dglenn

Went to the Diner today with my brother and a friend and we really enjoyed it (at least I did). The front section near the bar has a very "happening" atmosphere, the food was actually quite good, and everyone stopped by to make sure we were doing alright, from managers to the chef. As a place that's open 24 hours, I can see it becoming quite a post-bar hotspot on friday and saturday nights. Poor Harry's Pizza :)

It turns out someone from the Vine Street Steering Team noticed a similar thread re: the Kauffman Brewery that I posted on Cincinnati Tomorrow, and was prompted to write an email to various city councilmembers and the Mayor (and myself). I thought I'd copy that email here, along with my response: On Fri, 7 Jan 2005 13:10:33 -0500, Daniel Glenn Rieman-Klingler <[email protected]> wrote: > Mr. Donaldson, > > I'm so glad you found my article -- thanks for forwarding it! I should > mention, however, that I meant to put a zero or two in front of the $1 when I > suggested donations from members. I'm not naive enough to think that a couple > hundred bucks could do much of anything to help save the building! > I wanted to make you aware (as you already may be) of efforts by Julie Fay and > myself to organize a coalition of investors to rehabilitate and inhabit the > building. The two biggest potential investors at this point are the Cincinnati > Black Theatre group, and Inktank. Both entities have expressed interest in a > collaborative investment, and Inktank would actually like to form a consortium > of non-profits to invest in the property and use it as shared administrative > space. > I spoke with Ed Sherman of CBTC yesterday, and he claims that they are very > intent on moving forward with the property. I've also been in contact with > Jeff Syroney of Inktank, and not only does he seem quite interested, he also > seems to have access to funds. In order to see whether there's synergy between > the two organizations, we're in the process of setting up a meeting for next > week, which may also include a "walkabout" of the property. I'll inform you of > the meeting time and place when I know. > Again, I'm so pleased you happened across my post, and I hope we can join > forces to work toward saving this treasure. > > Sincerely, > Danny Klingler > Masters in City Planning Candidate, 2006 > Massachusetts Institute of Technology > [email protected] > http://www.web.mit.edu/dglenn/www > > "In all of America, there is no more promising an urban area for revitalization > than your own Over-the-Rhine. When I look at that remarkably untouched, > expansive section of architecturally uniform structures, unmarred by clashing > modern structures, I see in my mind the possibility for a revived district that > literally could rival similar prosperous and heavily visited areas." > > -Arthur Frommer, renowned travel writer > > > Quoting "SHANGLO, LLC" <[email protected]>: > > > Distinguished members of council, > > > > I know that you four care about OTR but I am not sure if you are aware > > that the old Kauffman Brewery is scheduled for tear down. I wanted to > > bring this to your attention in case you may have some energy to help. > > I am encouraged by many of the efforts that this council has put > > forth to rebuild OTR and I look forward to your continued efforts. > > > > I am copying you on an article that I came across on > > cincinnatitomorrow.com I am on the Vine street steering team but we > > have not met since the sidewalk has been blocked off in front of the > > brewery. I contacted the Jennifer Walke in the development office she > > is also on the Vine street committee and was not aware of this. I > > think this is an important landmark to the area and would like to see > > it saved. > > > > Thanks for reading. > > > > Warm regards, > > John Donaldson > > (513) 381-8299 > > > > > > > > http://cincinnatitomorrow.com/bb-topic-337.html > > > > As some of you may know, the historic Kauffman Brewery on Vine Street > > in Over-the-Rhine is under threat of demolition. This is a large > > structure that has great historical and cultural value, as well as > > immense potential for redevelopment, but time is running out. The > > Black Theatre Company has expressed interest in buying and > > rehabbingthe facility, but at this point no deal has been worked out, > > and my understanding is that it's doubtful they'll have the necessary > > funds to pull it off alone. > > > > The point of this post is to try to garner some interest in the plight > > of this building, and to see if something can be done. I, for one, > > will be extremely disheartened if we lose yet another historic > > building in OTR. I know that many of you take great interest in our > > city, and I think that if we would pool our resources and effort > > around some issues, we could have a tremendous impact. > > > > Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for saving the > > Kauffman brewery, or if you'd like to do something to help. I was > > thinking that a $1 donation from CT members (and perhaps also from > > other organizations) could raise a very substantial sum of money and > > contribute to the stabilization of the building, thus saving it from > > demolition. Let me know what you think! > > > > Danny Klingler > > [email protected]

Main Street in OTR is pretty much just as cool looking as the strip in that pic. And if Larimer Square is only a couple blocks long, OTR totally has it beat. Have you guys seen this quote? "In all of America, there is no more promising an urban area for revitalization than your own Over-the-Rhine. When I look at that remarkably untouched, expansive section of architecturally uniform structures, unmarred by clashing modern structures, I see in my mind the possibility for a revived district that literally could rival similar prosperous and heavily visited areas." -Arthur Frommer, renowned travel writer

How gentrified is Laramer Square?

cool, I'll try the comet...what about little kings?

Whoever the planners were that advocated demolition and "urban renewal" back in the day should be...I don't know, the opposite of martyrs or something.

