Delaware City proposes Oak Grove grading to add about 7,000 burial spaces; parks CIP includes trails, restroom and golf cart replacements

Ted Miller of the city’s Natural Resources group presented Parks and Recreation capital priorities to the Finance Committee on Aug. 13, focusing on cemetery capacity, trail connections and park amenities.

Miller said grading the western area of Oak Grove Cemetery will open up about 7,000 burial spaces and help the cemetery meet long‑term demand; staff would initially grade the field and add roads and interments in phases. “This will open up, I think approximately about 7,000 burial spaces,” Miller said.

Parks staff also described a planned $1,000,000 initial transfer into a newly created parks capital fund (seeded from the old parks levy fund) to support park projects and called out Mill Run Park for a needed parking lot repave and possible prefab restroom to serve increased use. Unity Community Center upgrades and a planned splash pad were also discussed; staff mentioned coming to council with an amendment to the city’s agreement with the Unity Community Center to support additional programming and building upgrades.

Other items on the parks list included Hidden Valley Golf Course cart replacement (staff said carts pay for themselves over time), playground and court improvements spaced over multiple years to avoid concentrated spending, larger mowers to address seasonal staffing shortages and a proposed trail strategy to improve access to regional parks such as Camp Lazarus and facilities in the Olentangy Corridor.

Staff also discussed Curve Road as a co‑located site for the training tower and city facilities program, and the continuing planning work for a South Community Park tied to Glen Parkway expansion.