One of the crown jewels in our city is now looking a little tarnished.
A year after its grand re-opening ahead of the Republican National Convention, Public Square is starting to lose a little bit of its luster.
Concerned Cleveland residents point to a problem with a handful of concrete planters that greet visitors to the 10-acre park.
Right now, many of the concrete barriers have weeds and trash sitting in them.
“It looks horrible,” said Mark McDougall.
McDougall spends a lot of time peddling through Public Square.
The Cleveland man is not happy to see the current state of the newly renovated space.
"This right here takes away from the beauty of the park, so they need to be a lot more vigilant in upkeep of this park," said McDougall.
Tom Horsman agrees.
"It just seems like the city has done a half way job about maintaining it," said Horsman.
Since the RNC, Horsman has noticed slight changes in Public Square's appearance.
"That's always the concern in Cleveland, right? You build something new and beautiful and it is never maintained well," said Horsman.
The Cleveland resident hopes that's not the case with Public Square, but right now he's not convinced.
"A year later it looks different," said Horsman.
A city spokesperson says the planters are a security feature to stop vehicles from driving up into the park.
"Besides the weeds growing in them, the planters themselves are just not in good condition," said Horsman.
At some point, a spokesperson with the City of Cleveland says the planters will be replaced with something that is more pleasing to the eye.
In the meantime, Ali Nichols wants to see her tax dollars used for better maintenance.
"What do I pay for if they don't keep anything up to date out here? Except for when the RNC was here," Nichols said. "They only care when the public is going to see it, people outside of Cleveland."
After bringing these park concerns to the city’s attention, a city spokesperson tells News 5 a crew will be sent out to clean up the planters and plant new flowers.
