February 26, 201015 yr If something dramatic doesn't happen soon, it doesn't appear that the City has any legal ground to stand on for not issuing the requested demolition permit.
February 26, 201015 yr If something dramatic doesn't happen soon, it doesn't appear that the City has any legal ground to stand on for not issuing the requested demolition permit. We now have til the 26th, Conservatrion hearing is Monday for registry status with full board on the 8th. Once the Conservation board meets and is approved as historic ( we fully believe it will be) the city will have cause to deny the permit because a certificate of appropriateness is required. That means that Green Acres Foundation will have to show cause why the property should be demolished. Than means a meeting with staff, and ultimately a meeting before the full Conservation board and we can bring hundreds to that. They didn't WIN today because the bulldozers won't be running at the Gamble estate this weekend! There is much to do but its far from over!
March 8, 201015 yr Gregory Kissel, representing the Westwood Historical Society, has applied for Historic Designation of the James N. Gamble House, located at 2918 Werk Road. The property is zoned “Single Family, SF-10. If approved the property would be protected by historic overlay zoning. This property is located in the Westwood community. This is the formal hearing before the full staff of the Cincinnati Historic Conservation Board. This meeting allots time for public testimony. Comments will generally be limited to between 2-3 minutes. It is VERY important that your voice be heard on this issue. A strong show of support is necessary as this puts increasing pressure om the Greenacres board to do the right thing ans save the Gamble house. PARKING: Parking is available in garages and on-street across Central, and on-street and in garages on Plum Street. There is also a parking garage underneath the Centennial Plaza complex. The groups advocating for the gamble house expect a good turnout of people who will be there in support but they urge everyone who can attend to do so.
March 9, 201015 yr New life for historic Gamble house By Cliff Radel • [email protected] • March 8, 2010 http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100308/NEWS01/303080112/New+life+for+historic+Gamble+house The opponents were C. Francis Barrett, attorney for Greenacres Foundation, the house’s owner, and Carter Randolph, Greenacres’ vice president. Speaking for 22 minutes, 11 times the allotted two-minute limit, Barrett noted that his client “did not realize the strong sentiment” the house generated. He asked the board to delay its decision.
March 9, 201015 yr Congratulations, Paul, I know you've worked hard on this. Now to see the rest of it through. Things are looking up! :D
March 9, 201015 yr I was pleased to see the outcome but its FAR from over. It has to be approved by planning and council. I am absolutely certain Greenacres will still argue in court on the 26th with their suit against the city, that their demo application was applied for BEFORE the reagistry was approved and therefore the city cannot deny the permit based on that. There is a question however if the suit could have even been brought in the court it was brought in to start with and it could be overturned by a higher court. Essentially that means either Greenacres is slammed enough by bad publicty and have change of heart OR the city must find a way to deny the permit other than the registry nomination. The only thing the registry nomination does it make it harder from a Public Relations standpoint. In my opinion the city has two avenues of denial of Permit. 1) Carter Randolph lacks the authority to apply in the first place. Most 501C3's I sit on require board votes for contractor selection, approval of contracts and authorization to proceed when it involves a "Capital Asset" of the non profit. It would be perfectly reasonable for the city to request the authorization vote from Greenacres board be produced. (I am pretty sure that never happened). The other avenue is the "Protective Covenant" may require a vote of the Nippert Trust to approve demolition. The city could refuse the permit based on the lack of inclusion of the covenant for review with the permit application and proof of authorization from the Nippert trust SINCE it does impact the house covered by the covenant and the city woudl not want to be a possible co-defendant in legal action that 'could' be brought by the Nippert Trust againt Greenacres by approving the permit. If they can deny the permit for another reason greenacres would need to re-apply meaning the historic registy applies and its harder. There are a couple of other possibilities that could happen as well. We are FAR from a resolution but the Conservation Board vote was helpfull as the more this stays in the press the more pressure put on Greenacres board.
