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Rono City Council approves limited funding, survey for Washington Park caretaker's cottage after heated debate
Summary
After an hours-long public hearing and council debate, Rono City Council approved $150,000 for a condition survey and grant support for the historic Washington Park Caretaker's Cottage and removed a deconstruction deadline. The vote followed competing public appeals over preservation, school funding and priorities.
Rono City Council voted on April 6 to provide $150,000 to support a structural condition survey, grant applications and city backing for preservation work at the historic Washington Park Caretaker's Cottage, a small brick building long contested by neighbors and preservationists.
The move follows months of effort by Friends of Washington Park and community partners seeking to stabilize and adaptively reuse the two‑chimney cottage as a small community amphitheater and interpretive site. During more than two hours of public comment, speakers urged council to preserve what they called a critical site in the city's Black history; others argued city funds should instead be returned to programs such as school services or used for housing repairs.
Councilman Faison Nash introduced the measure and framed it as both preservation and…
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