Improvement district for two downtown parks?

Juneau Park Friends and the East Town Association have combined forces to propose a Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) to raise money for improvements in Juneau and Cathedral Square Parks. An estimated $3 million cost for the projects would be covered by the sale of bonds, to be repaid by special taxes on property in roughly a 60 block area bounded by Ogden and Clybourn Sts., Broadway and Lake Michigan.

There are legal issues to be sorted out and City and County agreements to be obtained; public hearings will be scheduled. The proposal appears to be on hold right now.

POP agrees that maintenance and operation of these two parks is important and is willing to work with the two groups to find further sources of funding for those activities. However, POP does not endorse the proposed NID plan, believing that the County Parks Department must remain in control of maintenance and operation of the parks.