March 19, 201015 yr So, it looks like Greenacres lied to the city, claiming that zoning prohibited many (if all) practical uses for the house, giving it due cause to demolish the property. From the article, "By the way, the Kissels have read every will and deed applying to the house. Enquirer research confirms their findings. No restrictions have been put in writing to prevent the house from being used as a museum or arts center." Impact of James N. Gamble still felt in Cincinnati By Cliff Radel, Cincinnati Enquirer, March 18, 2010 They called him Mister Gamble. Because, James N. Gamble treated everyone with respect. And, he humbly showered his hometown, his neighbors and needy strangers with kindness. As the battle rages over saving his beloved Ratonagh - the endangered Westwood home where he died at the age of 95 in 1932 - attention should be paid to James N. Gamble, the man. And, what a man he was. Read on...
March 19, 201015 yr Yep, they apparently lied about the protective covenant. Are you surprised Sherman? If it REALLY existed it would have been attatched to the deed and recorded. I've put protective covenants on every house I've restored and thats the ONLY way they are legal and binding. They need to have their 501C3 yanked in my opinion. Hopefully P&G will determine that being aligned with the "speakers of untruths"/Greenacres is not a place they want to be.
March 20, 201015 yr They lied about that at official hearings, correct? What do you think is the likelihood that that would result in revocation of 501C3 status? It certainly sounds reasonable to me.
March 20, 201015 yr Hopefully P&G will determine that being aligned with the "speakers of untruths"/Greenacres is not a place they want to be. Today's P&G leaders are about as far from the likes of James Gamble as they could get. They are just another group of Wall Street puppets! I know they still do great things worldwide, but in the last two decades they have not shown much love for this city or the history of their own company. Look how they sold most of their manufacturing facilities to other companies, who in turn close shop here and move those jobs away. And as far as the Gamble House goes, we never really heard a peep from em.
March 27, 201015 yr Read the article... Greenacres further proves they are jackasses. Judge puts off Gamble ruling pending tour By Cliff Radel, Cincinnati Enquirer, March 26, 2010 The latest episode in the continuing saga of James N. Gamble's endangered house could be titled: "This Old House: Death Row Edition." After hearing testimony Friday for 10 minutes shy of five hours - with no lunch break for the 32 spectators, witnesses and attorneys in the courtroom - Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel decided to take what he had just heard under advisement. He also decided to take a tour of the deteriorating house at 2 p.m. April 23. The house's next day in court is May 7.
April 16, 201015 yr Steve Kemme, the author of the article, requested assistance in locating background information for the First German Reformed Church, among other properties. You'll be seeing more pieces like this in the future. I'm cited in the article :) Nonprofit can't afford to save historic church The First German Reformed Church, West End Cincinnati Enquirer, April 11, 2010 WEST END - Its steeple visible from Interstate 75, the vacant limestone-and-brick church at 1815 Freeman Ave. towers above its West End neighborhood. The First German Reformed Church and parsonage was constructed in 1850 to serve the West End's burgeoning German-American population.
April 19, 201015 yr A wall of what might be Cincinnati's oldest brewery collapsed over the weekend. The Clyffside complex includes 7 buildings. The one that fell is said to be built in 1845. The main building dates to 1887. It is also one of the more intact breweries. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20100419/NEWS01/4200310/Wall+of+historic+brewery+collapses
April 20, 201015 yr I spoke with someone 'in the know' about this. The building has Been looked at by experts and is not in danger of collapse. There is a superstructure that actually supports the building and this 'failure area" is what one might today call a 'curtain wall" basically "fill in" between structural columns that actially support the building. While the oldest part of the structures that make up the brewery complex it is not the key "important' building architecturally. My understanding is that repairs will be made.
April 20, 201015 yr A fire in the 1970s gutted the original structure and it was rebuilt with a steel superstructure and enlarged. Discussion of all that can be found at -- http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,5707.240.html
April 20, 201015 yr This one was obviously going to be demolished, but the quickness of the process really surprised me. More on this former school in Avondale coming soon. University School, 1905-2009
April 20, 201015 yr Wow. That's a really solid looking structure. Too bad it couldn't have been put to some other use.
April 20, 201015 yr Sherman, I would call or email Larry Harris, the Urban Conservator for the city of Cincinnati. DEMAND to see his Section 106 Review on the property and if he doesnt have it, please let me know. The city will be demoing that with Federal money and Federal law requires a section 106 review be done and people be allowed to bring pertainent information about the historical importance of any structure more than 50 years old for which federal funds are used. For reasons I can't fully go into it is VERY IMPORTANT that people start questioning the city about potentially historic eligible properties and if you don't like the answers you get, I can give you a contact at HUD to complain to. The city is trying to blow thorugh a bunch of stimulus money right now and they are not following proper proceedures. They can be stopped if enough of us complain about them not following Federal rules, because we can get the 'money flow' shut down. No money, no demo!
