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City moves forward on Festival Park and James Taylor Park designs; FC Cincinnati mini‑pitch eyed for Bernadette Watkins Park

City of Newport Board of Commissioners · February 7, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Staff presented design‑build plans for a $8.5M Festival Park and near‑term construction for a $7.5M James Taylor Park; the city is also negotiating a mini‑pitch (small soccer court) from the FC Cincinnati Foundation for Bernadette Watkins Park, pending site plans and partner approvals.

City parks staff told commissioners they are advancing two major riverfront projects and a neighborhood recreation addition that together reshape Newport’s waterfront access.

Festival Park: Parks staff said Festival Park has an $8.5 million budget composed of roughly $5 million in city bonds and just over $3 million in an OKI grant. Two competitive construction bids were shortlisted and staff plans a design‑build contract; construction documents will be prepared over…

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