January 30, 200817 yr The saga of The Banks GEOFF PIPOLY | DOWNTOWNER January 29, 2008 DOWNTOWN - It's the chilly morning of Jan. 18, and Don Murphy is about to address the dozen or so eager reporters from a lectern in front of a grand canvas bearing the logo of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Murphy, the chief executive officer of the Freedom Center, has some convincing to do. The purpose of his upcoming statement is to address a topic which has dominated the news cycle for the preceding 48 hours: the Freedom Center expected $1,000,000 in city and county funds to cede a crucial piece of property back to the city and county for the notorious Banks Development Project land which the Freedom Center was given for free. Murphy takes the podium; the cameras come on. He reads his statement and explains that the news stories were incorrect, that no, the Freedom Center does not expect any compensation from the city or the county. They're on board with the vision for The Banks. Another step in the process is complete. Another chapter in the epic of The Banks has been written. The Banks is a story with many chapters, and sometimes that's precisely the problem: the drama of The Banks saga, which has been ongoing by some measures for over a decade, sometimes obscures the vision of The Banks. We've become so used to stories about the process of planning the project that sometimes the basic questions about the project go unasked: What is The Banks project anyway? How much will it cost? What has taken so long? What is the ultimate vision for development along the riverfront? A lot of space, and "world-class" potential The Banks is, at its core, the push to develop the 18 acres of land between the Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium into a vibrant riverfront neighborhood, one that will sport a mixture of privately funded residential and commercial spaces and publicly funded infrastructure to support the private development. The Banks Working Group essentially a steering committee comprised of city and county leaders which serves as the umbrella organization to guide the development process has said that developers want to build as many as 1,800 residential units and want to have the capacity for up to 400,000 feet of both commercial and hotel space. There will also be green space, river walkways and what Hamilton County Commission President Todd Portune called "an absolutely world-class public park." While exact numbers are not available on how much will be built, the total amount of developable square footage on The Banks is around 2.8 million. Libby Korosec, spokeswoman for theWorking Group, explained that "phase one of the development will occur on the east side of the land, near the ballpark. That section, near Main Street, will be the retail corridor, and most of the residential units will come later and be located nearer to the football stadium." Broadening the context of downtown What is significant about The Banks from a development standpoint, according to Korosec, is the unique position Cincinnati is in. "We view The Banks as an extension of downtown Cincinnati," she said. "We have the ability to grow, to add land mass to our downtown. Very few cities have that opportunity." Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz, who has been one of The Bank's loudest cheerleaders, echoed Korosec's sentiment. "I can see why people would see The Banks as separate from downtown," Bortz said. "But I encourage people to look at in a broader context. The Banks is part of downtown, not separate, and that's why it is being structured in such a way as to not compete with other downtown businesses. We are taking advantage of our downtown's unique assets. That is the mission of The Banks." Cost and obstacles Some estimates have the total price tag of The Banks topping $1 billion, which is likely the reason Working Group Chairman Bob Castellini called it "the most important civic project in Cincinnati's history." While the lion's share of funding for The Banks (somewhere on the order of $600800 million) will come from the private sector, the remainder has to be funded by local governments, primarily for the infrastructure needed in order to allow an environment conducive to private sector real estate development, such as parking, green space and parks. This is precisely the reason The Banks has taken so long, according to Portune: The city and county were struggling to find the cash necessary to invest in a project of this magnitude. "Money, money, money. That's the reason it's taken so long to get to where we are today," Portune said. Bortz agreed. "We've really been struggling financially, but ultimately we know that this development will yield more revenue all around and long term. Public money is the only way to make this work." Recent progress and the final vision Despite the fact that talk of The Banks has been ongoing for years and much has been promulgated about political in-fighting and turf battles between the city and county, within the last year much has changed, according to Portune, and for the better. "In the past there had been strained relations among people in the city and county over the budget," Portune said. "That's changed significantly within the last year. People at the city and the county put aside their differences and said 'we need to do something about this.'" The desire to work toward a common goal on The Banks seems to have in large part paid off. After seven years of debate, the final Banks agreement was signed on Nov. 1, 2007, only 18 months after the Working Group a city-county partnership was formed. "From the current developer's perspective, the process doesn't seem broken at all," said Korosec. "The process within the last year has definitely worked, and that is evidenced by the fact that we now have a signed agreement." Moreover, despite the Jan. 22 announcement from the Working Group that extended the deadline for developers to secure private funding, groundbreaking on The Banks is still slated to take place in the spring of 2008. In many ways, the vision of The Banks has yet to be determined: the look and details of the private sector component will be up to the developers, and "the final product may look different from the renderings people have seen in the papers," according to Portune. But in the narrative that is The Banks, Portune anticipates the day when the final chapter is written, the development complete, and The Banks can benefit the region. "At the end of the day, The Banks will be state of the art and will tie into Cincinnati and its history" he says. "It's a very exciting time."
