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Business Development News Politics Transportation

New provision to Ohio transportation budget represents “unprecedented attack” on Cincinnati Streetcar

In an unprecedented action, Ohio Senate Transportation Committee Chair Tom Patton allowed a provision to be introduced to the latest amendment of the state’s biennial transportation budget that would “prohibit state or federal funds appropriated by the state from being used for the Cincinnati streetcar project.”

The action comes on the heels of recent news that newly elected Governor John Kasich (R) plans to strip the project of approximately $52 million in state appropriated funds. Such an action would go directly against the state’s laws and proceedings for appropriating state and federal transportation dollars, and could be subject to legal action from the City of Cincinnati.

“So if you suddenly don’t like the process established by law that has worked well for 14 years under Democrats and Republicans, you change the process,” said Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio. “This is like saying we didn’t like who won the Super Bowl, so we’re going to re-write the record books.”

Provision SC-0257-1 was approved out of committee Tuesday evening as part of an omnibus amendment, and will then go to the full Senate and House. The omnibus amendment, according to Prendergast, could then either be accepted as is, or be assigned to a conference committee if the House finds the bill substantially different from the version it passed last week that did not include the anti-streetcar provision.

The unprecedented attack against the Cincinnati Streetcar, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) highest-ranking transportation project pending anywhere in the state, further exemplifies the cavalier attitude of the newly elected governor and Ohio General Assembly.

Prendergast notes that the Cincinnati Streetcar was ranked as the state’s top transportation project based on economic development, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact criteria by the Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC), a non-political review board established by state law in 1997. The TRAC, he says, was created, urged in part by then and current ODOT Director Jerry Wray, to remove politics from the state’s transportation project selection process.

Previous actions by the TRAC include unanimous votes in support of the funding appropriations for the $128 million Cincinnati Streetcar project.

“These are not state funds, but state-administered transportation funds. If they don’t go to the streetcar, they will go to a lower-ranking road project,” Prendergast emphasized. “If state officials really want to save taxpayers’ money, they should cut from the bottom-ranked projects, not from the top.”

Prendergast went on to say that in his nearly 30 years of transportation advocacy that he has never seen such a blatant attempt to discriminate against rail projects in such a manner. And he points to a November 2009 vote in Cincinnati that defeated a measure that would have singled out rail projects for public votes by 55 to 45 percent.

“As young Ohioans flee to vibrant cities that offer transportation choices, as Baby Boomers face a future of house arrest without options to cars, and as all Ohioans face immobility from worsening global petroleum constraints, this amendment by the Ohio General Assembly to punish a very specific transportation project is worse than counter-intuitive. It’s downright mean.”

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Arts & Entertainment News

University of Cincinnati Urban Design Exhibition at The McAlpin Condominiums

The University of Cincinnati’s top-ranked Interior Design program took center stage this Wednesday at the inauguration of a month-long Urban Design Exhibition at The McAlpin Condominiums downtown.

Students from UC’s nationally renowned College of Design, Art, Architecture & Planning (DAAP) opened a showcase of over 25 unique designs proposals for a 3,350 square-foot high-end condominium and 4,500 square-foot mezzanine retail venue. These two spaces, both currently awaiting development, sit within the historic McAlpin Building, which was originally constructed between 1859 and 1873 by architects James McLaughlin and James Keys Wilson, to house the John Shillito Company and the Robert Mitchell Furniture Company.

With a nod to the building’s rich architectural heritage and historical acclaim, the current Urban Design Exhibition gives a younger generation of local designers the chance to try their own hand at proposing a designing for the structure’s redevelopment. In Wednesday night’s opening ceremony six awards were given to Interior Design students whose work received acclaim from the property’s developers, local design educators, and the general public.

“The opportunity to work with so many young minds to explore so many creative designs has been terrific” Joseph Straka, head developer for 4J Redevelopment at McAlpin, remarked at the exhibit’s opening. “We thrive on innovative design.”

And with so many inventive development schemes, who could disagree? “How many interior design students across the country have the opportunity to design in a renovated 150-year-old building in the heart of the urban core?” asked Geoff Scholl, 4J’s project manager at the McAlpin. “When UC’s School of Architecture & Interior Design inquired about using our shell mezzanine retail space and one of the unfinished residential units we were happy to oblige, both for our benefit and students’.”

Rachel Harris, a second year Interior Design student whose work was featured in the Urban Design Exhibition, concurred, explaining how beneficial it was to be given the opportunity to take on the challenge of designing for a real interior space.

“By working with the developers of the McAlpin we were able to fully understand their plans for the space,” she said, gesturing to the whitewashed walls of the exhibit that will one day be transformed into tiled and painted finishes of an upscale urban condominium, “after experiencing the space in person I was actually able to picture myself inside while developing my design.”

“This is the real world,” remarked Professor Edson Cabalfin, one of several University of Cincinnati Interior Design educators in attendance, “and this studio provided an exciting experience for students to be in the space they are actually designing for.”

Scholl couldn’t agree more, and added that from a developer’s perspective, “partnering with a local institution like DAAP gives young students experience while providing us with ideas and designs that are on the cutting edge.”

Mayor Mark Mallory was also present to give a keynote speech. He summed up the excitement of the event by saying that the innovative designs produced by the University of Cincinnati’s Interior Design students are part of his vision for “putting creative young minds to work… the students at the University of Cincinnati have been given a voice in this design challenge and have shown their desire to step up and make an impact.” He continued, adding that, “Cincinnati needs to reduce its brain drain and take advantage of the young local talent by allowing students and young graduates to do meaningful work in high-profile urban spaces such as The McAlpin Condominiums.”

