I agree, does anyone really call the Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park by its full name?

 

 

I do because I think it is funny to do so.

 

I think it's "Small-ee"

I don't care what name they have...the Smale family gave $20 MILLION to this project. Kudos to them, because the CRP really needed an injection of private money since it looks like with Chabot back in office that the well will soon dry up for Cincinnati again.

Yesterday XUMelanie and I walked down towards the river to check out Riverfront Park on the way to take the lil' one to Sawyer Point.  I'm in awe of how quickly The Banks is coming up, but it is still very much a construction zone.  We tried a couple of different routes to get us to the Event Lawn, but kept running into construction barriers.  We really didn't try very hard since it was only a side trip and we had a stroller, but I was still a bit disappointed.  Hopefully in a few months more will be completed and signage will be a bit better.  I'm very much looking forward to having a picnic lunch at the park with the family :).

Moerlein venue on track

10:29 PM, Jun. 25, 2011

 

 

Greg Hardman watches the steel beams and cinder block rise along the river and sees a Cincinnati icon in the making.

 

“It’s going to be the greatest lager house and beer garden in the world,” says Hardman, president and CEO of Christian Moerlein Brewing Co.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110626/BIZ01/306260005/Moerlein-venue-track?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Business

Yesterday XUMelanie and I walked down towards the river to check out Riverfront Park on the way to take the lil' one to Sawyer Point.  I'm in awe of how quickly The Banks is coming up, but it is still very much a construction zone.  We tried a couple of different routes to get us to the Event Lawn, but kept running into construction barriers.  We really didn't try very hard since it was only a side trip and we had a stroller, but I was still a bit disappointed.  Hopefully in a few months more will be completed and signage will be a bit better.  I'm very much looking forward to having a picnic lunch at the park with the family :).

 

Well, that's because it's not actually open :)  It was supposed to be open by now- There were a few days earlier this month when you could just walk right in, but now, on both sides, there are fences closing it off.

I wonder if this solves the waterfall-running-dry-on-funds issue. It's a significant donation and will be much appreciated in the years to come as the build out occurs.

She needs a Phyllis W. Smale Streetcar to go along with her new park. :-D

The park (and Moerlein) have to be the parts of this redevelopment plan that I'm excited about most.  A successful park at the precipice of the riverfront could be big enough to spark a cultural shift in this city regarding how people in the region and statewide feel about Cincinnati as a relaxing place to spend time.

As the Enquirer comments prove, beer (and Cincinnati's beer culture) is a uniting force among the region's partisan factions. Likewise, the park does not seem to be very controversial, unlike other revitalization efforts. I have to agree with you, City Blights, the combo of these two things could be a game-changer for non-urban-dwellers' feelings toward the city.

^ I think this line of thinking is a bit too hopeful. One might have said the exact same thing about the stadiums 10 years ago. Or Sawyer Point, Friendship park, refurbishment of Ault Park, etc. It's gonna take generations of reeducation to change said view.

^ Moerlein Lager House and Smale Park are way more badass than the things you mention.

 

Also, everyone knows stadiums are a bad tool for revitalization.

How is Smale pronounced?

^smally

^ I think this line of thinking is a bit too hopeful. One might have said the exact same thing about the stadiums 10 years ago. Or Sawyer Point, Friendship park, refurbishment of Ault Park, etc. It's gonna take generations of reeducation to change said view.

 

Hopeful, yet founded.  This park will be at the Banks, behind the ballpark, and could really serve as the city's new backyard if done right.  Its central location gives it a significant advantage over the eastern parks.  We all know how particular and lazy Cincinnatians can be.  Central Riverfront Park puts the idea on a platter for them with a free beer on the side.  Like natininja said, almost anybody will take a beer if you hand it to them.

I just took a walk down to the Banks/park today at lunch, and I'm quite impressed with the progress.  However, I have a few questions that hopefully someone here can answer:

 

-Where the garage fronts Mehring Way it is currently a blank garage wall.  Are there plans to cover this up or disguise it somehow?