January 30, 200817 yr I'll believe the banks can get built when I see dirt moved. Until then, I don't want to get my hopes up any longer.
January 30, 200817 yr ^If these guys don't get the cash the city and county ought to put the whole project on hold until the street car is built. At most, they should build the parking garages.
February 6, 200817 yr Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - 12:45 PM EST Minority consultants to vie for Banks contract Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Dan Monk Senior Staff Reporter More than a dozen companies are formulating bids to become the economic inclusion consultant for the Banks riverfront development project, but confusion over bid documents resulted in changes to the county-led selection process. Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials answered the questions of prospective bidders in a selection process that is expected to result in the hiring of an inclusion consultant by March 5. City and county officials issued a "Request for Qualifications" from companies willing to recruit small and minority-owned companies to build more than $50 million in garages, street grids and other public improvements planned in the Banks..
February 8, 200817 yr Would-be Banks bidders to have better shot BY DAN MONK | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER February 8, 2008 DOWNTOWN - Would-be Banks bidders to have better shotBusiness Courier of Cincinnati - by Dan Monk Staff Reporter Small businesses will have plenty of chances to bid for bite-sized portions of the Banks riverfront development project - with some trade contracts of less than $100,000. Smaller contracts can help small, minority- and women-owned companies compete against larger firms - which have greater capacity to cover contract startup costs and secure bonding and insurance...
February 14, 200817 yr Freedom Center wants 'front door' BY JESSICA BROWN | [email protected] The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center wants to turn its back on the Banks – sort of. Doubtful that the project will get done, the non-profit organization is seeking $1.4 million in state capital money to reconfigure its first floor to put a main entrance on the north side of the building facing downtown... www.enquirer.com
February 14, 200817 yr A typo im assuming... "Brinkman, who believes the Banks will never be financially stable, said he will fight it again this year." This is honestly painting a very pathetic picture for the freedom center. Do they REALLY think that there attendance is impacted by where the fricken door is!!!!!!!!! Give me a break!
February 14, 200817 yr Their donation box must be hitting a little low. Time to drum up free publicity by criticizing something that can be one of their biggest allies.
February 14, 200817 yr What do you know...a person or organization in Cincinnati resorting to negativity to get attention and have their cause heard. Positivity breeds positivity, and vice versa...it is really time for this kind of crap to stop.
February 14, 200817 yr ^ I'm wondering if this could end up hurting the Freedom Center. People are already upset about the tax money going towards it. I can't imagine people would be thrilled that they want this much money to reconfigure the front door.
February 14, 200817 yr I don't think that I'm the only person perturbed that they took a cheap shot at a project that will help them in the long-run. When the FC takes shots at The Banks...it is taking shots at itself - IT IS PART OF THE DAMN BANKS! The FC is a symbol of what has been completed with the project. I have been supportive of the FC since the beginning, but I don't want to hear this kind of bullcrap from them again...absolutely ridiculous.
February 14, 200817 yr Lets be honest, the Freedom Center's problem isnt that its front door faces south. Its main problem is that it is the lamest "museum" ever constructed.
February 14, 200817 yr How so? Learning about the Underground Railroad or about southern history in general bore you?
February 14, 200817 yr Definitely not the most boring museum I've ever been to...not even in the Top 5 most boring.
February 14, 200817 yr Lets be honest, the Freedom Center's problem isnt that its front door faces south. Its main problem is that it is the lamest "museum" ever constructed. the real problem is the banks is a hole in the ground and the freedom center is surrounded by nothing on four sides
February 14, 200817 yr Never been to the freedom center. Everytime I heard it was free I got there too late. :-D There is no way I'll go there now. FC will make nice condos someday.
