If I rented an apartment facing the park, bought 25 kegs and 25 bottles of Thunderbird, and invited 250 of my closest friends over and did it 365 days a year for the past 35 years

The fact you even had that thought process makes me want to come to one of your parties.

Can I throw my going away party at your place?

Funds likely for Drop Inn Center

January 15, 2008 | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

 

OVER-THE-RHINE - Cincinnati's largest emergency homeless shelter, the Drop Inn Center, appears likely to get approval Wednesday by City Council for a $236,000 federal grant to help the shelter operate.

 

Council's Finance Committee unanimously approved the Emergency Shelter Grant on Monday.

 

That moves the ordinance to the full council.

 

Council members also agreed to mandate the hiring of a chief financial officer, more caseworkers [glow=yellow,2,300]and the construction of an inner courtyard for smoking[/glow], Councilman Jeff Berding said.

Well I guess that's a start...  Are they going to build an inner-courtyard for drinking and doing crack as well?

 

MOVE IT!

You can't be serious.  :-o  Since when should a shelter be given money to ensure their population a comfortable place to indulge in vice?

 

Rando, I sincerely hope that you found this article in the "funnies" section of the paper.

WTF!

Welcome to Cincinnati.  It is distressing when you look closer at who funds or makes possible many of the social services here in OTR, it is in many cases the last person or group who you would expect.  Keep in mind that they justify this as "balance", a give and take that does nothing but interfere with the evolution of area.

Where the old Washington Park school was there is now a fugly parking lot. I know it's temporary but I'd rather see grass.

Looks like the best time to avoid the DIC area and Washington Park is when it gets really cold. 

 

Several Hundred Stop By Drop Inn Center

Last Update: 11:41 am  www.wcpo.com

 

Freezing temperatures have brought many homeless people to shelters around the Tri-State.

 

Overnight, about 300 people took advantage of the Drop Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine.

 

A worker said that's about 50 more than a normal night.

 

One reason the center has been letting so many people through the door is to hopefully prevent weather-related deaths.

 

Glen Ward, coordinator of the Drop Inn Center, said, "Even the people on our avoid list we allow them to stay unless they're real violent, then we ask them to leave."

 

Donations can be made to help the center, including blankets, socks, and hats, or anything to keep warm.

 

 

 

 

^hmmmm.....

Wonder why people don't stay in those places when it's cold?  Because they've all known each other for years, been in fights, owe people money, and so on.  That's one argument for there being several shelters and why consolidating everything in one place means certain individuals wiill never show their face. 

Due to the lack of response to my initial post, I'm going to infer that there is not a final plan nor timetable for the Washington Park re-design.  Can anyone confirm or elaborate?

 

Thanks!

I don't think there is a timetable.  I believe they are still making estimates and figuring out how to pay for it. Also, they want to have the new parking garage completed next to Music Hall before removing the new "temporary" parking lot they just installed at the north end of the park.  I would guess 5 years, but others may be more optimistic.

Just thought I'd post these...I think the main plan might have already been posted, but I don't think the concept graphic has been.  Enjoy.

 

Washington Park Plan:

 

Washington Park Concept:

I'm all about the Civic Green. This should be Cincinnati's really nice (grassy) front yard. In the way, Fountain Square is the front stoop and the riverfront is the big park next door. Or something like that.

Im okay with the rendered design, but i really dont like the civic green. i think it lacks functionality. The Strolling garden looks good in plan view and is very similar to one of my previous designs, but those flanking sidewalks seems to create too much paved surface.

 

 

New type of project would help Cincinnati's chronically homeless, but not everyone's a fan

BY LUCY MAY | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

March 7, 2008

 

CINCINNATI - The Over-the-Rhine Community Housing Network is working with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. to develop a new type of housing for the city's chronically homeless.

 

The $3.2 million development would be the first of its kind in Greater Cincinnati and would cater to the most difficult to serve among Cincinnati and Hamilton County's homeless population. There were 9,448 homeless people in Hamilton County in 2006, according to the "2006 Homeless Information Management System Demographic Report" produced by the Cincinnati/Hamilton County Continuum of Care.

