Columbus officials broke ground on Greenleaf Park on the city's southwest side Thursday morning.
The 8.9-acre park on Brown Road is expected to have an accessible playground, sports fields and courts, a walking path, an open-air shelter and a parking lot. It's being built on land that the city bought in 2023.
Greenleaf is a partial replacement for promised upgrades to the nearby McCoy Park. The city had planned to turn McCoy into a therapeutic recreation space for people with disabilities. McCoy Park is now slated to become the home of a training facility for a National Women's Soccer League team.
Some southwest Columbus residents have said they are unhappy with the change. Greenleaf is about 2.5 miles away from McCoy. Residents say it's not accessible for everyone.
But Kym Douglas, director of the Department of Neighborhoods, said on Thursday that Greenleaf is part of a larger plan that came from feedback from people in the area.
"We plan to engage heavily with the folks who make up this community because we know that the community knows best what they need," Douglas said.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther billed the larger plan for accessible southwest Columbus recreation as a $35 million investment.
"We know that for far too long southwest Columbus has not had the level of park and recreation space that its residents deserve. We heard that message loud and clear and we made a commitment to work alongside neighbors to make a change," Ginther said.
McCoy Park is set to eventually get some adaptive sports fields and playgrounds that will be open to the public. Berliner Sports Park is expected to get an adaptive soccer field.
Detailed designs for Greenleaf should be finalized by early 2027, with construction expected to wrap up by the end of that year.