 

- The Walnut St. Steps are coming along nicely, but they are smaller than I thought.  Is the bike center what is being built next to it?

 

-Anyone know what will be going between the event lawn and the Banks on the Main St. side? Right now it's just a huge concrete slab. I know the hotel is eventually supposed to go in part of this space, but what about the rest of it? It looks pretty bad right now, and I'm hoping there will be a plaza of some sort there leading to the event lawn.

- There are plans to cover it with the same type of stone used around the event lawn I believe.

 

- That is the bike center being built next to it.

 

- I took a tour a couple months ago that was lead by Trent Germano. He explaind that the hotel portion at the corner of Freedom and Main would be the same height or smaller than the apartment buildings (ideally containing a shop or restaurant) and that the actual tower would be in the area you described on Main. And then there is the area for the town homes that will face the Event Lawn.

^OK, great. Thank you!

 

Anyone know the time frame for construction of the townhomes and the hotel?  I find it odd that those are not included in the first phase, as I think the area will look really barren and unfinished with development everywhere except for that piece.  Having a giant blank spot when you have the stadium to the immediate east, Current Apts to the immediate north, the event lawn and lager house to the immediate south, and the rest of the Current Apts and Freedom center to the immediate west will just make the area look incomplete.  Way more than having a blank spot on the edge of the development where the office tower is slated to go.

I find it odd that those are not included in the first phase, as I think the area will look really barren and unfinished with development everywhere except for that piece.

 

Maybe that's a way to entice development? All this great stuff with a big barren concrete pad just waiting to be developed into a hotel or whatever.

I find it odd that those are not included in the first phase, as I think the area will look really barren and unfinished with development everywhere except for that piece. 

 

No interested hotel operator or office tower tenant = no development.  Public tax dollars can only get you so far.

And there probably won't be for a while. At least on the office front. :(

^ I think the hotel is just as likely NOT to happen for a long time.

 

The Hampton Inn Just opened in Corryville, the Residence

inn just opened downtown- 21C will open next fall, and there are approved plans for a hotel at 7th and Broadway.

Then, there are loose plans for a hotel at the Banks, and at U Square. 

 

Am I the only one who thinks Cincy might be going overboard with all the new hotels in the urban core?

My guess is the delay on the townhouse construction has to do with the financing they were able to get prior to starting the project.  If I remember correctly, they wanted to include condos in the first phase, but were forced to go entirely with rental units because no one was financing new condo construction with the housing downturn.  Right now their focus is probably on finishing the existing build and then filling the residential and commercial spaces already there.  Once that is all established there will certainly be more interest from hotel operators and people looking to buy townhomes. 

Am I the only one who thinks Cincy might be going overboard with all the new hotels in the urban core?

 

Don't forget Marriott's SpringHill Suites on Eden Park Dr. that opened in 2009...

 

 

Downtown proper lost 256 rooms when the Terrace Hotel closed in 2008. If everything pans out, it'll have gained only 238 rooms by 2012.

 

Residence Inn added back another 134

21c will have 160 rooms

Holiday Inn is planning 200 rooms

I guess I just don't get why they still left space in the first phase for a hotel, when it became clear that there was not interest in a hotel from the start.  When it became clear that a hotel operator was not coming forward, plans should have been modified to make the apartment building go to the corner.  I think a hotel is important to have down at the Banks, and I think once the tenants open (assuming they are successful, which I think they will be), a hotelier would come forward to build in the next phase.  To have the first phase of the park and Banks done, with a large concrete slab on a prominent corner, will look terrible, and lessen the experience of being down there.

I really hope the Terrace Hotel reopens. My unprofessional opinion is the Horseshoe Casino will buy it and do a top to bottom restore. Caesars kinda knows the hotel biz.

^ I'm under the impression the casino has an option to build a new hotel after X years on the land next to the casino.  Something along those lines- I remember hearing about it in a council committee meeting that had a casino rep and some Bridging Broadway people speaking.

