot of control over, and to date, we haven’t had any issues. We haven’t had any problems.”
The board also may revisit the policy that limits rental events where alcohol is served at Jeffrey Mansion to two events per month, Price said.
“Specifically, weddings are very seasonal. So we have months where we have a lot of demand and some months that we have less demand,” he said. “Thinking about that differently, either thinking about it as being 24 events a year as opposed to two a month, gives us a little more flexibility and improves our chances of reaching our maximum.”
The city’s 2023 budget estimates that building projects included in the Year of the Parks initiative will cost $2.7 million. One of those projects is completing the new Bexley Natural Dog Park at Schneider Park, near the Astor Avenue entrance. The project is expected to cost a total of $65,000. Construction began in summer 2022 and is on track to be finished in 2023, Mayor Ben Kessler said.
“We’ve put in drainage, we’ve put in fencing. There’s some additional hardware and site infilling to be done,” he said. “We hope to open that in the spring of ’23.”
Other 2023 projects included in the Year of the Parks initiative are:
Construction of a new arboretum in the existing Commonwealth Park, located across from Jeffrey Mansion, 165 N. Parkview Ave. The arboretum will include a new walkway, planting of several new trees and the installation of a new pond and bridge, at a total estimated cost of $400,000. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2023 and be done in the fall.
Completing renovations at the Commonwealth Park athletics fields, which began in spring 2022 and is scheduled to be done in spring 2023 at a total estimated cost of $460,000.
Construction of the Commonwealth Park Connector, which will connect the Columbia Avenue section between the east and west ends of Commonwealth Park, with new medians and recessed parking, with the park bookended by plazas and pergolas. The total cost of the project is estimated at $500,000. Work is scheduled to begin in summer 2023, with completion that fall.
Construction of a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge at Schneider Park near the Astor Avenue entrance. The bridge will connect the Alum Creek Trail to central Ohio’s regional bikeway system, at an estimated total cost of $800,000. Work is scheduled to begin in spring or summer 2023 and be completed by the end of the year, pending final designs.
According to the city budget, funding for these projects will come from a combination of city money, funds and grants from the Ohio Public Works Commission and the Bexley Community Foundation.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Bexley’s 2023 outlook includes new recreation and parks projects