First time poster, I didn't see this posted yet

 

 

Lease spat threatens expansion

BY LISA BERNARD-KUHN AND BEN FISCHER | [email protected] AND [email protected]

 

OVER-THE-RHINE - Two multimillion-dollar plans that officials have said are vital to revitalizing one of Cincinnati's most troubled neighborhoods might be in trouble.

 

Officials at the Cincinnati City Center Development Corp. (3CDC) said a $14 million plan to expand Washington Park and a $16.9 million plan to build a 600-space parking garage near Music Hall could fall through.

^yikes!!!

Unless I misread this, they are saying they have a written lease agreement, but it only came up in a discussion about the reversion?  If it isn't in the lease, then they do not have the right, statute of frauds.  It says that 3CDC should have known, and then says it "needs to be a provision" does that mean that it was not a provision previously?  It is either in there or not.  I say make the reversion option only in the event of a default.  I would like to see how this law was written because if it is just a flat out right, then 3CDC is absolutely correct and no one would ever invest a dime.

welcome oneglove.  question though, what good is oneglove without the other?

^Ask that question to OJ Simpson.

MarkGlove! is probably the other.

^Ask that question to OJ Simpson.

ha!

MarkGlove! is probably the other.

and ha!

thanks atlas, but here's my question: how did the washington park plan move this far along before this issue came up?

I am not sure what is going on here between the school board and the park board and 3CDC, but it is about who controls what.  I swear I was in some meetings last year in which the school board said they would transfer the property to the Park Board.  But apparently all they have in writing is a letter from Blackwell saying that CPS intends to offer a long term lease of the property to the Park Board.  Seems to me they should just sell it, like they sell all their old school property.  From what I understand the School Board does not want 3CDC to be able to make a profit off their property by building a parking garage. 

This isn't that tough.  All that (IMO) needs to occur is 3CDC needs to purchase some nearby property (of like-kind and like-size) and swap it with CPS.

 

That's in an ideal world.  But we all know CPS' hesitance to appear they are losing or adding value in their holdings (because we can't have that!).

 

It's a true shame that they can't do what's best for the community (because we can't have that, either!).

Why would Cps have to sell now, we just gave them millions for the tax levy..I voted against the levy for this very reason.

I don't think it is proper to deny adequate funding to 32,000 students over conjecture regarding a few acres

It is much more than a few acres.  It is multiple unused school sites (some of which are not yet on the market) and land that they are sitting on.  These are non preforming assets and needs to be liquidated first before going to the taxpayers. 

It is much more than a few acres.  It is multiple unused school sites (some of which are not yet on the market) and land that they are sitting on.  These are non preforming assets and needs to be liquidated first before going to the taxpayers

Exactly! It irks me as a homeowner I have to waste an extra $500./year while CPS is holding the neighborhood properties hostage.

Thomasbw,

 

I, like you, feel that it is very important to offer the best education possible to the children of Cincinnati and I as a former student of Walnut Hills certainly benefited from this.  That being said, this is less about the children's education, as they are the goal, but it is about the financing that gets us to this goal.  I truly believe that we may indeed need a levy, but that levy should have been gap financing of the difference between the sales of the properties and the estimated needs of the system.  But they are using this as sole financing and in my opinion, are not aggressively trying to liquidate these properties.

 

Rothenburg, just sitting there.  CPS can't work out a lease, let alone a sale to 3CDC for the Washington Park Elem. site.  9 schools up for sale and from what I hear there was an offer on all 9 that just fell apart.  These empty buildings cost money to maintain and as long as they do not sell, that is capital that can not go to work for those children.  My point is get this done first.  If there is still money that is needed by the system then I believe that very few will have a problem with paying.  But until then, I am filing for my abatement.

*crazy libertarian speak warning* if all cincinnati schools went voucher with a uniform cap on cost this wouldn't even be an issue. even a small revenue would allow for the deficit to be payed by cps and the cap would insure some schools don't excel while others fail...it would create healthy competition while still paying into a common system so market forces and subsidization meet in the perfect balance insuring the possibility of a good education for all. it would be fueled by the rich paying for unnecessary perks for their kids that they allow at some schools while most would say "pff thats wasteful" and then the cps debt would decrease so they could afford to invest in these properties for future use or redevelopment for future resale value. at least in principal, I may try to find actual numbers to illustrate my point if I can find info on the property values and cps assets but that may take a few days to dig up on the net.

