Updated: 1:39 p.m.
A controversial proposal to let the Clifton Cultural Arts Center (CCAC) place a building inside Burnet Woods has been voted down 3-2 by the Cincinnati Parks Board.
CCAC hoped to build a 25-35,000-square foot building inside the park after the . The school district owns the building, and said it needed it to meet the neighborhood's need for a school.
Opponents to the proposal feared development would destroy the habitat it provides for wildlife. "This facility belongs somewhere in a business district or other location in the Clifton area," local attorney . "To use Burnet Woods for this purpose is setting a dangerous precedent. Park land is not vacant, idle land just sitting there. It serves a purpose until itself and needs not be used for other things."
Three board members voted "no": Jim Goetz, Brad Linder and Susie Castellini. Linda Lee Thomas and Kevin Flynn voted in favor.
"Twenty-three people spoke passionately and compellingly in support of CCAC's proposal this morning; 11 spoke in opposition," Leslie Mooney, CCAC's executive director, wrote on Facebook. "Thank you to all of you who wrote and spoke; your words were heartfelt and inspired. I will never forget them."
The Camping and Education Foundation also hoped to construct a 2,500-square foot "living building" in Burnet Woods; instead, the board voted for it to become part of the existing Trailside Nature Center.
The CCAC says it will regroup and redouble its efforts in the coming weeks.
