By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As a swing state much sought after by the presidential candidates, Ohio may become a second home for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during the next three months.
In preparation for campaign visits prior to the November election, the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday adopted a new fee for candidates wanting to hold events at the city’s community center. The new fee is intended to help pay the actual costs, since security for presidential candidates requires that the entire center be closed to the public.
The $750 fee will be added on to existing rental fees for the gym, classrooms and floor coverings required for a campaign event.
In the past, the community center has been used for campaign rallies by Mitt Romney in 2012 and Bill Clinton campaigning for Hillary Clinton in 2008.
“We essentially had to close the whole building,” said Kristin Otley, director of the city’s park and recreation department.
The community center brings in about $500 a day in the summer, and up to $1,000 a day during other times of the year from admission and class fees. So the new fee splits that in half, and asks campaigns to pay $750, Otley explained.
“If we need to shut down the entire center,” then at least the city won’t be shorted on revenue, she said.
The city will also require that campaigns pay the fee in advance of any rally being held at the center. In the past, the city has not required that, Otley said. Bowling Green did receive payments from the Romney and Clinton campaigns, but some cities have been stiffed by political campaigns in the past.
“That’s what got us thinking,” Otley said.
The Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University is the other site in the city with the capacity to hold large campaign events. And that venue is capable of holding more spectators, but the community center is better situated for security since it is also a National Guard center, Otley said.
The city has not heard yet from either the Clinton or the Trump campaigns about rallies in Bowling Green, she added.
“We have not been contacted by anyone,” Otley said. But with the new fee in place, the city is prepared. “If we are contacted, we are ready to go.”
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, it was reported that plans are being made for an obstacle course trail behind the city’s community center. The city owns 20 acres adjacent to the center, with four of those being prepared for use as athletic fields.
Ivan Kovacevic, recreation coordinator, said plans are underway to map out a simple to maintain natural obstacle course. The course will make use of natural items such as logs, boulders and dirt trenches. The course will be approximately one mile long. Kovacevic said such obstacle courses are a fast growing fitness trend.
Also at the park meeting, Chris Gajewicz, natural resources coordinator, reported that the park department is receiving a lot of compliments on Simpson Garden Park and Wintergarden Park trails.
“It’s really quite the jewel in Northwest Ohio,” he said of the garden park.
Golf cart tours are now available at Simpson Garden Park for visitors unable to tour the park on their own.