 

CPS should deal on Washington Park

Editorials

 

It's the kind of Cincinnati development story we have come to hate - a major project that would be good for the community being held up by competing entities that can't come to a common sense agreement.

 

As reported in Friday's Enquirer, the multimillion-dollar Washington Park project, a centerpiece of the Over-the-Rhine redevelopment, could be in trouble because the Cincinnati Public Schools won't sign off on a proposal to build a 600-space underground parking garage on the site of a former elementary school at the north end of the park. The school land would then be leased to the Cincinnati Park Board and become part of a $14 million expansion of the park by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp.

 

3CDC is a nonprofit group empowered by the city to spearhead redevelop of several major projects, including Over-the-Rhine. It owns or controls properties it plans to redevelop for residential or commercial use on several blocks in the neighborhood surrounding the park.

 

The garage would be used for patrons at Music Hall and Memorial Hall, across Elm Street from the park. It also would serve the district's School for the Creative and Performing Arts, now under construction just across the street from the south end of the park. The empty site is now a surface parking lot, used by Music Hall, Memorial Hall and construction workers for the new SCPA.

 

The school district has balked at putting the garage on the site. And in recent talks with 3CDC, has insisted that any "long-term" lease it enters into must have a reverter clause that would allow the district to take the land back at any time if it decided it needed to build a school there. That essentially quashes the deal, according to 3CDC executive director Steve Leeper, who says the reverter clause negates the point of a long-term lease and means it will be impossible to get investment funds for a project that the school district could yank away at a moment's notice.

 

The notion that the district might need the property for a future school seems absurd on its face. Up until a few months ago there was a school - Washington Park Elementary - on the site. The district tore it down because it decided it was no longer needed. Cynthia Dillon, general counsel for the school district, said Leeper should have approached the district with the garage idea before discussing it with community groups or City Hall. The district owns the property and should not be dealt with as an afterthought, she said.

 

Leeper says he has had trouble getting anyone at the district to discuss options with him. He said, for instance, 3CDC would be willing to consider reimbursing the district for what it spent tearing down the elementary school. 3CDC might also be willing to negotiate an outright purchase of the property or find some other way around the required reverter clause.

 

So what we appear to have here is a proposed development that would be a great benefit to the entire community - a refurbished and enlarged Washington Park with a garage that would be unobtrusive and useful for several institutions, including the school district. And it is being blocked because the district: A) might want to build a school someday on the same spot where it just tore one down, and B) because the district was offended by the way 3CDC presented the project. Then there is: C) 3CDC is the same outfit that is offering to bail the district out of its $4 million Mercer Commons hole and has offered to cover the demolition cost the district incurred on Washington Park Elementary.

 

The school board is scheduled to have a regular meeting Monday night. Leeper and others from 3CDC plan to attend. We urge the school board to hear them out. Leeper can start the negotiation by apologizing for not telling the district about his ideas first. The district could then apologize for standing in the way of a good idea on grounds that simply don't make much sense. Then the two sides can sit down and work out the details to make this project happen.

 

The Washington Park redevelopment will be good for everybody. This kind of bureaucratic head-butting is good for no one.

^While your point is well taken, don't you think there are plenty of properties in Over-the-Rhine and other neighborhoods that could be developed just as easily as these old schools?  I've been in the Emery Apartments and I thought it was kind of a stupid buy.  I didn't see the charm in living in an old classroom.  And with SCPA building an entire new building three blocks down on the same road it seems silly that a perfectly good school building with a theater was turned into apartments while the theater remains unused, and some perfectly good buildings on Elm were torn down to build a new school with a theater.

While your point is well taken, don't you think there are plenty of properties in Over-the-Rhine and other neighborhoods that could be developed just as easily as these old schools?

You are missing my point.  CPS is sitting on assets that could be liquidated to help their financial problem.  This goes beyond OTR, and is not about the development side, but on the disposition opportunity that they do not seem eager to do.

 

I do not see this as being much different from someone asking for a handout with a Rolex dangling from their outstretched arm.

