Cincinnati seeking grant for boat dock at Smale Park

Business Courier by Kevin LeMaster, Editor and Publisher of Building Cincinnati

 

At its meeting last Wednesday, Cincinnati City Council unanimously approved a grant application for $3.8 million from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft for a 1,000-foot transient boat dock at Smale Riverfront Park.

 

The $5 million facility, meant to accommodate boats staying for 10 days or less, will have space for 56 boats and will include water and electric service. A dock house, called Main Street Landing, would house an office, concessions, restrooms, showers, storage, and laundry facilities.

 

Steven Schuckman, superintendent of planning, design and facilities for the Cincinnati Park Board, said the boat dock was always planned as a major feature of the park.

 

Cont

The Building of Smale Riverfront Park Continues

Special effects at 4:15.

 

These videos are always good to watch, but this one actually features some new information as compared to the last couple which were just construction updates.

Have to say that I am dissappointed on the lack of progess over the last 4 months at this park.  After a very exciting opening and 3 months of totally dry wealther (followed by a  bit of a wet September), there has been very little progress.  Sure there has been a bit of prp work for just east of the park and now some activity just west but in 3 prime dry months, there should have been a lot more.  Seems a lot of the time was tearing the piping up and redoing it, which is also what is going on at Fountain Square.

Showed the Banks and Riverfront Park to a native Cincinnatian/DAAP grad who now lives in Seattle. It was his first time down there and he was blown away with the sheer size of it. He especially liked the park and the bronze statues. Does anyone know how big the swings along the riverbank will be?

 

My friend remembered initial renderings showing fountains/waterfalls coming out of/along the Roebling Bridge between the river and Mehring Way. Does anyone know if that's still a possibility - or if it ever was?

$450,000 donation from Duke Energy to advance construction at Smale Riverfront Park

By Randy Simes ― October 30, 2012

 

Thanks to a $450,000 donation from Duke Energy, the Cincinnati Park Board will be able to move forward more quickly with the development of what was previously called the Main Street Garden at the Smale Riverfront Park.

 

The area is located immediately south of Great American Ball Park, and is now called the Duke Energy Garden. The narrow piece of park space is expected to be completed by spring 2013, and will connect the Smale Riverfront Park with additional riverfront parkland to the east (Sawyer Point, Bicentennial Commons, Theordore M. Berry International Friendship Park).

 

According to Cincinnati Park Board officials, this connection will be further established with the completion of the Ohio River Trail to Paddlewheel Park in fall 2013.

 

Cont

 

 

The Business Courier also picked it up.

well, this article explains why there was essentially zero progress from May on this park. As many have hinted, money is indeed an issue for the completion of this park.  This is why when I hear potential park funds going to re-do Lytle, I scratch my head.  While Lytle isn't perfect, it hardly needs a faceluift and if that work is done at the expense of completing the riverfront and leaving a construction eyesore longer than it needs to be, I will be very dissapointed.

Farmer Family Foundation donates $100K to Smale Riverfront Park

Business Courier

Date: Friday, November 16, 2012, 2:49pm EST

 

 

The Farmer Family Foundation donated $100,000 for the continued construction of the new Smale Riverfront Park.

 

The first phase of the park opened in May. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates the park will attract 1.1 million new visitors annually.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2012/11/16/farmer-family-foundation-donates-100k.html

good news.

 

Also, pretty sure I read City Council approved 4.1 Million for park for next year. 

 

I wish they would list what all is funded and what is not.

P&G to make major gift to Smale Park

7:16 PM, Nov 29, 2012 

Written by Lisa Bernard-Kuhn

 

 

Procter & Gamble is expected announce a major gift to the John G. & Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park today. Here are the largest private contributions to date:

• $20.75 million: The Smale Family Foundation

• $1.28 million: Raised by the Women’s Committee for Smale Riverfront Park

• $1 million: The Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts/ Fifth Third Bank, Trustee

• $450,000: The Duke Energy Foundation

• $250,000: The Cincinnati Bengals

• $200,000: The Western & Southern Financial Fund

• $100,000: The Farmer Family Foundation

Source: Cincinnati Park Board

 

The massive park that promises to transform the Cincinnati riverfront is about to get its biggest gift of the year, helping fray the cost of one of the region’s most ambitious public projects.

 

The Procter & Gamble Co. is expected to announce on Friday a major contribution to the John G. & Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park, named for its largest donor, a former P&G chairman and CEO.

