40. Community Need The Old North Dayton Park Expansion Project aims to expand and reimagine an important gateway park into the Old North Dayton Neighborhood. The park sits at the intersection of Valley and Keowee Streets and serves as a major entrance into the neighborhood, often referred to as “The Point.” A master plan developed with stakeholder and resident support and input was created to re-envision the park as a greater asset to neighborhood residents, businesses, and the Dayton Region as a whole. The new space envisions an activated trailhead where visitors can not only access the Mad River and trail network, but a space that recognizes the unique immigrant history of the neighborhood and celebrates neighborhood veterans.

One of the strongest assets in the Greater Old North Dayton geography is the wealth of institutions and businesses that call this neighborhood home. Many of the stakeholders have been part of the neighborhood fabric for decades. Greater Old North Dayton is home to over 10,000 jobs, second to downtown in the concentration of employment making it a unique economic asset to the City.

Another asset of Old North Dayton is location. The neighborhood lies between the Mad and Great Miami Rivers, adjacent to downtown, with access to major highways, recreational opportunities including trails and bikeways offering opportunities for residents, and especially families, to relax, play, and enjoy everyday life.
CityWide Development Corporation has managed a comprehensive community development project known as “DaVinci” in the Greater Old North Dayton area since 2011. The project is in partnership with the City of Dayton, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Salvation Army Kroc Center, Five Rivers MetroParks, Centerpoint Energy, St. Mary’s Development Corporation, and ongoing input from the Old North Dayton Neighborhood Association and neighborhood residents.

The Greater Old North Dayton area has been fortunate to receive significant investment in recent years. Since 2009, more than $700M has been invested in the neighborhood and surrounding areas. This includes nearly $400M for Dayton Children’s Hospital new patient tower, Child Health Pavilion, outpatient center, and new behavioral health facility now under construction. improvements, road, bridge and infrastructure replacements by the City of Dayton, the renovated EC Doran Library, a new children’s garden, property acquisition and demolition, home improvement programs and other amenities, such as the expanded $6M Kroc Center athletic facility fields. Through the DaVinci Project as well as on-ground efforts by the neighborhoods, private businesses, institutions, and other partners many additional improvements have made by leveraging these investments.
The expansion of the Old North Dayton Park would build upon these efforts made through years of planning work and offer a truly special place that can benefit the entire Dayton Region.

Dayton, Ohio continues to be recognized as an outdoor recreational hub not only within the State of Ohio but has received many national accolades as well. With five rivers and over 340 miles of paved trails, there is a great network to build on. Expanding this park and adding amenities that will draw people to this site is highly beneficial not only for focusing on the advantages of outdoor recreation but also promoting a healthy lifestyle. Development of shared community spaces creates a more unique sense of place within our urban environments. Enhanced amenities can help drive businesses retention and relocation as well as housing and quality of life assets. In addition, this expanded space also addresses equity by providing a new amenity to working class families that comprised the greater Old North Dayton community.

Neighborhood residents and partners have been deeply involved with the development of the Master Plan for the Old North Dayton Park Expansion Project. Visioning sessions, surveys and meetings with the landscape architects helped shape the final vision for the space. With the final master plan complete, partners will begin the process of creating and phasing and fundraising strategy for the park’s construction.

A phased approach will allow for incremental steps to be measured as levels of success. As segments are completed and the community can utilize the space, the project will have achieved its objective for success.