April 22, 201015 yr If this does not piss you off, it seems as if Greenhills has been inside busy ripping up the flooring and carting away the decorative windows and woodwork. I don't think I've ever read anything so troubling, and whether there is legal ramifications for something so cowardly. Gamble home tour brings surprises By Cliff Radel, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 21, 2010 As befits a man who made soap for a living, James N. Gamble liked to take showers. He'd lather up with his invention - Ivory Soap - and then get really, really wet. (...) "The only things I've heard in the last three weeks," she said, "are the sounds of hammers and saws and crowbars. Workers have been boarding up the place and carting off the decorative windows."
April 23, 201015 yr FYI, Everyone has been calling Judge Randels office regarding this . Of course when you do that they will not let you speak with the judge but it tied up their phones all day yesterday. They are asking for written communications. Which everyone is doing. Some in support of saving the house, some inoutrage over greenacres "architectural rape" of the house prior to the tour which is evidence tampering and should be punished. I have zero belief they will accept any offer CPA presents them on the house. I personally feel CPA or Westwood Historic, Westwood Concern, or Westwood Civic League should go to court and seek an order of recievership. There is a possibility the state AG's office could determine Greenacres is not functioning as a 501C3 and sieze the asset. Certainly if Judge Nadel were to set evidence tampering or contempt of court charges against the Greenacres Board that would be a potential tipping issue. There are some of us working on the Attorney General angle right now. Greenacres board seems to think this is some 'game' they can play, but they may not like the outsome. There is a very dedicated group of people working on saving this house and the majority of the city is against them now. Some people have already notified them wont be patronizing Green acres programs and some volunteers have quit from what I understand.
April 23, 201015 yr It's sad the whole thing is driving a ninety-something year old woman's name through the mud. I wish someone close to her, who is not on the Greenacres gravy train, would have a chat with her about the whole deal. I really wonder what her mental state is. I also hope the financial might of Greenacres and its board does not bulldoze justice and let them get away with this crap.
April 23, 201015 yr I know from speaking with people who have personally contacted me and are actually close to Ms Nippert, and there are only a few left around, she really has no idea this is going on nor would she even understand it. In a way thats a blessing because she would be very angry with Greenacres and Carter Randolph is she was aware what was going on in my opinion. Has manipulation gone on? Well I am sure that is something we may eventually find out. But I hope the Gamble House is saved and the legacy of all the good things that were done for the city by the Gamble and Nippert families lives on and isn't destroyed by "certain people" who think this is some game or power trip and may in the end find themselves on the losing end of this issue.
April 23, 201015 yr Do you know any of the details about Mrs. Nippert's relationship with Carter Randolph? Is he or Greenacres poised to receive a windfall via Mrs. Nippert's will? I sure hope not.
April 26, 201015 yr Carter Randolph & the silent trustees of the Greenacres Foundation have desecrated the Historic James Norris Gamble House and betrayed the trust & responsibilities bestowed upon them by the honorable Mr. & Mrs. Louis Nippert. Now, Randolph has ordered the building stripped of all value. Come take the gloves off at this protest in Indian Hill and help save the Gamble House from Randolph! The GLOVES are OFF: PROTEST at INDIAN HILL Date: Thursday, April 29, 2010 Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm Location: Indian Hill > Shawnee Run & Drake Road "It just an old house... Won't you be glad when this old house is gone?" -Attorney Fran Barrett, representing the Greenacres Foundation Carter Randolph & the silent trustees of the Greenacres Foundation have desecrated the Historic James Norris Gamble House and betrayed the trust & responsibilities bestowed upon them by the honorable Mr. & Mrs. Louis Nippert. Randolph ordered the removal of beautiful architectural molding, trim, banisters, fret work, doors, and other interior (and perhaps exterior) details from the house during the past month — without cause, and without reason. The house was boarded