^ I'm under the impression the casino has an option to build a new hotel after X years on the land next to the casino.  Something along those lines- I remember hearing about it in a council committee meeting that had a casino rep and some Bridging Broadway people speaking.

 

I want to say it is 2017 or 2018 when they can have an on-site hotel.

I believe the casino limitation is tied directly to the end of their construction/starting operation, it should read 5 years from the end of construction/opening operation of the casino. 

I just noticed how far off topic we got....

 

So anyone know when they start on the section south of mehring way and east of the roebling bridge?

Anyone know the time frame for construction of the townhomes and the hotel?  I find it odd that those are not included in the first phase, as I think the area will look really barren and unfinished with development everywhere except for that piece.  Having a giant blank spot when you have the stadium to the immediate east, Current Apts to the immediate north, the event lawn and lager house to the immediate south, and the rest of the Current Apts and Freedom center to the immediate west will just make the area look incomplete.  Way more than having a blank spot on the edge of the development where the office tower is slated to go.

 

It does look odd, but I like the fact that this massive riverfront park and development is being built out over many years. We will get much more varried architectural styles and wear on buildings as a result...which is good in my opinion. I find it to be odd looking when there are large areas of uniformity in an urban area...it wreaks of a master development which shouldn't really take place in an urban core.

Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park July 2011 Construction Update

 

Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park July 2011 Construction Update

 

 

Help CRP win $100,000 in this national competition...it's currently in 9th place: http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote

Great progress.  Exciting to hear that they seem to be close on a hotel at the Banks.

The rumor I heard last week is that Carter had reached a sale agreement with a hotel development company (similar to Winegardner & Hammons who just renovated & operate the Residence Inn) and that the development company would figure out what franchise to open.  Some budget numbers have been run but that usually doesn't mean it is a done deal, just that someone actually wants to know what it would cost to build.  Decent progress but far from official.

Help CRP win $100,000 in this national competition...it's currently in 9th place: http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote

 

Now in 13th with 6,294 votes... This will be a tough one to win as Soudan Underground Mine State Park is blowing away all of the competition with a whopping 204,932 votes.

 

No email address is needed to vote. It's just a matter of clicking and refreshing.

Help CRP win $100,000 in this national competition...it's currently in 9th place: http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote

 

Now in 13th with 6,294 votes... This will be a tough one to win as Soudan Underground Mine State Park is blowing away all of the competition with a whopping 204,932 votes.

 

No email address is needed to vote. It's just a matter of clicking and refreshing.

 

Don't mean to be a debbie downer, but open polls like this don't really mean anything, and the $100,000 is negligible to the budget. If it were to win $1,000,000, it would be worth it to coordinate voting.

No way!! I thought this was dead in the water. Impressive.

 

Navy approves submarine's move to Cincinnati

USS Cincinnati finally coming to port as veteran's memorial

 

Seventeen years ago, Cincinnati City Council unanimously supported the idea to acquire the decommissioned USS Cincinnati, a Cold War nuclear-powered submarine - and finally the Navy has offered its blessing.

 

The plan is to use the sub's conning tower sail structure - the T-shaped top section of a submarine that's last to disappear into the water - as the focal point in a veteran's memorial at Smale Riverfront Park near The Banks development.

 

To read more: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110711/NEWS01/107120318/Navy-approves-submarine-s-move-Cincy?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

 

 

Too bad they are cutting it up, but I guess a piece of it is better than nothing.

Help CRP win $100,000 in this national competition...it's currently in 9th place: http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote

 

Now in 13th with 6,294 votes... This will be a tough one to win as Soudan Underground Mine State Park is blowing away all of the competition with a whopping 204,932 votes.

 

No email address is needed to vote. It's just a matter of clicking and refreshing.

 

Don't mean to be a debbie downer, but open polls like this don't really mean anything, and the $100,000 is negligible to the budget. If it were to win $1,000,000, it would be worth it to coordinate voting.

