A group of Cincinnati Reds supporters with roots going back to 1964 is offering a six-figure donation to put its name on a ballfield at Owl's Nest Park, the East Walnut Hills green space that Walnut Hills High School softball teams rely on but that regularly turns unplayable after rain. The Cincinnati Park Board has invited the group back with a more detailed spending plan before it will schedule a vote.
The offer comes from Rosie Reds, the fan organization founded in 1964, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, whose reporting by Patricia Gallagher Newberry forms the basis of most facts in this story. Rosie Reds stands ready to make a six-figure contribution as the named field sponsor, per that reporting, working alongside the Reds Community Fund, which is also raising money for the ballfield upgrade. Marye Elizabeth Ward said the investment would help young athletes develop their skills in an environment reflecting community values, according to the Enquirer's account.
A Softball Field With No Good Days to Play
Walnut Hills High School, which serves nearly 2,750 students in grades 6 through 12, has no dedicated varsity softball diamond on its main campus, according to Walnut Hills High School Athletics. That leaves Owl's Nest Park, at the north end of the property, as the team's designated off-campus venue. Walnut Hills softball coaches wrote that moderate rainfall can leave dirt infields unplayable for days, and they said rain can force games to be canceled, postponed or relocated entirely. Coaches Claire Thornberry and Britten Thornberry said artificial turf would dramatically increase the number of playable days, echoing what youth baseball and softball coaches broadly favor because turf dries more quickly than all-grass fields, per the same Enquirer reporting. Coaches hope to eventually use a renovated Owl's Nest field as the team's home venue.
What the Rosie Reds Money Would Buy
The proposed ballfield upgrades would cost about $250,000, with additional features pushing the price to roughly $350,000, the report states. Desired features include dugouts, bleachers, a scoreboard, fencing and signage. The Reds Community Fund had suggested an artificial-turf infield paired with a grass outfield, though the fund paused the artificial-turf idea last year, according to Charley Frank, the fund's leader. The Park Board has not voted on Frank's plan, and the question of turf versus natural grass remains unresolved pending that itemized proposal.
Frank said the groups would love to make Owl's Nest a 2027 flagpole event, and separately said Rosie Reds clearly wants to be at Owl's Nest. Molly North said the Park Board is very interested in the investment, and the board has endorsed involvement from the Reds-related groups even as it withholds a formal vote until it receives specifics.
A Bigger Park Restoration Already Underway
The ballfield sits within a much larger $4.1 million renovation of Owl's Nest Park that Cincinnati Parks and community partners have been planning since at least 2021, with the Cincinnati Park Foundation raising funds for the broader project. That work is scheduled to start in mid-2027 and end in mid-2028, and it includes upgrades to a basketball court, playground, picnic areas, landscaping and the baseball field itself. Park officials decided to restore rather than demolish the park's historic brick pavilion, a structure built in 1933 that once served as a pool and field house, with renovation plans calling for an added plaza and stage for community gatherings, according to Cincinnati Parks. The 10-acre park is bordered by the Evanston, East Walnut Hills and O'Bryonville neighborhoods, and the Evanston Community Council has already endorsed the ballfield concept.
Naming Rights Still Need a Formal Vote
Under Cincinnati Park Board policy, major capital alterations and official naming rights inside public parks require a formal submission, public review and a vote by the Board of Park Commissioners, meaning “Rosie Reds Park” or a similarly named field cannot become official until that process plays out. Rosie Reds caps its active membership at 3,000 dues-paying members and typically donates more than $30,000 a year to local youth baseball and softball groups, according to MLB.com, giving context for how the group's proposed six-figure gift would represent a major one-time commitment. The Reds Community Fund has backed youth field renovations across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2006, supporting roughly 50 youth baseball organizations annually, per the Sports Philanthropy Network. Past Reds-backed renovations have led to named fields elsewhere in the region, including Frank Robinson Field at Ross Park in St. Bernard in 2019 and PNC Field at LeBlond Recreation Center in 2023.
The Reds Community Fund has also been active elsewhere in Cincinnati this summer, co-leading its 17th annual Community Makeover project with Procter & Gamble and the Cincinnati Zoo in July, an effort Hoodline covered in Winton Hills. For now, the Owl's Nest ballfield question sits with park commissioners, who are waiting on the itemized cost breakdown before scheduling any vote on either the field's surface or its potential new name.
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