Since re-opening several years ago as a premier downtown residence, the McAlpin has also served as host for past Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon receptions, several Opening Day celebrations, as well as scores of Downtown Residents Council and Business Chamber events.

Scholl continued his praise for the Interior Design program, boasting “not many cities have a top five design school like DAAP, let alone one that willingly extends itself to its community. When we heard that the university was looking to do not one, but two studios in the McAlpin, we seized the opportunity to help them increase their presence in Cincinnati while providing us the benefit of being the backdrop against which their talents were shined.”

“We’ve worked with nationally recognized professional designers in the past,” added Straka in his opening speech, to a gallery packed with over two-hundred eager visitors, “and honestly, some of the work represented by these students tonight is on par with, or better, than what we have seen anywhere else in the country.”

The Urban Design Exhibition at the McAlpin will run through April 3rd at the McAlpin Condominums, 15 W. 4th Street in downtown Cincinnati. Contact mailto: g.scholl@themcalpin.com with questions or inquiries regarding the ongoing Urban Design Exhibition.

Urban Design Exhibition photograph by UrbanCincy contributor Jake Mecklenborg.

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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati could sue state if governor pulls streetcar funding

Streetcar supporters were outraged when they heard Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) was considering pulling as much as $52 million in state support from the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Such of move would have left the project with a financing gap and would have resulted in reduced scope or delayed construction. But according to some, a move of that nature by the governor may not carry legal merit.

The premise for cutting the funds for Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system is that the State of Ohio is facing an $8 billion budget deficit, and state leaders are examining many ways to cut that figure. But according to Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, those funds awarded to the Cincinnati Streetcar would not actually impact the state budget.

“The funds to be cut are federal transportation dollars. If they are not used on the streetcar, then they would be used on a transportation project with a lower TRAC ranking,” Prendergast explained. “In other words, Kasich is giving Cincinnati a false choice.”

Prendergast is referring to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) which was first established in 1998 to depoliticize the allocation of transportation funding. TRAC awards money based on a merit score, and the Cincinnati Streetcar earned 84 points which placed it as the highest-scoring transportation project in the entire state.

Local officials close to the Cincinnati Streetcar project believe Governor Kasich is attempting to strip the funds from the streetcar and reallocated them to the $2 billion Brent Spence Bridge replacement which scored a paltry 44 points on TRAC’s transportation list. The other reality is that the money could go to the Eastern Corridor plan which had three components scoring 34, 39 and 48 points – all well below the Cincinnati Streetcar’s state-leading 84 points.

“Our governor is making a false argument that pulling back this federal money will save the state money,” said Prendergast. “The streetcar funding has nothing to do with the state’s deficit. If it is not used for the streetcar, it will go to a lower-ranked Ohio road project.”

Two separate studies estimate that the modern streetcar project will stimulate approximately $1.5 billion of new investment in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine, or roughly 15 times the cost of the streetcar project. The Cincinnati Streetcar’s second phase Uptown is also expected to make large economic impacts, and has scored a 71.5 points on TRAC’s list.

“Why is our governor against redeveloping Cincinnati’s downtown and Over-the-Rhine areas with the streetcar? Steel rails offer a far superior path to jobs and growth and clean air than yet another asphalt road pitted with potholes,” concluded Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council.

According to Prendergast, the end result may be a another legal battle for the controversial governor. He says that at attempt to move the funds from the streetcar to another, lower-ranking transportation project, that Cincinnati officials would have legal grounds to sue the state for not following its own criteria in awarding federal transportation funds.

Modern Streetcar in Cincinnati photograph by UrbanCincy contributor Thadd Fiala.

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Business Development News

Project manager delivers construction update on $120M Cincinnati Riverfront Park

As the new $120 million Cincinnati Riverfront Park (CRP) is being built, the Cincinnati Park Board has been producing regular video updates highlighting the progress and taking us inside the development of the park. Each update when viewed together really tells the story, from start to finish, of one of the region’s most significant developments currently underway.

In this Spring 2011 update, project manager Dave Prather walks us through the ongoing construction site that will soon become the front door to the city. The video provides updates on the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Stage & Event Lawn, scheduled for a May 2011 opening, as well as the Walnut Street Steps & Fountain and the which are both slated to open in fall 2011. Prather also takes some time to address ongoing budget concerns for the new park.

“The capital budget is still not affected on the contracts underway and the phases of the project under construction,” Prather stated. He also says that the park board expects many of the Phase I features to still be open during the 2011 or 2012 seasons pending operational budgets.

On Thursday, May 26 the Women’s Committee for Cincinnati Riverfront Park will hold their fifth annual “Hats Off” luncheon at the new event lawn. This will be the organization’s first event held at the new park for which they have raised thousands of dollars to make reality.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

2011 Bockfest Parade rolls on without a hitch

The largest Bockfest celebration in North America took place in Cincinnati this past weekend. The three-day collection of festivities gathered beer lovers in celebration of the coming of spring and Bock beer.

Thousands of Cincinnatians and visitors converged in historic Over-the-Rhine for more than just beer though. Tours guiding people through Cincinnati’s beer history and the history of the neighborhood entertained many. Others came for the food and drink. But others came to enjoy the more eclectic activities that took place over the weekend like the annual Bockfest Parade which kicks off the festival.

UrbanCincy contributor Thadd Fiala was there to capture it all. Enjoy 26 of his photographs during the wet and rainy 2011 Bockfest Parade. Also, be sure to check out Thadd’s photographs from last year’s Bockfest Parade.