 

^ I completely disagree-  $100,000 will go a long way! People went nuts over OTR getting $25,000- When the City Parks have lost $2.5 million in 3 years in funding due to city budget cuts, every $100,000 goes an incredibly long way.

No way!! I thought this was dead in the water. Impressive.

 

Navy approves submarine's move to Cincinnati

USS Cincinnati finally coming to port as veteran's memorial

 

Seventeen years ago, Cincinnati City Council unanimously supported the idea to acquire the decommissioned USS Cincinnati, a Cold War nuclear-powered submarine - and finally the Navy has offered its blessing.

 

The plan is to use the sub's conning tower sail structure - the T-shaped top section of a submarine that's last to disappear into the water - as the focal point in a veteran's memorial at Smale Riverfront Park near The Banks development.

 

To read more: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110711/NEWS01/107120318/Navy-approves-submarine-s-move-Cincy?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

 

What I found interesting about this coverage from the Enquirer is that it completely avoided any mention that the most recent plan for this was put forth by leaders in Newport who said they would not grant Cincinnati permission to dock the submarine on the Ohio side of the river. Furthermore, I guess Newport leaders missed out on this one and Cincinnati leaders somehow managed to get it back on the Ohio side of the river.

 

If this had been the other way around I'm sure the narrative would have read all about Cincinnati leaders screwing up and Nky once again charging forward with all of the investment. In reality we all know this is not true, but I just find it interesting that this common Cincy vs. Nky narrative was completely lost on this story from the Enquirer.

The article suggests it's just the tower that's coming, but the body of the sub itself is being kept by the Navy for whatever dismantling or recycling program they have.  If this was a whole intact sub being docked on the riverfront and open for tours, that'd be awesome, but it looks like it's just going to be a small piece used as a display object.  That's not really worth getting so excited about. 

@Randy: The Navy will not allow any modern nuclear submarine to be displayed. The USS Nautilus is an exception - it was the world's first, and is maintained (with a museum) by the U.S. Navy. I cannot think of any other nuclear submarines that are open for tours because of the restrictions that are in place by the military.

@Randy: The Navy will not allow any modern nuclear submarine to be displayed. The USS Nautilus is an exception - it was the world's first, and is maintained (with a museum) by the U.S. Navy. I cannot think of any other nuclear submarines that are open for tours because of the restrictions that are in place by the military.

 

What's your point? I don't understand what this comment has to do with what I said.

Sorry, what I meant was, it is irrelevant that Newport would be able to dock anything. There would be no submarine at any rate, because this type of nuclear model is still highly classified and not fit for tours. Hence, why only the oldest submarine - which is still modified to eliminate any sensitivities, is open for tours. There are other ships that could be docked, but I'm not sure if they had requested anything else but the nuclear submarine.

This has been in talks for over 10 years.  This submarine has quite literally been sitting unused in Peuget Sound since around 1997.  I remember Millennium Tower-era squabbles about this exact submarine, and how the NK propaganda campaign said it was going to end up in Newport, just like the Maisonette and the Blue Wisp. 

Even if it wasn’t still classified, the bottom of the sub is more than 30' below water line when it's surfaced.  It’d be tough to get it anywhere near Cincinnati during normal river levels, and once here it’d take a lot of work to build a custom dock for its display.  Plus it probably cost about $1 billion to build originally, the Navy probably wasn’t eager to hand it over.  I think having the conning tower is a nice and realistic compromise.  Hopefully they open it up and don’t just leave it as some sort of statue.

This has been in talks for over 10 years.  This submarine has quite literally been sitting unused in Peuget Sound since around 1997.  I remember Millennium Tower-era squabbles about this exact submarine, and how the NK propaganda campaign said it was going to end up in Newport, just like the Maisonette and the Blue Wisp.

 

The conning tower that will be on display along Cincinnati's riverfront would be a nice addition to the top of the Millennium Tower in Newport.

^ I see what you did there.

Interestingly enough, the Cincinnati Riverfront Park is already clearly marked on GoogleMaps.

^ Almost... The portions north of Mehring Way aren't there.  But very cool, none-the-less