Ten-year master plan for regional parks to be discussed July 7

UC Center for Field Studies hosts Great Parks of Hamilton County planning chief

By Keshav Vinod

The University of Cincinnati's Center for Field Studies will play host Sunday to a public meeting on the future of the Great Parks of Hamilton County.

Tim Zelek, chief of planning for the park district, will speak on the county's park master plan at UC's Center for Field Studies in Harrison. The talk, titled "Great Parks Comprehensive Master Plan: Your Role in the Next Phase," is free and open to the public.

“An inclusive and thorough community planning process helped to create this Comprehensive Master Plan which will guide parks, facilities, programming and services over the next 10 years ending in 2028,” Zelek said. “Community members are seeking more nature trails, paved walking trails and biking trails. Ninety-eight percent of survey respondents believe it is important to use protected areas to provide a connected network of trails and to develop new nature trails.”

Great Parks of Hamilton County was awarded the Frank F. Ferris II Community Planning Award from Hamilton County Department of Planning + Development for its comprehensive master plan. 

The Master Plan process includes shareholder interviews, surveys, workshops and events to incorporate public feedback as the plan moves forward.

“There is strong public support for conservation and preservation of natural lands. Eighty-four percent of survey respondents are supportive of Great Parks purchasing land that protects the environment,” Zelek said. “The community is most willing to support park facility updates and new trails with tax dollars. The top three community priorities for future investment are updated facilities, trails and greenways.”

The event will be held at UC's Center for Field Studies, 11053 Oxford Rd, Harrison, Ohio, at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 7.

Related Stories

2

New Dungeons & Dragons ethics seminar takes flight

July 7, 2025

On a blisteringly hot summer day, laughter echoed through the cool, damp basement of the Avondale branch of the Cincinnati Public Library. Young teenagers huddled around a table littered with pencils and paper, rolling dice and bonding over a game of Dungeons & Dragons. University of Cincinnati undergraduate student Charitha Anamala sat behind a trifold card with a blazing red dragon on it, serving as the group’s Dungeon Master (DM) or campaign organizer. Within the fantasy setting she described, it was hard to tell the adventure was a lesson in ethics.

3

UC language studies program adopts new technologies

July 7, 2025

Cultural immersion is a tried-and-true method for teaching languages. U.S. students travel abroad—to Europe, Latin America, Asia and beyond to take a deep dive into the customs, mores, daily life and conversational language that can be challenging to master from home. For those students who can't take advantage of the study-abroad experience, there's another option to gain the same learnings. At UC, the Curricular Enhancement, Development, Access and Research Language Resource Center (CEDAR) has developed a curriculum that features virtual reality (VR) technology to give students a similar opportunity right in the classroom.

Debug Query for this