West Price Hill's Dunham Recreation Center is in line for a multi-million dollar glow-up, with city officials set to roll out details of a major renovation and park overhaul at a public revitalization ceremony Monday morning. The plan zeroes in on the historic Art Deco rec building and nearby park amenities that neighbors rely on for sports, theater and swimming, with the city aiming to modernize programming space, close long-standing accessibility gaps and tackle years of deferred maintenance across the site.
According to the city's FY 2026-2027 capital budget, the City of Cincinnati has earmarked $7.6 million to renovate and upgrade Dunham Recreation Center facilities. Local reporting notes that roughly $2.4 million of that allocation would come from returns on the Cincinnati Southern Railway Trust Fund, which is being used to help pay for existing infrastructure projects across the city, per WCPO.
What the plan covers
As reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer, the package centers on renovations to the roughly 31,000-square-foot Dunham building. The work would upgrade multipurpose rooms and offices, add parking and expand ADA-compliant restrooms. City materials also outline an option to add a new 3,500-square-foot gym. Other parcels on the 115-acre complex, including the Arts Center at Dunham and the Otto Armleder Regional Aquatic Center, are not part of the current scope.
Where the money comes from
The bulk of the new funding flows from infrastructure distributions tied to the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway. The sale established a trust whose investment returns are being directed to neighborhood assets, and local outlets have been detailing how those first distributions are being spent. WLWT and other coverage note that the trust's early rounds prioritized parks, fleet facilities and recreation centers across Cincinnati.
A long history and local stakes
The Dunham site started out as a county isolation hospital and later served as Hamilton County's tuberculosis sanatorium in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before the grounds were converted to public parkland and recreation uses, according to archival material at the University of Cincinnati Libraries. The Arts Center at Dunham, an Art Deco building designed by Samuel Hannaford and now home to the community group Sunset Players, remains outside the renovation and continues independent fundraising and volunteer-driven repairs, per Sunset Players.
The city issued a design and engineering solicitation for the Dunham renovation last fall, and the purchasing portal lists the RFQ and attachments for firms that bid on the work. City of Cincinnati purchasing records show the solicitation. Officials and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission are expected to use the May 4 event to outline next steps, timelines and upcoming community meetings, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
