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Arts & Entertainment Development News

9th annual Paint the Town to impact 59 homes in two neighborhoods

After suffering a cancellation due to weather on Saturday, June 12th, more than 1,500 volunteers will spread across Avondale and Evanston to paint 59 houses as part of the 9th annual Paint the Town service event organized by Give Back Cincinnati. This year organizers expect approximately 7,500 man-hours to be donated during the single day of service activity.

The volunteers will work to improve the appearance and value of each home in the neighborhoods selected according to current needs. According to organizers, the increased value and improved appearance then help to improve each individual community. Each home to be painted has been sponsored by a local business, and the services are provided at no cost to the home owners. In 2009, more than 1,200 volunteers participated in painting 42 houses. Since the event’s first year 212 homes have been painted throughout Cincinnati in Price Hill, Northside, East End, Madisonville, Hartwell/Carthage, College Hill, and Covington.

“Painting a home for a community member is a great way to improve their lives, and serve others. It is a simple way for groups to actively engage and enjoy serving,” stated Give Back Cincinnati leaders. “We envision a day when we will paint 100 homes in a day with over 3,000 volunteers.”

Registration will begin at 7:45am on the day of the event with painting beginning at the houses at 9:30am. Following the service activity, volunteers will be treated to a post-event celebration that will include food, drink and music from 3pm to 7pm. Volunteers will also be treated to breakfast during registration.

Those interested in participating can register online. Paint the Town will be meeting in the northeast corner of the Norwood Plaza parking lot (map). Parking is expected to be tight, so organizers are asking those participating to carpool, bike or take public transit (plan your trip) to the event.

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Business Development News Politics

City Council poised to approve lease agreement for $4M Moerlein Lager House

Sources inform UrbanCincy that City Council is poised to approve a lease agreement with MLH Cincinnati USA, LLC to construct and operate the new $4 million Moerlein Lager House located within the Cincinnati Riverfront Park which is currently under construction. The ordinance will go before City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee on Monday, June 28th at 1pm, and then move on to a full council vote on Wednesday, June 30th where it is expected to pass with an overwhelming majority.

The new Moerlein Lager House is the first tenant signed for the new Cincinnati Riverfront Park which will eventually support several restaurant/bar uses. Once complete, the new microbrewery restaurant will brew 5,000 barrels of beer annually, offer brewery tours, and seat 500 inside with another 600 outside in two biergarten areas and a second-level terrace that will boast dramatic views of the new park, Ohio River, and Roebling Suspension Brige.

Christian Moerlein CEO Greg Hardman says that the two biergarten areas have the ability to be connected around the building during special events thus creating one enormous biergarten area.

Details on the lease agreement expected to be approved by the Budget & Finance Committee will be released on Monday, but it is understood that a variety of rent payments will be paid by Christian Moerlein to the Cincinnati Park Board over the course of the lease.

The 15,000 square-foot development is expected to be complete by spring 2012 which is one-year after the projected completion for the first phase of the Cincinnati Riverfront Park.

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Development News

Cincinnati to break ground on long-awaited firefighter’s memorial

Officials will break ground on the Greater Cincinnati Firefighter’s Memorial in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, June 29 at 10am. The new memorial will be located along Central Avenue in between 5th and 6th streets on the western edge of downtown.

The Memorial has been in the planning stages and will become a reality thanks to in-kind work from Turner Construction, Baker Concrete Construction, GBBN Architects, and donations from hundreds of individuals from throughout the Cincinnati region.

According to officials, the Greater Cincinnati Firefighter’s Memorial will honor fallen firefighters from 194 fire agencies within the 12-county Cincinnati metropolitan region. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at the site of the memorial (map) where a 33,500 square-foot green space will be constructed and include landscaped areas, gardens, a statue and walkways with pavers etched with names of donors to the Memorial.

Donations to the Greater Cincinnati Firefighter’s Memorial can be made online, or by contacting Gretchen Hooker at gretchen.hooker@cincinnati-oh.gov or (513) 357-2621.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Macy’s Music Festival to compliment GMWA Convention, fill downtown Cincinnati with music

The Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) will return to Cincinnati for the fourth time as it hosts its annual convention in late July 2010. The convention, which runs from July 24-30, will be complimented by the annual Macy’s Music Festival which takes place on July 30th and 31st at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.

The GMWA is expected to draw more than 5,000 people from around the world to Cincinnati to celebrate gospel music, and is expected to have an economic impact of approximately $3 million according to the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB).

