Tag: historic preservation

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

Brewery District to host three new Oktoberfest tours next weekend

What does September mean in Cincinnati? Oktoberfest of course! One of the area’s favorite festivals, in all of its German heritage, food and beer splendor, returns downtown September 18-19. In addition to the traditional consumption of bratwurst, märzen lagers, and chicken dances, the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District is teaming, once again, with the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company to host a series of tours focusing on Cincinnati’s rich brewing history. The three separate, but intermingling, tours will be offered at various times on both Saturday and Sunday and all three will begin and end at the future home of Christian Moerlein brewing operations (located at 1621 Moore Street in OTR).

The first is the popular Prohibition Resistance Tour which is run by the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District every year during Bockfest in March, and now during Oktoberfest as well. This two-and-a-half hour tour begins with a historical overview of the brewing in Cincinnati, followed by stops at six different breweries including descending 30 feet underground into abandoned lagering cellars for an authentic glimpse of Cincinnati’s brewing past. This particular tour has typically sold out quickly and OTR Brewery District executive director Steve Hampton says that tickets have been selling just as fast this time around. The tour includes a beer ticket and costs just $30, so make your reservations soon.

A second tour will highlight the release of Mike Morgan’s new book entitled Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King. This new tour will take participants along the length of Vine Street through Over-the-Rhine, allowing them to travel through both the Crown and Kauffman breweries while also learning about OTR’s early history and politics from the author himself. Tour organizers say that Morgan’s tour will only be offered at two times this weekend: Saturday at 3:10pm and Sunday at 3:20pm. Each tour will last approximately two-and-a-half hours and include the requisite beer ticket. Tickets cost $35, however $45 gets you a ticket for the tour as well as a signed copy of Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King.

The third and final tour is much more informal, free, and included in both of the aforementioned tours. Throughout the weekend people are encouraged to stop by the former Husman Potato Chip plant to check out the future home of Christian Moerlein brewing operations and get a look at the the planned brewery layout, future equipment placement, and renderings of the new Christian Moerlein Lager House taking shape on Cincinnati’s central riverfront. The tour will be offered approximately every 40 minutes.

As a special early kick-off for these tours, please join the OTR Brewery District this coming Thursday, September 9 at 10am, as volunteers Reconnect the Kauffman. During this “open to the public” event a wall, sealed during prohibition and blocking an underground tunnel, will be ceremoniously torn down to reconnect 2 buildings of the Kauffman Brewery, which at its height was the 4th largest in the city.

For those interested in being more involved with the Brewery Districts efforts, or just more involved with beer in general, volunteers are still needed both for the tours, and for serving beer through out the weekend at the future Christian Moerlein Brewery in OTR. Get your tickets soon and please sign up to be part of this great Cincinnati weekend. Cheers!

Categories
Business Development News

145-year-old College Hill home to be auctioned August 11-17

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) announced that a 145-year-old home in College Hill will be sold at an online auction between August 11-17.

According to CPA, the two-and-a-half story structure was completed in 1865, and boasts Greek Revival pilasters and Gothic Revival gables. The Hamilton County Auditor reports that the home has 2,800 completed square feet, and sits on nearly a half-acre of land in College Hill that is within walking distance of the neighborhood’s business district.

Currently owned by the U.S. Marshals Service, 1314 Groesbeck Road will have a nominal opening bid of $1,000. The auction will be held online only, and all bids must be made by 9:10am on Tuesday, August 17. Those interested in bidding are asked to visit the auction website being hosted by Williams & Williams Auction Services.

Categories
Business Development News Politics

CPA to host seminar on historic building receivership – 8/7

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will be hosting a seminar on historic building receivership Saturday, August 7 in Camp Washington. The executive director of the Camp Washington Community Board will be in attendance to discuss that neighborhood’s approach to saving, renovating, and reselling buildings that might have otherwise been lost due to neglect.

Originally settled in 1846, Camp Washington is one of Cincinnati’s many historic neighborhoods. Over time the neighborhood has seen dramatic changes with the introduction of Interstate-75 in the mid-twentieth century. Since that time the community has dealt with a neighborhood street grid detached from its surrounding neighbors while also trying to adjust to changing demographics that led to disinvestment, and back to popularity today.

The issues faced by the historic Camp Washington neighborhood are similar to what many inner-city neighborhoods faced during the second half of the 20th century. Its urban revival is a narrative that is also ringing true with others, but the neighborhood’s historic preservation success is an element CPA believes can help other neighborhoods around the region.

CPA’s Saving Buildings With Receivership seminar will take place from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, August 7 at 2951 Sidney Avenue. The seminar will include a tour of a current receivership project underway in Camp Washington. Reservations are required due to limited space. Those interested can register for $5 by contacting CPA at (513) 721-4506 or info@cincinnatipreservation.org.  You can also RSVP for the event on Facebook.

Categories
Development News Transportation

UC planning students create redevelopment plan for Dantas Barreto Corridor in Recife, Brazil

In an effort to prepare for the 2014 World Cup, Recife, Brazil is looking to redevelop its historic Dantas Barreto Corridor into a tourist-friendly, walkable, and culturally significant area. To accomplish this Recife city officials have looked to students from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally-acclaimed School of Planning.