County wants to sell Memorial Hall

BY JESSICA BROWN | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

March 10, 2008

 

CINCINNATI - Hamilton County wants to sell Memorial Hall, the 100-year-old intimate concert hall next to Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine.

I've been speaking with the owner of this building lately and their plans sound pretty good.  Right now they are looking for some tenants, so if anybody knows anyone looking for some retail and/or office space then point them in this direction.

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/off/608457810.html

 

Their plans are to renovate the space and create (2) 800sf retail spaces that open up onto Elm Street (Washington Park), as well as, a larger 2,000sf space that could be used as office, retail, or a variety of other purposes.  They are also open to discussing a tenant that may want to take space in the sanctuary up top which offers an additional approx 12,400sf.

 

I don't want to go into great detail, but they have some long-term plans for this space that would make many people happy on this forum and in the neighborhood.

 

If you know of any possible tenants PM or email me...or you can simply use the contact information on the craigslist listing.

 

 

That could be alot of cool innovative spaces!!!!

 

Do you think that church had the spire at one point that resembled St. Georges?

I've been through that church, and it is awesome!  At one time there were plans to convert it into some art/performance/concert facility, it's a pretty cool concept.  You just have to wonder how many of those kinds of places can the area support?

 

The two retail spaces are very cool, too.  Small, could be conducive to like a small boutique/coffee shop/etc.

Utilities need to be buried, though!!!

Utilities need to be buried, though!!!

 

I would love to eventually see a large scale streetscape project in OTR. Burring all the utilities, adding bump-outs to all on street parking, creating a somewhat uniform sidewalk character, additional street-trees, nice lamps and streetsigns, ect.

Well it is coming to parts of Vine beginning this year and at Vernon corner at Liberty and Main is already under const with a bump out and a whole new design to the street layout at this intersection which includes Main, McMicken, and E. Clifton.

Utilities need to be buried, though!!!

 

I would love to eventually see a large scale streetscape project in OTR. Burring all the utilities, adding bump-outs to all on street parking, creating a somewhat uniform sidewalk character, additional street-trees, nice lamps and streetsigns, ect.

Well it is coming to parts of Vine beginning this year and at Vernon corner at Liberty and Main is already under const with a bump out and a whole new design to the street layout at this intersection which includes Main, McMicken, and E. Clifton.

 

 

Feel ya on all that!

Well it is coming to parts of Vine beginning this year and at Vernon corner at Liberty and Main is already under const with a bump out and a whole new design to the street layout at this intersection which includes Main, McMicken, and E. Clifton.

 

Is it the city that's responsible for all of that?

wow the park is so disgusting. I pray to god that it gets cleaned up soon...what a waste.

Why is that handful of buildings still standing on the SCPA block? 

They should've built Ikea there lol.  Could you imagine?

 

Oh, I can imagine.  West Chester can keep that traffic.  :-D  Nice to have one nearby, though.

Why is that handful of buildings still standing on the SCPA block? 

They are just now issuing demo permits for the old Drop Inn Center transitional housing buildings at the corner of 12th and Elm.  SCPA is not building in that corner though, but last I heard it is scheduled to have an outdoor ampitheater there.  They had to ammend the SCPA plans so that they could build the school while they continued to try to acquire those buildings for demo.  The DIC wanted replacement of their program and a deal was made to rehab a building on McMicken for them.  All this had to be done before demo could begin.

Why is that handful of buildings still standing on the SCPA block? 

They are just now issuing demo permits for the old Drop Inn Center transitional housing buildings at the corner of 12th and Elm.  SCPA is not building in that corner though, but last I heard it is scheduled to have an outdoor ampitheater there.  They had to ammend the SCPA plans so that they could build the school while they continued to try to acquire those buildings for demo.  The DIC wanted replacement of their program and a deal was made to rehab a building on McMicken for them.  All this had to be done before demo could begin.

 

Last I heard, they haven't gotten approval from the Historic Conservation Board yet (they were shot down the first time).  Similar to the Freestore case, just because they want to tear historic contributing buildings down to build something else doesn't mean it meets the standards set forth in the Conservation guidelines, no matter what backroom deals were struck.