February 14, 200817 yr I thought the FC was a good experience, but once you've seen it there is really no reason to go back. I think they may already do this, but I'm not 100% - They need exhibits that are temporary like breaking the color barrier in baseball or sports, the creation and culture of Jazz, and other things that will keep people coming back. In Cincinnati the amount of museum goers is somewhat limited, and if i have a choice between the art museum for free or $9 dollars for the FC im taking the art museum. Back to the matter at hand, the negativity about the banks really pisses me off, because i know that a lot of people would have rather spent the money on the infrastructure for the garage than paying for the museum. If we would have just gone ahead with the infrastructure in the first place instead of the museum i'd probably be watching movies at the banks. Maybe i'm wrong how that was paid for i was only in like 7th grade when it was proposed.
February 14, 200817 yr Most of the money, for the FC, was raised privately (thanks Oprah and others). There was some money that the State committed to provide the FC to help offset construction costs, but in comparison to The Banks parking garages - I'm not sure it's all that much (I could be wrong though).
February 14, 200817 yr Never been to the freedom center. Everytime I heard it was free I got there too late. :-D There is no way I'll go there now. FC will make nice condos someday. Ha! I can't imagine someone saying about the FC what the FC is saying about the Banks.
February 14, 200817 yr Why they wouldn't continue fundraising so that the operating expenses could be funded by annuities on an endowment is beyond me. Do they do this?
February 14, 200817 yr Why they wouldn't continue fundraising so that the operating expenses could be funded by annuities on an endowment is beyond me. Do they do this? Yup: http://www.freedomcenter.org/donate/ I think they may already do this, but I'm not 100% - They need exhibits that are temporary like breaking the color barrier in baseball or sports, the creation and culture of Jazz, and other things that will keep people coming back. They do this to: http://www.freedomcenter.org/attend-events/
February 14, 200817 yr How so? Learning about the Underground Railroad or about southern history in general bore you? The problem is simple. The exhibits are few and not very compelling. The only museum worthy exhibit in the entire building is the slave pen. There's five-ten good minutes. Other than that there are a couple tapestries and a dozen or so photos on the wall on the first floor, with explanations of their significance. Interesting; but people dont go to museums to view a few photos that they could see in a book or on the internet. There is a section on the second floor that walks you threw the history of civil rights. Its not very well done. Also on the second floor are public computers where you can read about various freedom fighters from all over the world. I can do more from my computer at home. And thats it. You can see the entire museum in less than an hour. And thats if you really take your time. I'm not trying to be overly critical of the Freedom Center. I had high hopes for it when it was built. I was just extremely dissapointed by the lack of interesting exhibits. Its not the Freedom Centers' fault. The problem with any museum that deals mostly with the issue of American slavery is that there arent many interesting artifacts of slavery to display. There are farm implements and that is about it. Audio-visual displays dont really work in museums anymore because everyone has the internet. You can learn a hell of a lot more about any topic by simply googling it than by listening or reading a museum audio-visual set piece. The interent allows you to taylor your research in any direction that interests you. A museum display is very linear.
February 14, 200817 yr A lot of people have also found the anodyne nature of the slave pen problematic. They also wanted to do the consciousness raising stuff and more than 'black history' museum, but I don't think they achieved it. I think turning around the entrance is a decent investment (and a couple million is a drop in the bucket when we spend a couple billion on here daily with all of our various transportation projects). The best museum on the riverfront is the Reds Hall of Fame. The Bengals don't need one really, Hall of Shame's just don't get the visitors, though a life sized Dave Schula doll would be cool to interact with. The other aspect of being a slavery museum is that there is a limited number of folks who want to explore those issues. Especially, when making it more visceral which is often the key for some age groups would be extremely disturbing. Seeing people get whipped or raped is just not good museum fodder.
February 14, 200817 yr Most of the money, for the FC, was raised privately (thanks Oprah and others). There was some money that the State committed to provide the FC to help offset construction costs, but in comparison to The Banks parking garages - I'm not sure it's all that much (I could be wrong though). The Freedom Center received $41 million dollars in public funding, or about <b>50%</b> of its total cost. They also estimated 400,000 + visitors a year in the beginning, then changed it to 260,000, and last year had 160,000 (120,000 paid). We can all admit the Freedom Center is a giant flop, but if the Banks had broken ground by 2004, the Freedom Center would probably have none of the negative press that is has now. It would not need another entrance if the South side was not facing giant mud pits.