up, with plywood on both the exterior AND the interior windows. One can only assume this "work" was performed to make the home look to be in worse shape than it really is in advance of Judge Nadel's visit to inspect/tour the house. Shocked City officials described the scene as "...architectural rape..." When word of the destruction reached preservationist Greg Kissel, the architect was visibly moved. "This is so sad," he said as he stood by the carriage gate. "This shows no regard for the historic nature of the house or the man who lived there." Larry Harris, the city's urban conservator, was "stunned" by the piles of woodwork and missing window frames and doors. "If someone wanted to make this place look worse than it is," he said, "they sure did a bang-up job." The behavior of Mr. Randolph and the Greenacres Foundation can no longer be excused or brushed aside. While the Cincinnati Preservation Association and the Westwood Historical Society have tried to negotiate with Carter Randolph in an honest and genuine fashion, they have been met with the exact opposite from the Foundation. TO OUR EAST-SIDE SUPPORTERS: Please show up in force! This is our time to join hands once again and let the City know that this behavior is unacceptable and should not go unpunished. WHAT: Protest of Carter Randolph and the current Board of the Greenacres Foundation and their desecration of the historic James Norris Gamble House when good-faith negotiations were supposedly underway. WHEN: Thursday, April 29, 2010 TIME: Be at the Indian Hill protest location at 5:00PM WEST-SIDERS: We have arranged for transportation via 2 full-sized buses. These vehicles are capable of carrying up to 48 passengers each — and we want to PACK THEM FULL! We will meet for a rally before the protest at 4:00PM on McKinley Avenue in Westwood (just off Werk). We will board the buses between 4:15PM and 4:30PM and head for the protest location at Indian Hill. LOCATION: Corner of Shawnee Run & Drake Road, Indian Hill, Ohio. Stay on the sidewalk, and out of the bike lane :) MAPS: Google Maps: http://bit.ly/cDyTkN | Bing birds-eye: http://bit.ly/b3jDEG SIGNS: Let's see some creative signs! The media will no doubt be there in great numbers. It's time to turn up the heat!
April 27, 201015 yr Gamble advocates take on Indian Hill group By Cliff Radel, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 26, 2010 The gloves are off. Preservationists are fighting mad over the apparent gutting of the James N. Gamble house in Westwood and plan to take on the endangered home's Indian Hill-based owner this week. Westwood Concern, a grassroots community group, is circulating flyers featuring two bare-chested, bare-knuckled pugilists squaring off above the declaration, "The gloves are off." The fighters stand under the slogan: "Fix it or sell it."
April 27, 201015 yr This house on Ohio Ave has a Evans Demolition fence around it, and the Friar's Club parking lot is full of equipment. Does anybody know what's going on here? Was this the same house that was threatened a few months ago by demolition?
April 27, 201015 yr Hmmm... in looking on the Cincinnati permit website, a demo permit has already been issued for this property. And.... in looking at the Friar's Club building, a demo permit has already been issued for that building as well? WTF?? This isn't looking good. Perhaps it's been noted on here already, but this is the first I've heard of the Friar's Club building being torn down. Friar's Club Demolition Permit: http://cagis.hamilton-co.org/opal/apd.aspx?entcode=cinc&ezstdadrtag=65|W|MCMILLAN|ST|GJ1484833816|||CINC|CINC|01000003009800065M|010000030075|010000030098|CINCINNATI&APD=2010P01708
April 27, 201015 yr i heard the Friar's Club is being torn down for a new apartment building. The thing that really pisses me off is there are other underdeveloped sites that a new building could go on. This building deserves a better future. It could be repurposed, or even redeveloped into appartments. I guess it's just easier to tear it down and not use any inovation in the solution.
April 27, 201015 yr I always thought the Friars Club building could have been made into some sweet condos. Then again, perhaps if the Friar's Club building had become vacant in 2000 rather than 2005 (or whenever it closed down), then maybe it would be condos right now. I was never inside this building, so I have no idea what kind of the condition of the inside of the building.
April 27, 201015 yr I've been in the Friars Club. It has too many open spaces (basketball court and the like) to make an easy conversion.
April 27, 201015 yr Unfortunately it is way too easy to get a demolition permit in the city of Cincinnati.