Can you still get Hudy and Burger? If so, where?

Oh, and the Medcenter is absolutely freaking hideous. It makes me sick every time I think about what they probably tore down to put that thing up. Haven't seen the cell tower yet, and I'm not sure I want to.

Although I'm not sure I agree with your perspective on gentrification, I am TOTALLY with you on the preservation side of things. It's good to know that someone else out there sees the value in preserving EVERY contributing building.

Anyone care to agree/disagree?

I'm kinda ambivalent toward this project. The postitives for me are that it will be a sort of new urbanist development, and that it may restore some vitality to the area. The negatives are that eminent domain was used to take established businesses and historic buildings out, and the retail will probably be mainstream corporate stuff (i.e. Banana Republic and Gap rather than small boutiques and shops)

I'm really not sure I like how it looks

Development IS happening -- it's creeping in around the Sycamore/Main/Clay area...I think Mr. Coffee is right, certain areas are too deep in the hood at the moment to be viable development opportunities....but barring any disasters, I think it WILL happen eventually. For me the major questions are whether we'll do a good job preserving the endangered buildings, whether infill will be designed in character with the neighborhood, and whether we'll control gentrification enough that low income and lower middle class people will still have a place there. Those are my biggest concerns. Unfortunately the city doesn't seem to care too much about preservation, and they seem to think that ANY development is good development (i.e. the Gateway condos)

Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist, but I like Cincinnati's Music Hall http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/citytour5.html

All I can say is, I'm glad it's in Kentucky. This sort of thing would not help Cincinnati in my opinion.

I agree that this expansion is probably good news...I just wish the city didn't have to PAY $80,000 to demolish an old building that likely has some historic value As for Christian Moerlein, I wish they would hurry up and move into one of our old breweries!

Monte, you can get an idea how much buildings are worth and what they look like by going to the auditor's website and performing a search http://www.hamiltoncountyauditor.org For real insight as to what properties would be good fixer-uppers, I would talk with Bill Baum (of Urban Sites), Jim Tarbell, or one of the other OTR lovers who would gladly provide you with that kind of info

oops, should have been http://www.urbansitesproptery.com

Mr. Coffee, I agree with you completely Mark - Urban Sites has a great record. In fact, they are pretty much THE rehabber of historic properties in OTR. Check out their website for pics of some of the loft conversions they do. http://urbansitesproperty.com As for the fire, I don't know much about it other than Urban Sites owned the building and had intended to rehab it

chances are a new condo would detract from the architectural integrity of the neighborhood. The building may not look great now, but keep in mind that it's in terrible shape and the ground level has been covered with a hideous orange something or other. This is an historic German district we're talking about here. The travel book author Arthur Frommer said it had more potential than any neighborhood he's seen in the U.S. I don't think we can afford to let buildings like these go...sure, it may not be music hall, but these OTR buildings have a subtle beauty and a value that goes beyond their facade.

I hear you Monte...I just spoke with Margaret Warminski of Cincy Preservation and here's what she told me: 1) Obviously the building is owned by the Abandoned Buildings Corporation, and they are a NON-PROFIT run by John Hauck dedicated to preserving derelict buildings in Cincinnati. 2) After buying the building a few years back, they put $200,000 in repairs into it, only to see their efforts negated by a second fire about a year ago. It was this fire that really left the building in bad shape, and prompted the city to propose demolition 3) There was a hearing on the building in December, at which time a decision on the building was delayed until a second hearing that will take place later this month. 4) According to Margaret Warminski, by far the best option for saving the building is garnering interest from a principal investor. 5) There are two potential investors at the moment. First is the Black Theatre Company; second, and supposedly the more serious of the two contenders, is a group called a sort of coalition of non-profits (e.g. inktank) that would like to use the building as a shared administrative space. The problem is, of course, that it's going to cost A LOT to fix the building up. I'm going to contact John Hauck, Jim Tarbell, and Kathy Holwadel of Inktank to see what they have to say.

I'll try to take some pics at various angles tomorrow and post them. I'm also going to try to find some old pics of it in books on Cincy's breweries. I feel like if the building could just hang on for couple more years, OTR would have enough momentum that investors would step in to rehab it. But the department of buildings and inspections is so damn concerned with public "nuissances" and potential collapse that they're anxious as hell to bring it down

amen

Other buildings are definitely being condemned and slated for demolition. For example, I believe it was 1611 Elm St. that was torn down last spring because it was in such bad shape, and another building owned by Urban Sites was demolished last summer after a fire. As for your concern about the structural soundness of the brewery, apparently an engineering study is going to be done (has been done?) to determine its condition. I will say though that I believe that just about ANY building can be saved. Some may require inordinate amounts of funds, but to me these resources are so invaluable and irreplacable that they deserve every preservation effort. OTR has immense potential because of its architectural value, and with every demolition a little bit of that value is lost.

Thanks for finding that I spoke with a community leader a couple days ago who is highly interested in saving the building, and she informed me that there will be another hearing in late January that may well determine its fate. I'm going to call CPA to see if they have any suggestions for helping, but judging from my past experience with them they aren't that well organized and don't know how to make use of volunteers.