February 14, 200817 yr ^ while sitting in my last class i was thinking to myself what the banks would have been like, had it happened in a more timely manner. I thought that we would probably have the aquarium, hofbarugh house, FC, GABP, and PBS plus residential, retail, and a lot of restaurants and bars. We have the FC, GABP, and PBS, but if we had the aquarium right there, the FC would probably do a lot better. Maybe not, just an idea. Also i think the hofbarough house would have done great after reds games. I think that the biggest loss to newport was defiantly the aquarium, because i think that once we revitalize OTR there will be a bar that will rival the Hofbarough house.
February 14, 200817 yr How so? Learning about the Underground Railroad or about southern history in general bore you? The problem is simple. The exhibits are few and not very compelling. The only museum worthy exhibit in the entire building is the slave pen. There's five-ten good minutes. And thats it. You can see the entire museum in less than an hour. And thats if you really take your time. I know it directly isn't on topic with the discussion, but I'd like to take a moment to defend the Freedom Center . I respectfully disagree with you in your claim that the exhibits aren't compelling and it takes less than an hour to go through. I visited the Freedom Center for the first time a couple months ago with my sisters and spent over three and a half hours in there. And that's saying something with my teenage ADD sisters. It sounds like you missed some of the exhibits, perhaps you didn't see the films or skipped over the area tracing slavery through the history of our nation. Even the Everyday Heros and the section on the struggle for freedom today was very powerful. They also seem to attract a variety of different speakers and artists. I agree there are areas of improvement but they've only been in existence for a few years, I'm willing to cut them some slack. Certainly not everyone is going to love an attraction, but I for one thought it was very inspirational and a real gem for our city..
February 15, 200817 yr ^ Agreed - I have been twice and think the museum is awesome, especially if you take your time. Overall a captivating story to tell and very educational. I would say overall the message is one of inspiration. BDRUF - you are right about the Hofbrauhaus and aquarium. They were slated for the riverfront but the Banks working group insisted on having the entire plan in place instead of assigning it out as parcels. They did not want to wait.
February 15, 200817 yr Here's a nice site with many of renderings of the Banks along with other downtown projects: http://photos.placesphotographed.com/v/ohcincinnati/Renderings/
February 15, 200817 yr My honest opinion is that this a turn the corner project. As I've seen more and more projects like this I'm alot less impressed with this project than I was before but the symbolism of getting this done and of course done right is as important as anything.
February 15, 200817 yr ^This is true...these types of projects are springing up all over the nation, and it is losing its luster as the years go by and more and more come onto the market.
February 15, 200817 yr To be honest, I lost my hopes years ago about the Banks. I routinely make the drive to the Levee at least 2 or 3 times per month. Its a shame I can't go to the Banks instead. I have hopes that it will happen someday soon, but like Ballpark Village here in Dayton, the excitement for me has been lost due to delays, continuous groundbreaking dates, increasing opposition and now because of people like Don Murphy who are supposed to be part of this project, but don't even support it. Sorry Cincinnati guys, but I can only be optimistic for so long. After a while, it grows weary. :-(
February 15, 200817 yr The project is going to happen, and I feel quite confident that it will start this Spring as announced. I'm just saying that the project isn't as unique/special today as it was say 10 years ago. Hopefully the developers learn from the other projects that have been done like this, and improve upon the model that seems to be replicated from one place to the other. Make it uniquely Cincinnati, and make it feel more like an expansion of Downtown rather than a separate district...those are two major hurdles that have not been cleared for any of these other similar projects across the nation (at least the ones I've seen).
February 15, 200817 yr "The significance of a man is not in what he attains but in what he longs to attain." -Kahil Gibran
February 15, 200817 yr This cracks me up! Olympic bid huh! I'm sure it will not be the last time Cincinnati will bid ;-)
February 15, 200817 yr I don't know why people always seem to scoff at the idea that Cincinnati can do more and bigger things. The Olympic bid was no joke, and included one of the best collections of venues of all of the American cities. There were two things that significantly hurt Cincinnati's bid: 1. The lack of rail transit or the plan to build a rail transit system 2. Inadequate contiguous space for the media...even with the convention center expansion it was not large enough, and the media would have had to of been split between the Cincinnati and Nky Convention Centers. The people who worked on the bid put together a spirited proposal that had a lot of merit. While it wasn't the best by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly doesn't deserve the ridicule and flat out mockery that many people give it.