 

P&G and park officials were keeping details of the gift private Thursday. It is expected to exceed the $450,000 given by the Duke Energy Foundation last month.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121129/BIZ/311290130/P-G-make-major-gift-Smale-Park?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p&nclick_check=1

Hoping for $1 million!!!!

Hoping for $1 million!!!!

 

You got it.

Procter & Gamble donates $1M to Smale Riverfront Park

Business Courier -  Friday, November 30, 2012

Interesting yellow building included in the P&G Playscapes sketches. That building is not included in any of the plans that I've seen thus far. All other plans/renderings have the waterfall extending down to the Vine Street steps. Very curious. I didn't catch any reference to this new building in the Courier article.

Is it me or does that seem similar to Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn? Perhaps the current scheme is to move the carousel to that location and place it in a pavilion which can be closed off for year round use. Would be an interesting spot for that.

Interesting yellow building included in the P&G Playscapes sketches. That building is not included in any of the plans that I've seen thus far. All other plans/renderings have the waterfall extending down to the Vine Street steps. Very curious. I didn't catch any reference to this new building in the Courier article.

 

If there's no waterfall down the Vine Street steps I'll be pretty miffed.

yeah - vine street should def have a waterfall - a really long one if i had my way. it's vine street after all - cincinnati's main drag

The sound garden should be cool

 

^ agreed

What really gets me though is that the bridge isn't even centered between Vine/Walnut and Scott/Greenup, it's shifted about 50 feet east of the centerline between those blocks.  Seriously, where's that German heritage when you need it?  I know the point of misaligning the bridge was something of an F-U to Kentucky and to appease the entrenched riverboat interests who had a sympathetic ear with the Ohio Legislature, but come on. 

 

 

^It's funny how Ohio and Kentucky refused to get along 150 years ago and that this continues through to this day.  The whole basin would be better off if Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport would just work together.

The shift probably had to do with who owned property on what lots.  Obviously they had to go with the best combination of lots on either side of the river. 

 

I'm also not sure that lining it up with the streets would have been better or less expensive from the bridge company's perspective.  The streets were narrow enough that hardly any space would survive to either side of the approaches, and this is at a time when a large amount of cargo was still hauled up and down these streets from boats on the riverfront.  An approach traveling down the center of Vine or Walnut would have hurt the value of properties lining those blocks.   

 

Smale Riverfront Park Early Winter 2012 Update

 

Smale Riverfront Park Early Winter 2012 Update

The river is coming up this week from all the rain we have been getting.  It should crest around 40' on Thursday.

 

Does anyone know the elevations for the different areas in the park? 

^That would be interesting data to look at in comparison to typical flooding. Obviously the uppermost level is out of the flood plain but I've been curious as to what level of flooding this park could expect to see on a regular basis.

The datum for river levels in downtown is an elevation of 428 feet.  Mehring Way is at about 488 feet on average near the park.

Smale Riverfront Park Early Winter 2012 Update

 

Smale Riverfront Park Early Winter 2012 Update

 

I like these video update series for various projects. That way people aren't just sitting around like,

Here is the 1997 flood, the last serious flood.  Looks like at this level it would almost but not quite reach the Schmidlapp Event Lawn. 

 

http://enquirer.com/editions/1997/03/05/05downtown_600x380.jpg

 

This flood peaked at 65 feet, the highest since 1945.  This was the third or fourth highest in city history, with the higher ones occuring all before postwar flood controls.  So extremely unlikely that the Moerlein Lager House could ever end up with a foot of water in it, although the 2010 flood in Nashville absolutely shattered any records they had there.  The Cumberland River at Nashville actually topped its 1937 flood level despite postwar flood controls.

Here is the 1997 flood, the last serious flood.  Looks like at this level it would almost but not quite reach the Schmidlapp Event Lawn. 

 

http://enquirer.com/editions/1997/03/05/05downtown_600x380.jpg

 

This flood peaked at 65 feet, the highest since 1945.  This was the third or fourth highest in city history, with the higher ones occuring all before postwar flood controls.  So extremely unlikely that the Moerlein Lager House could ever end up with a foot of water in it, although the 2010 flood in Nashville absolutely shattered any records they had there.  The Cumberland River at Nashville actually topped its 1937 flood level despite postwar flood controls.

 

Interesting photo. Thanks for sharing.

Just in case anyone is not sure of where some of the measurements we are talking about come from, here is the webpage for the Ohio river gauge at Cincinnati. 

