Author: Paige Malott

Paige E. Malott is an award-winning multimedia director who joined UrbanCincy in 2013 as the Arts & Culture contributor. An area native, Paige has experienced living in all three genres of neighborhoods. She grew up in rural Ohio, stayed in suburban Fort Thomas, Kentucky while earning her Bachelor’s degree at Northern Kentucky University, and currently resides in Downtown Cincinnati. In addition to being an urban explorer, Paige creates feature-length films about the Queen City’s history. In 2010, she produced a documentary on Cincinnati’s Abandoned Subway which aired on PBS to over 6 million viewers. She is also a photojournalist for CincyWhimsy.com and writes for Cincinnati USA, the region’s tourism network.

Categories
Business News Transportation

Metro Celebrates 40 Years of Transit Service in Cincinnati

Mass transit in Cincinnati has been around for 124 years, but the service provided by Metro is still 40 years young. The first buses in the Queen City arrived in 1926 and had grown in popularity by the 1960s.

During this time, it was managed by a private company named Cincinnati Street Railway. In 1973, the City of Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) partnered to establish Metro in order to improve ridership and the quality of the buses. It was then Metro became the city’s first publicly owned and operated transportation system.

Metro 40th Anniversary Vow Renewal
After meeting on Metro’s first day of service 40 years ago, Captain Rex and Anita Settlemoir renewed their wedding vows on Thursday. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.

To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Metro hosted an afternoon of festivities on Fountain Square. Four buses were displayed along Fifth Street, including a vintage Cincinnati Street Railway bus which had been preserved by the Cincinnati Transit Historical Society.

Local vendors Queen City Bike, Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, Cincinnati Parks, and the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) handed out freebies while Binny and Buddy, mascots for Rumpke and Hoxworth Blood Center, entertained the crowd. Metro’s booth even featured a spin-the-wheel game were participants could win an assortment of products from Metro including hand sanitizer, tote bags, or miniature model Metro buses.

“We’re celebrating 40 years of connecting people and places, supporting economic development and improving the quality of life in Greater Cincinnati,” announced Terry Garcia Crews, CEO of Metro.

In addition to celebrating the organization’s anniversary, a local couple celebrated their 40th anniversary as well. Captain Rex and Anita Settlemoir met while riding Metro in during its first year of service. The Settlemoirs took part in a wedding vow renewal and were escorted to Fountain Square by a Metro*Plus bus; the newest vehicle introduced to the fleet.

“You could just hear the love and see it in their eyes,” smiled Jill Dunne, Public Affairs Manager for Metro.

With 40 being the new 20, the city wonders what’s next for Metro.

“Metro has so many exciting things ahead,” explained Dunne. “Next week, we launch our Metro*Plus rapid bus service in the Montgomery corridor, and we are adding new connections on the west side, as well as more east-west routes.”

“And that is just the start!” Dunne laughed. “I can’t even imagine what our service will look like in 2053. I’m hoping for flying buses.”

Categories
Arts & Entertainment

Cincinnati Celebrates 150th Civil War Anniversary through Museum Center Exhibit

Cincinnati & The Civil War ExhibitRecognized primarily for its involvement with the Underground Railroad, Cincinnati is commonly noted as a minor player in American Civil War history. However, one of the most important confrontations of the war happened right here in the Queen City.

In September 1862, 8,000 Confederate troops marched toward Cincinnati from Lexington. Being a major supplier of Union goods, Cincinnati became a desirable stronghold for The South to conquer. The city was unarmed, defenseless, and would face an attack within 48 hours.

Under the guidance of General Lew Wallace, 72,000 citizens rallied to protect their homes and businesses. Two days later, the Union surrounded their opposition upon arrival, causing the Confederates to retreat.

Had the southerners been able to capture the city, they would have gained control all the way up to Pittsburgh, thus changing the outcome of the Civil War. Without a shot being fired, Cincinnati’s preparedness played a significant role in the fate of our nation.

This little-known story, The Siege of Cincinnati, is one of many local legends shared in the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Cincinnati & The Civil War exhibit, which runs through October. The program celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Queen City’s involvement at the height of the war, and is showcased in the museum’s Ruthven Gallery.

Included in the exhibit is an entire uniform of Cincinnati General William H. Lytle, as well as his liquor cabinet, weapons, and other personal items recovered from the battlefield. Other displays feature items from Abraham Lincoln, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, and artifacts from the Great Western Sanitary Fair, a lavish fundraising campaign to support sick and wounded Federal soldiers.

Cincinnati & The Civil War is free and open to the public from 10am to 5pm Monday through Saturday, and 11am to 6pm on Sundays. The exhibit can be accessed on the lower level of the Cincinnati Museum Center near the special exhibits entrance.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

PHOTOS: Over-the-Rhine Impresses More Than 30,000 Spectators for LumenoCity

In welcoming Louis Langrée, the new music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Over-the-Rhine hosted LumenoCity, a community-wide celebration which encompassed all five of Music Hall’s fine arts groups as well as the building itself. Performances included the Cincinnati Pops, Ballet, Opera, May Festival Chorus, and of course, the Symphony.

The ensemble was complimented by a light show that used the façade of Music Hall as a canvas. Projections synchronized with 40 minutes of live music, with song selections ranging from Tchaikovsky and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 to Broadway hits including selections from Les Miserables and Hairspray.

