If you look behind you on your righ-hand side while sitting at the traffic light next to GABP's garage, you'll notice tons of concrete or marble-like slabs stacked up all over the place. There are tons of it ... Does anyone know what this is for? My curiosity is killing me! ;)

 

Location: Directly underneath the 2nd St. to I71 ramp and north of the US Bank Arena.

 

Here is an aerial:

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=19&ll=39.09858,-84.505653&spn=0.001068,0.002497&t=k&om=1

Is that the place where the spotlight has been shining every night?  I was occupied with driving, so I couldn't pinpoint it, but it was roughly that area...

Spotlight is at the Montgomery Inn banquet center. Don't know what the slabs are... maybe facing for that side of the ballpark that's been left with bare concrete? Rehab on US Bank or Lytle?

One river plaza construction? 

Have they secretly started on The Banks?

 

/yeah, I'm joking.

//but hey, I can hope.

Spotlight is at the Montgomery Inn banquet center.

 

Any idea what for?

 

^Nope, but I was heading home Wednesday and tracked it down. Bunch of swells getting together. Looked like a holiday corporate party.

 

 

^^ look at the enquirer today for an explanation of the spotlight.  It is 'guiding your way to one river plaza'.

A full color ad on A8 maybe explains it only slightly better than i did.

Perhaps they are doing something with the area under the ramps/steps to US/GABP; that area has a feel of being unfinshed and raw, not to mention the steps are rusted and gross.

not to mention the steps are rusted and gross.

 

Agreed. I left USBank Arena last night and commented to another guy I was with at how unsafe the rusted out steps appeared to be. They are probably the same age as the Arena.

^I actually think they are much newer than that. I remember concrete steps being in that area before GABP, very similar to the steps on the other side of the Crown. I think these were built during the last years of Riverfront, as they were built in the same temporary style as a couple others they built from the main deck of Riverfront down to street level, etc.

When I went to the UD/Louisville game a couple weeks ago I assumed this was an off-site staging area for FS renovation.

^I actually think they are much newer than that. I remember concrete steps being in that area before GABP, very similar to the steps on the other side of the Crown. I think these were built during the last years of Riverfront, as they were built in the same temporary style as a couple others they built from the main deck of Riverfront down to street level, etc.

 

Those steps I think were meant to be temporary, and have never been replaced.  They were put in during the construction of GABP.  As for the area you mention; I just assume it is an area that the city controls and uses as some storage space for the materials there.  These items could be used for a wide variety of projects, but the explanation I think is as simple as the city using an area that is otherwise unusable for a storage purpose...otherwise I could envision that area as being a homeless refuge area.

Yup, the owners of US Bank Arena are in a legal tussle with the city over access to their venue, arguing that GABP cuts off their access and they want the City to build new stairway access, hence the rusty temporary stairs remain.  I do not know the status of the lawsuit.

^New stairway access? Where would that be?

 

The temporary steps need replacement bad, as does the temporary-looking chainlink fence that runs along the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps. That area looks unfinished and reflects badly on the city and the Reds.

Could the Banks be under-construction and us not know about it??? I'm starting to pick up on the clues ...

no they couldn't.  the problem with the banks is the project isn't economically viable, but the city/county smoke screen kept us all in the dark.

You should be banned for such blasphemy!!!

without substantial funding from City/County/State/Feds to the tune of about 50 million additional dollars, the project won't get off the ground

Didn't they get an 'intermodal' center -- a.k.a. parking garage? That's how Pullman Square started -- with an 'intermodal' center that supported major new development.

Yes there is an 'inter-modal' center.  It is under 2nd street and is used for bus service right now.  It primarily gets used for big events, as well as, bus drop offs for the Freedom Center.  This would also be the hook in for light rail should it get off the ground.

Thomas, I was being sarcastic. ;)

of course you were, I was just using your comment to segway into my own agenda, otherwise it would appear to be a rant.

they are slabs of granite waiting to be installed at fountain square.  i guess the had them all shipped but as we all know half of the plaza is yet to be finished.

they are slabs of granite waiting to be installed at fountain square.  i guess the had them all shipped but as we all know half of the plaza is yet to be finished.

 

I figured that's what they were, but I was trying to brainwash myself into thinking ... "hey, you know what ... now that I think about it ... I haven't checked out The Banks in while ... maybe some sort of news article slipped past Grasscat and The_Cincinnati_Kid??? ... I mean Grasscat has been stressed out and stated that he can't cover everything? ..."

 

 

 

yeah, it sure is easy to get excited about things that appear to be new construction.  on a related topic i remember some folks test boring in the 3rd street parking lot adjacent to the building FRCH just purchased, and today there was a backhoe doing some digging.  probably just some utility maintanence but it would be cool if they did something with that lot.