 

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=iln&gage=ccno1

 

The gauge is next to the suspension bridge on the downstream side of the tower nearest the Ohio bank. 

I found it interesting that the flood impact statement for 63' mentions damage to the Transit Center. 

 

Is Second street at the same elevation in the old configuration? 

here's another perspective

 

The original Second St. was renamed Pete Rose Way around 1987, like just months before he was booted from baseball.  Much of it is gone now thanks to The Banks parking garages.  The existing Second St. is an entirely new street that was built as part of the FWW reconstruction.  Previously there was an access road on top of the levee called Levee Way in roughly the same place and at just about the same height above the river. 

I went back and looked at the pic of the flooding. Now I remember Levee Way. The old Second/Pete rose is under water. If I remember right it ran under the plaza level at Riverfront.

Yeah, it and Mehring way ran through "tunnels" under Riverfront Stadium.  I took a picture of one of the pillars where somebody spray painted the level of the '97 flood.  I'll dig it up sometime. 

Does anyone know what the connection between the Park and Yeatman's Cove/Sawyer Point will look like?

 

Also, is this rendering accurate:

 

I've been told riverfront park no longer will have the serpentine wall style steps.

These renderings look reasonably up-to-date, based on the locations of the maze, the women's garden, the black brigade memorial, etc.

 

I've been told riverfront park no longer will have the serpentine wall style steps.

 

If true, that sucks.

I love the serpentine style steps and would love to see them extended to Smale Park.

The rendering shown above is still the one posted on the official website, so I imagine it's as close to the actual plan as anyone could say, and it still shows the steps:

 

http://mysmaleriverfrontpark.org/map.htm

With regards to the portion to the right of the bridge, those are exactly what is being built. Compare that to an older rendering and you'll see the difference. There is a wall, and a lower platform with a staircase parallel to the river that leads you down from main street to the lower level. Unlike the serpentine steps, it's not constant steps.

I love the serpentine style steps and would love to see them extended to Smale Park.

 

Agreed. I've heard this sentiment from multiple people. It would be a lost opportunity if they weren't included at this highly visible and accessible location.

Why is it always these big promises that never seem to pan out. Everything starts as this grand plan, wins the hearts of the public so that we support and fund it, then along the way it's like "Hey, you know how we were going to do all these cool things? Well we can't, so now you're stuck with this mediocrity." It's really depressing sometimes.

Maybe those renderings show a modified set of serpentine-like steps - with ramps/stairs breaking them up.

 

Also, in the top rendering, what is the squiggly blue line along the shore?

Maybe those renderings show a modified set of serpentine-like steps - with ramps/stairs breaking them up.

 

Also, in the top rendering, what is the squiggly blue line along the shore?

 

Conjecture:

I have a feeling the steps are staying, it is just they are not meeting the water.  I would guess the blue line is the existing shore-line.

Not really news, but construction on the park seems to be humming along (likewise with Yard House). Today seemed especially active. Does anyone know if the current phase involves removing any of the surface parking lot area whatsoever? I remember Dave Prather claiming in one of the videos that the area of the park would be significantly expanded--maybe tripled?--by this spring, but it seems hard to imagine that it could be tripled given the current area that looks under construction, unless some of the parking lot goes.

 

Also, I want to reiterate that this is going to be awesome once it's done. I mean the parts that are done are already great.

There is a huge (like maybe a story tall and a block long) pile of dirt to the west of the park right now, not sure where it's all going to end up.

They've replaced all of the white spherical lamps with silver flying saucer shaped lights.  I don't like them individually, but they seem to fine the aesthetic of the park better.  Also, the Women's Comittee garden is starting to take form and the footings for the swings are all there.  Not sure what the dirt is about.

 

Cincinnati central riverfront plan wins national award

Business Courier by Lucy May, Senior Staff Reporter

Date: Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 12:27pm EST - Last Modified: Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 1:47pm EST

 

 

For all you skeptics who thought Cincinnati’s central riverfront would be parking lots and mud forever, check this out: The Cincinnati central riverfront plan will receive the American Planning Association’s 2013 National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation.

 

The award recognizes the plan’s “success in converting 195 acres of vast wasteland – between the Ohio River and Cincinnati’s Central Business District – into an economically successful and vital, mixed-use development with a dramatic new park,” according to a news release.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2013/01/cincinnati-central-riverfront-plan.html