An estimated 15,000 spectators gathered at Washington Park Saturday night, and another 18,000 on Sunday, to witness this first-ever light and orchestra music spectacular.

“Five years ago, something like this never would have happened in Washington Park,” mentioned Edith Fairgrove, who was visiting from West Chester Township. “The area [Over-the-Rhine] has changed so much in such little time.”

A few seats away, Devon Marshall had traveled from Price Hill with his family to see the show both Saturday and Sunday. Each day, they parked at Union Terminal then took the free shuttle to Washington Park. Despite there being long lines for the shuttle after the show, Marshall appreciated the service.

“If Cincinnati keeps having events like this, we’re going to need that streetcar to help get people around,” he grinned.

With over 30,000 people in attendance this weekend, LumenoCity became the largest gathering in Washington Park, dwarfing the sizeable turnout for last year’s World Choir Games performances. As Over-the-Rhine’s revival continues to succeed, Cincinnatians look on with wonder as to how the historic neighborhood will impress them next.

Paige Malott and John Yung contributed photographs for this story.

Categories
Business Development News

PHOTOS: Grandin Properties Completes $1.6M Renovation of 135-Year-Old Hummel Building

The Hummel Building as seen from Washington Park. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.

Ninety years after the founding of the City of Cincinnati, in a day when Over-the-Rhine was home to over 40 breweries and Barney Kroger was still writing his business plan; three men sat in a saloon along Vine Street finalizing the design for Music Hall and a property adjacent: 1401 Elm Street.

The triage of architect Samuel Hannaford, Cincinnati political boss George Cox, and construction contractor George Hummel built 1401 as mixed-use development. In addition to multi-family homes, the property included the Hummel Family Market and the ever-popular Hummel Saloon.

Erected in 1878, the structure has withstood the test of time allowing for modern-day developers, Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), Hudepohl Construction, and Grandin Properties to rehabilitate it 135 years later.

The $1.6 million project was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Chad Munitz, Executive Vice President of 3CDC, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C), Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney, Councilmember Laure Quinlivan (D), and Peg Wyant of Grandin Properties.

The Hummel Building, which is now home to a 1,900 square-foot restaurant space and four condominiums priced from $270,000 to $375,000, is also the first Over-the-Rhine project for Grandin Properties.

A company best known for their work in upscale suburban neighborhoods such as Hyde Park, Grandin invested in 1401 Elm for both its historic significance and recent resurgence of the urban lifestyle.

“Cincinnati is reinventing itself as a hub of influence and innovation,” stated Grandin CEO, Peg Wyant at the ribbon cutting ceremony last week. “Grandin Properties is very pleased to be a part of it.”

Just around the corner from the Hummel Building, crews continued roadwork in preparation for the Cincinnati Streetcar.

“It is exciting to see this property link up with the streetcar,” noted City Manager Milton Dohoney. “Great things happen as we continue to invest in the city with the help of 3CDC.”

The Hummel Building is the second of seven projects to be completed during the fifth phase of 3DCDC’s redevelopment work in Over-the-Rhine. Other properties include Republic Street Lofts, Tea Company Townhomes, Westfalen II, B-Side Lofts, Mercer Commons, and Nicolay, as well as the Bakery Lofts which opened earlier this year. Hummel’s first floor restaurant is slated for a public debut on November 26, 2013.

The City of Cincinnati and 3CDC have financed more than $315 million in redeveloping Over-the-Rhine since 2009. The 110-square block neighborhood is home to the largest concentration of historic structures in the United States: 943 buildings. To date, 103 of those buildings have been restored or stabilized through the work of 3CDC.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

PHOTOS: Mayor Mallory Energizes Supporters at Streetcar Social

Mayor Mallory Addresses the Crowd

Hosting their monthly Streetcar Social, Cincinnatians for Progress braved the summer heat wave at Rhinegeist Brewery as crowds gathered to listen to the featured speaker of July.

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory (D) took to the stage, presenting an update on phase one of the Cincinnati Streetcar project, to a room filled with approximately 200 supporters. Several City Council members were also present, including Wendell Young (D), Laure Quinlivan (D), Chris Seelbach (D), and representatives for Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C) and City Council Candidate Mike Moroski (I).

The Mayor spent the beginning of the event mingling with the crowd, followed by delivering a 20-minute presentation that recapped the official signing of the streetcar construction contract with Messer, and the continued progress with utility relocation along the phase one route.

An updated CAF streetcar model was shown with interior finishes, and Mayor Mallory explained that Cincinnati’s five streetcars will have cutting-edge technology that will be the first of their kind to operate in North America.

Mayor Mallory also showed a rendering of the streetcar maintenance facility, which will be erected in the lot adjacent to Rhinegeist, and explained that the current cinder-block structure will be demolished so that the new facility can be built along Henry Street.

“We’ve decided to name the maintenance facility the Center of Advanced Streetcar Technology, or COAST for short,” Mallory quipped to a boisterous audience, as he commented about the anti-streetcar group with the same acronym.

The mayor continuously expressed his gratitude for supporters, both new and those who have been on for the long haul.

“Investing in the Cincinnati Streetcar will help stabilize the city’s tax base and repopulate the Queen City; the greatest challenge facing us today.”

All photographs were taken by Paige Malott and Travis Estell for UrbanCincy.