After spending months in the port city in 2009, 13 students and faculty developed a detailed plan that would serve as a guide to redevelop the corridor. As preparation efforts ramp up, city officials now appear poised to formally adopt the UC redevelopment plan.

“There is a move by the city to officially adopt the UC plan, and the city and UC are now in negotiations with the hope that the UC School of Planning can continue in an advising role as the plan is adopted and them implemented,” said Michael Romanos, Professor of Planning, University of Cincinnati.

The redevelopment plan calls for burial of utilities, business improvement loans, community policing strategies complimented by two small police stations, pedestrian cultural tours, establishment of a small business incubator, galleries to show and sell work of local artists, “major” reconfiguration of traffic along the waterfront, streetscape improvements, composting and recycling programs, streets trees, green roofs, and entrepreneurship training among other things.

The improvements are geared towards improving the traffic and parking conditions, enhancing the cultural heritage, enhancing and diversifying business activities, and increasing residential development in the corridor.

Founded in the 1500s, Recife boasts a population of nearly four million residents and is facing many challenges as they prepare for the international sporting event four years from now. The work produced by University of Cincinnati students and faculty is being seen as a major benefit though as the city marches forward.

“The work with UC was one of the best collaborations we had in the past year,” said Milton Botler, Coordinator of Urban Planning, City of Recife. “The City hopes to receive Inter-American Bank funding to finance physical improvements of the Dantas Barreto Corridor between January 2011 and December 2012.”

Michael Romanos and Carla Chifos, Associate Professor of Planning, have led groups of student in international study and planning work in the past in other parts of the world including Thirasia, Greece where a team of students worked to develop a plan for the small Greek island as it manages tourism traffic on its largely uninhabited land.

Categories
Development News Transportation

Streetscape projects helping transform Fort Thomas business district

The bedroom suburb of Fort Thomas, Kentucky is perhaps best known for its streets of tidy, well-kept houses and its nationally-ranked public schools. Located along a ridge overlooking the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati, Fort Thomas is an attractive destination for those seeking the relative peace and quiet of a suburban lifestyle, combined with convenient access to downtown Cincinnati along with walkable streets and plenty of historic character.

In recent years, Fort Thomas has become one of several Northern Kentucky cities seeking to enhance its appeal by revitalizing its historic retail district and rediscovering the benefits of pedestrian-scaled, transit-friendly urban development. Fort Thomas’s neighbor to the north, Bellevue, has received recognition for its ongoing historic preservation work, and Bellevue and Covington have both made strides in implementing form-based codes that could ultimately serve as a model for zoning code changes in Cincinnati.

Over the past few years, Fort Thomas has undertaken a number of projects to enhance the city’s role as an attractive community within Cincinnati’s urban core. These projects include new buildings for Highlands Middle School and Woodfill Elementary School, a new amphitheater and bike trails in Tower Park, and the restoration of the city’s iconic 100-foot-tall stone water tower at the entrance to Tower Park. Perhaps most visibly, though, the city of Fort Thomas has recently completed major streetscaping improvements to its primary business district centered around the intersection of Highland and Fort Thomas Avenues and its secondary business district — the so-called Midway district — located adjacent to the site of the former Army post.

Aspects of the two streetscaping projects included burying overhead utility lines, the reconstruction of sidewalks and crosswalks to include brick accents and other decorative elements, the addition of street trees and thoughtful landscaping, installation of pedestrian-scaled light fixtures and signage, as well as the introduction of benches and other outdoor seating. The first phase to be completed was the primary downtown district at Highland Avenue and Fort Thomas Avenue.

Now complete for a couple of years, the trees and plantings in downtown Fort Thomas have begun to nicely mature. Of particular interest is the focus on the former Green Line streetcar, which provided transit access to the Army post and served as a catalyst for much of the subsequent development in the city from the 1890’s through the 1950’s. Fort Thomas is the classic “streetcar suburb”, and today’s TANK bus route through town still carries the Green Line’s old #11 route number.

Following the completion of streetscaping improvements to the downtown district of Fort Thomas, the second phase involved similar improvements to the so-called Midway district, a secondary business district on South Fort Thomas Avenue that grew up adjacent to the former Army post and was named after the carnival midway at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The site of the Army post — originally built to replace the flood-prone Newport Barracks — is now home to Tower Park, a large Veterans Administration nursing home, and an Army reserve center.

The streetscaping improvements recently completed in the Midway district are similar in nature to those performed in downtown Fort Thomas. Included in the Midway improvements were the reconfiguration of the River Road intersection, which now provides a small civic space that can be used for outdoor concerts or a farmer’s market, and the addition of sidewalk seating for neighborhood establishments such as the Olde Fort Pub and the Midway Cafe.

There are still a number of vacant storefronts in the Midway district, but it is hoped that the now-completed streetscaping improvements along with other measures, such as the restoration of long-vacant officers’ housing nearby and marketing efforts by the newly-formed Renaissance District, will see the addition of new retail tenants to the Midway district.