September 16, 2003

Natalie Ronayne, Director
City of Cleveland Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties
500 Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114-1099

Dear Mrs. Ronayne,

We are truly appreciative of the upcoming renovation of Lincoln Park and the UPARR funding granted to the City of Cleveland to make this possible. We understand the goal is to make Lincoln Park a pleasant place for all Tremont residents. TREATS' mission will continue to be to better enhance our community through the establishment of a dog run in Lincoln Park.

TREATS believes some clarification is in order. Those in attendance at the meeting held on September 3 were under the impression the agenda and goal of the meeting was to discuss the creation of a dog run within Lincoln Park. It was our understanding the concerns related to the proposed site location (southeast corner) were addressed and a consensus of those in attendance agreed to relocate the dog run to the southwest corner of the park, not to relocate it to another location entirely. Apparently, there was some behind-the-scenes maneuvering that those who attended the public meeting were not privy.

Using a dog run as a catalyst to renovate Clark Fields might be convenient for the city, but our discussions with dog owners in the Tremont area indicate they will continue to walk their dogs to Lincoln Park and will not utilize Clark Fields. Many of them have already called many of you to indicate their support of a dog run at Lincoln Park. Those calls will continue. Those callers and TREATS have three concerns:

(1) PUBLIC SAFETY: Clark Fields is isolated, and will continue to be so until fully renovated and surrounded by homes and businesses, like Lincoln Park, a process that will take years to accomplish, if ever.

(2) ACCESSIBILITY: The elderly and handicapped citizens of Tremont deserve to have a place close to home that is accessible to them.

(3) FUNDING: Clark Fields does not have the funding available to create a dog park in the near future. Lincoln Park does.

As residents of Tremont, we ask you to reconsider locating a dog run in Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park should be a community park for all Tremont residents: ones who wish to enjoy the open space; ones who attend cultural events held in the park; ones with children who utilize the pool and playground; and ones with dogs, who would like a convenient, safe place to exercise their pets and meet their neighbors.

As always, we can be reached respectively at our home numbers listed below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Becca Greifenstein, Sandy Smith and Martha Lineberger
TREATS Co-chairs

cc: Mayor Jane Campbell, City of Cleveland
Councilman Joe Cimperman, Ward 13
David McGuirk, Chief Operating Officer
Antoinette Thompson, Assistant Director - Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties
Mark Fallon, Commissioner - Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties
Richard Silva, Commissioner - Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties
Wendy Zwicker, Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties
Colleen Gilson, Executive Director - Tremont West Development Corporation
Ann Zoller, ParkWorks