April 28, 201015 yr Is there anything that we can do to stop the demo after the permit has been awarded? This building is important to the City's history shouldn't be demoed. Ohio Ave. has way to many suburban style apartment buildings and demoing this building is only going to further degrade the value of the area. If anything they should work on demoing the 1970s style buildings and building new single family homes in their place. Apartments should be in the business districts. http://www.friarsclubinc.org/pdf/Friars%20Mural%20History-1.pdf
April 28, 201015 yr In many cities, demolition of buildings is viewed as a change of use and requires a public hearing. Neighbors must be sent legal notice within 250 feet and local neighborhood groups must be informed about the hearing. Our city government has a blight=bulldozer mentality anyway, so if someone else bulldozes it, it is just one less they will have too. We need serious revison of city code and it will take preservationists lobying hard and effectively to get those kind of changes necessary. Cincy is one of the few cities I know that doesn't require that a demolition permit be pulled by a liscened bonded and insured contractor. Here, they let owners obtain a permit and "Billy bob and the crowbar" can hand wreak houses. A Cincy demo permit is good for 120 days in miost cities a demo permit has a 10 day span. Fencing during demo is required as well and permit fees are MUCH higher in order to discourage demo. Demo for demo's sake permits are typically turned down in most cities BUT NOT HERE!
April 30, 201015 yr A lot of good vibes at yesterday's protest. I could not make it but would like to thank the supporters for coming out in droves! Fate of Gamble House stirs protest By Cliff Radel, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 29, 2010 For a boarded-up, run-down old place, James N. Gamble’s endangered Westwood mansion has seen plenty of action in the last 24 hours. An offer was made to buy the 13-room Victorian home. Protestors drove to Indian Hill to object to the house’s proposed demolition. And, the mansion landed on a list of Ohio’s most-endangered sites. The Cincinnati Preservation Association made the offer to buy the house from its owner, the Greenacres Foundation.
April 30, 201015 yr Looks like the Business Courier confirmed they are going to be demolishing the main Friars Club building as well for a gated student apartment complex.
April 30, 201015 yr ! I had no idea that was going to happen. Biked right by that 2 weeks ago. What a tragedy.
May 7, 201015 yr 1853 KNox: Upcoming demo hearing! We have formally asked Larry Harris for a section 106 review hearing or meeting with zero response. This circa 1880's Italianate in addition to being a contributing structure to our planned State and National Historic district application also has a historic retaining wall. The loss of this house and the retaining wall is unacceptable and will change the street view of the block. I sent an email to OHPO to day advising them that we have had no response. This house has no structural issues and is not considered 'blighted' by our neighborhood group. It is in our view a properly "Mothballed" structure. We sent a letter to the owner, offering to help him sell it through our save not raze program to a preservation minded buyer. We have not recieved a response yet. I encourage everyone to compplain about the lack of Section 106 review and remind Larry Harris this is a requirement under federal law when CDBG or NSP funds are used. Knox Hill Neighborhood Association has a "citizens complaint" filed with HUD against the city for failure to have a proper process and meet its obligations under the programmatic agreement with OHPO.
May 8, 201015 yr What a cute house, and it appears to be in decent shape. Why would they bother to tear that down? And why wouldn't the owner just sell it for whatever he can get? Here's a link to google maps/streetview of the property, to give those unfamiliar with the neighborhood (like me), a better sense of where this is, and how it interacts with the other existing structures: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1853+Knox,+cincinnati,+OH&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=28.306356,67.543945&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1853+Knox+St,+Cincinnati,+Hamilton,+Ohio+45214&ll=39.129494,-84.557025&spn=0.013566,0.03298&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.129507,-84.557131&panoid=0XVlZFnrTNDUp92amZK9yw&cbp=12,153.31,,0,-7.24
May 8, 201015 yr It makes no sense. The city tore down a Geo Barber plan design house at Blain and Fairmount last year NO section 106 review on that either. There are 3 restorations on our block right now. One more starting this summer. We are putting close to 200K in our restoration with what we are doing on restoration and the new carriage house structure. That house is totally viable for restore and it has a decent view out the back of the valley.
May 12, 201015 yr Cincinnati City Council likely to protect James Gamble House By Jane Prendergast, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 11, 2010 Owners of the Gamble House in Westwood would have to get permission to change its exterior or tear it down if the Cincinnati City Council - as expected - votes Wednesday to protect the historic property. The ordinance to designate part of the Werk Road property a "historic district overlay" passed through council's Livable Communities Committee on Tuesday after testimony from supporters of protecting the house.
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