“We are excited to once again bring the GMWA to Cincinnati USA,” stated James Robinson, board of directors member for the Gospel Music Workshop of America, in a prepared release to UrbanCincy. “From Cincinnati’s great music heritage to the wonderful partnership we’ve been able to develop with the Macy’s Music Festival, this region has so much to offer our members. We’re looking forward to GMWA’s best convention ever in July.”

The Macy’s Music Fesitival is expected to be a perfect compliment to the GMWA convention, and is anticipated to drive an economic impact of more than $25 million. This year’s R&B and soul music festival has already experienced a 50 percent surge in ticket sales over last year’s event, and will welcome the likes of Charlie Wilson, Teena Marie, Jaheim, Melanie Fiona and Cameo, Maze, Jill Scott, En Vogue, K’Jon and Raheem DeVaughn.

The coordination of the two major events was announced on Fountain Square this afternoon where local leaders and officials celebrated the impact the events will have on Cincinnati’s center city.

“Cincinnati continues to be a premier destination for important conventions and a hotbed for great cultural events and entertainment,” said Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory. “During this particular week in July, it all comes together in a special way. Our events and attractions have collaborated extremely well to create an unforgettable week of music and arts events for the thousands of convention and leisure visitors coming to the region.”

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Business News Politics

Cincinnati City Council approves new mobile food vendor program

Cincinnati’s City Council this afternoon approved the Mobile Food Vendor Pilot Program, as proposed by Councilmember Laure Quinlivan, by a 7-1 margin. Councilmember Leslie Ghiz (R) was the lone dissenting vote, while Councilmember Bortz (C) was not present.  The vote comes a day after City Council’s Quality of Life Committee voted to pass the measure after a long discussion that included public comment.

Members from the Cincinnati Food Truck Alliance including Senor Roy’s Taco Patrol and Cafe de Wheels, as well as relative newcomer, New Orleans To Go, came in support of mobile food vendors as an indicator of a healthy, vibrant city. Senor Roy himself gave three points as a reason to support the mobile food movement:

  1. Food trucks open in lots during late hours support the downtown community and their presence makes the area safer by populating an otherwise empty space with people, which is seen as a great safety measure.
  2. Cincinnati joining the national mobile food movement  creates attention for the area and attracts press.
  3. Venture capital is hard to come by, and mobile vendors allow brick and mortar companies to expand at a fraction of the cost.

The one concern brought up at the Quality of Life Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 22nd involved possible noise concerns from downtown residents. However, as Tom Acito of Cafe de Wheels put it, “It’s impossible to know if there would be a problem or not if we don’t try. We’ve got to move ahead.” After some debate, the 6th & Race location has now been moved from 6th Street to the other end of the parking lot to 5th Street to accommodate those concerns.

Starting Monday, June 28th, there will be three locations at which mobile food vendors – carts or trucks selling non-alcoholic beverages and ready-to-eat foods – will be able to use in the Downtown Business District on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Permits for the public locations will cost between $400-800 depending upon location and size of the truck, and vendors will be able to operate from 6am to 3:30am seven days a week.  The three public locations included in the Mobile Food Vendor Pilot Program include:

  • Sawyer Point – 1-2 spaces east of the Purple People Bridge
  • Court Street Market – 6 spaces on the south side of Court Street at Vine Street heading east. This is the only zone with electric service, 110 volt/20 amps. No heat lamp or grills supported.
  • 5th & Race Parking Lot – 12 spaces on southeast end of lot, along Race Street. Vendors must enter and exit using the 6th Street gate.

The first 20 vendors to sign up beginning the morning of Thursday, June 24th at 9am will receive Revocable Street Privileges that grants them access to any of the three locations. Policy makers say that this permit will keep vendors accountable, and will ensure that the locations are not overbooked.

“The pricing is very fair compared with what is being charged at private lots, and we still have the right to go to any private lot of our choice,” stated Gary Sims, owner, Taco Azul. “We will learn as we go, but as long as City Council is willing to adjust it will be good, and as far as I’m concerned it’s a good pilot program.”

The City appears to be setting the stage to do just that as they have planned to review the pilot program in October 2010 to examine progress and make any necessary adjustments.  While the program provides these additional public locations for mobile food vendors to locate, it does not remove the ability for mobile food vendors to locate on private property as they do presently.

Stay up-to-speed on the whereabouts of Cincinnati’s growing number of food trucks by following UrbanCincy’s comprehensive Twitter list.