February 16, 200817 yr I don't know why people always seem to scoff at the idea that Cincinnati can do more and bigger things. The Olympic bid was no joke, and included one of the best collections of venues of all of the American cities. There were two things that significantly hurt Cincinnati's bid: 1. The lack of rail transit or the plan to build a rail transit system 2. Inadequate contiguous space for the media...even with the convention center expansion it was not large enough, and the media would have had to of been split between the Cincinnati and Nky Convention Centers. The people who worked on the bid put together a spirited proposal that had a lot of merit. While it wasn't the best by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly doesn't deserve the ridicule and flat out mockery that many people give it. Very true. Hosting the olympics would be a great honor. I was actually happy just to hear that Cincinnati was in the conversation. I like the rendering above. I'm not sure what we'd do with all those stadiums afterwards, but that harbor looks sweet.
February 16, 200817 yr I don't know why people always seem to scoff at the idea that Cincinnati can do more and bigger things. The Olympic bid was no joke, and included one of the best collections of venues of all of the American cities. There were two things that significantly hurt Cincinnati's bid: 1. The lack of rail transit or the plan to build a rail transit system 2. Inadequate contiguous space for the media...even with the convention center expansion it was not large enough, and the media would have had to of been split between the Cincinnati and Nky Convention Centers. The people who worked on the bid put together a spirited proposal that had a lot of merit. While it wasn't the best by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly doesn't deserve the ridicule and flat out mockery that many people give it. I am not implying or scoffing that this was a dumb idea. Out of all the renderings within the last 10-15 years, this one has stuck out the most to me as being something that would have set this city apart from many other midwestern city's. I would love to see this whole Downtown craze start to shift westward of 75. I don't think we need another sports complex NOW, but to accommodate an Olympic bid, SURE. THE RENDERING IS JUST NEAT AS HELL AND MAKES MY HEAD SPIN!!!!!!!!!!!
February 16, 200817 yr I am not implying or scoffing that this was a dumb idea. Out of all the renderings within the last 10-15 years, this one has stuck out the most to me as being something that would have set this city apart from many other midwestern city's. I would love to see this whole Downtown craze start to shift westward of 75. I don't think we need another sports complex NOW, but to accommodate an Olympic bid, SURE. THE RENDERING IS JUST NEAT AS HELL AND MAKES MY HEAD SPIN!!!!!!!!!!! I see...my bad. The main Olympic Stadium (in that rendering) was proposed to be the Opening Ceremonies site, and then be downsized considerably after the games. It would have then been there to host regional track/field, soccer, football, etc competitions...with something like a 20k seating capacity. In Atlanta they converted their Olympic Stadium into what is now Turner Field (Atlanta Braves).
February 16, 200817 yr In Atlanta they converted their Olympic Stadium into what is now Turner Field (Atlanta Braves). Surrounded by ran down bungalows and wildlife!
February 16, 200817 yr The benefit of the Olympics is that it built momentum behind city progress and built the foundation for alot of what we see now but weak hearted politicians didn't move the masses. This is partially a failure of our 2 year election process but largely a failure of the types of people that have occupied the council seats over the last few years.
February 16, 200817 yr Maybe the state of KY should urge Cincy to give it another go for the 2020 Olympics. If successful, they could stop frantically searching for a way to finance the Brent Spence replacement.
February 20, 200817 yr Is there any plans to implement the street car with the Banks project. Maybe, put a track right in the heart of the plan? I know of the plans and of the current track alignment, but wouldnt this make a little sense? i guess it does make too much sense...
February 20, 200817 yr the current proposed track alignment does go to the banks, but i dont think along freedom way.
February 20, 200817 yr Let's not forget that Dayton was supposed to take part and have a few venues for the Cincinnati Olympic Bid as well. I somehow think that there was not as much cooperation between the cities to help make this happen. The two big kids really need to start working together to benefit the region more. I know some of you Cincy guys don't like that idea, but it would really be a big plus.
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