Awesome, thanks for the update!

 

From WVXU:

Cincinnati Council is expected to vote Wednesday [March 26] to issue $8 million worth of bonds to finish another portion of Smale Riverfront Park.  That borrowing likely will mean city homeowners will not see a decrease in a portion of their city property taxes.

...

The $8 million will finish the majority of the west side of Smale Park from the Roebling Bridge to Elm Street and south of Mehring Way. 

City officials want that work completed before next year's Major League Baseball All Star Game.  A city memo said “the park is the front yard to the stadium and will be the location of many of the MLB required pre-events.  In addition, the area will be featured on national television during all the events.”

http://wvxu.org/post/borrowing-money-smale-park-will-likely-mean-no-property-tax-decrease

One day we will stand at the western edge of the park and wonder why there's such a big parking lot across the street.

This is actually good news in the long run!

 

Smale Park playground opening delayed 1 year       

Erin CaproniDigital Producer- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

The opening of the Heekin/PNC Grow Up Great Adventure Playground won’t be this spring, when it was originally scheduled. In fact, it won’t even be this year. But the reason for the delay might not be what you would think: The project just received more funding.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently allocated $4.5 million to be used at the park, which represents an end to the pause in federal funding that began in 2011. The funding will be used to pay for desired elements of the playscape that couldn’t be completed with funding from the city, gifts from private donors and previous federal grants.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/03/27/smale-park-playground-opening-delayed-1-year.html

That's great to hear. The quality of this park continues to impress me every time I'm down there. It's such a huge asset for this city. And with each new element built it just keeps improving. I'm really looking forward to when my niece who is about to turn three comes down and I can take her to the playground next year.

Spring Update!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6_7i3r8mmc&feature=player_embedded

Am I the only one that gets nerdily excited when those videos are posted? I love the music and how it has never changed. Also great news about the funding I'm glad this park is more concerned with long term quality than quickness, that's rare around here and much appreciated.

Am I the only one that gets nerdily excited when those videos are posted?

Nope.

 

I love the music and how it has never changed.

Me, too. Takes me back to 1991 or thereabouts.

I agree that long term quality is much more important than short term 'finished' product, but it is slightly disappointing that there won't be any new features revealed for this summer.  It seems strange that very little has been done on the area between the bridge and the part of the park that is already open. They had stonework done for the little half circle/amphitheater thing last year.  Those of us who are in the know realize that long term we are going to be better off, but to the casual visitor, or maybe out of town visitor who comes to town for a Reds game, it will look like nothing really has happened since they were there last.  It'd be nice if they even had a small new area to unveil for this summer.

Although it would be nice to have something new this summer the amount of obvious construction work on the playground and the upper portion west of the bridge make it pretty clear that ongoing construction is happening. I think the park also gets enough press, basically all good, that the average Cincinnatian knows good things are happening. At least I hope. Maybe I'm being a little too optimistic.

This park is so cool.  I just wish the Banks wasn't such a cheap and lousy design.  I wish 3CDC was the developer and not Carter Dawson.

This park is so cool.  I just wish the Banks wasn't such a cheap and lousy design.  I wish 3CDC was the developer and not Carter Dawson.

 

3CDC was the developer and they didn't get it done.

3CDC was the developer and they didn't get it done.

 

Was 3CDC ever the developer?  I know the Port Authority was the initial party handling it, but it got yanked from them.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2004/02/23/daily45.html

Wasn't there more to it than that though? A lot of politics that resulted in them stepping aside in favor of a private developer?

I don't have all the details to form the full timeline but initially the Port was charged with developing the site, then the Port partnered with 3CDC.

 

Then they selected Corporex to do the development portion of the project.

 

That fell through some time around 2005/2006. Afterwards the Banks Working Group was organized. They selected Carter/Dawson after a national search. The master development agreement was approved and then work finally started around 2008/2009.

I don't have all the details to form the full timeline but initially the Port was charged with developing the site, then the Port partnered with 3CDC.

 

Then they selected Corporex to do the development portion of the project.

 

That fell through some time around 2005/2006. Afterwards the Banks Working Group was organized. They selected Carter/Dawson after a national search. The master development agreement was approved and then work finally started around 2008/2009.

 

Can we do another national search and bring in a better developer for future phases?

Do we have any updated renderings/plans for the western half of the park (west of Roebling). These drawing were from Nov of 2012, so I imagine there have been some changes since then.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=AB&Dato=20121130&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=311300129&Ref=PH

 

 

It was fairly busy when I visited yesterday

 

Wow, fantastic shots, Eridony!

 

Some of the best shots of completed sections I have seen, and great construction shots depicting context. You actually make the construction look pretty! Can't wait to see more of your work around the city.

I am a bit surprised by the presence of a single street light in the center of the roundabout. Although I understand that design guidance states that the center island should be devoid of prominent features, I have never seen this sort of lighting application, and I am a traffic engineer in roundabout-happy Maryland. I am a bit surprised there are no low profile landscaping features around the roundabout. It looks sort of naked, for being a gateway into the city.

 

Sorry to stir up an old topic, but I was at the park yesterday and the stupid light in the middle of the roundabout still REALLY bothers me.

 

Here's a simple fix that would cost practically nothing and take no more than 12 hours of workers pay to install.  Order an extra light fixture from the Smale Riverfront Park construction crew and put it in the middle of the roundabout.  Simple, easy, matches its surroundings, and is FAR more of a gateway to the city than that lamp they have there now.

 

Current roundabout:

 

Light pole in Smale Park:

 

New roundabout:

 

 

This can't cost more than a few thousand dollars.  Can we please make this happen at the very least?

I think it just needs landscaping. The solution with the new light pole is, to me, still ugly. A nice mixture of tall grasses with something for color...

It needs a flying pig sculpture.

I think it just needs landscaping. The solution with the new light pole is, to me, still ugly. A nice mixture of tall grasses with something for color...

 

A lot of drivers get nervous at roundabouts, so tall grasses might hide cars and make the traffic pattern worse.  Personally, I think that roundabout would look just fine if they simply removed the lightpole and had nothing in the middle of it.  Maybe a small floral garden for color, but nothing tall or distracting.

I'm still more bothered by the traffic lights dangling from ordinary wires throughout the Banks, as opposed to the fixed post traffic lights throughout the rest of downtown. It looks unbelievably tacky, particularly at the Freedom Way/Main Street intersection directly in front of Holy Grail and the ballpark.

 

Traffic lights swinging from wires don't belong downtown.

^ This

That’s a cop out. Roundabouts can be a focal point. I’m partial to the ones I’ve experience in AZ.

 

Sedona

 

Scottsdale

 

Just found this roundabout proposal.

However, all will be forgiven if they add one small feature...

 

YES!

Good one, moonloop! :D

Please tell me that is NOT a photoshop. 

Metrobot!!!  I can't wait to see him on the streets again.

Send him to Boca.

I'd like to put MetroBot on the Streetcar Transformer on Court St. and re-name him "ElectroBot"

With each new section completion the Smale Park becomes an even bigger feather in the City's hat. What a tremendous welcoming addition to the City's front door.

 

I remember when the riverfront was lined with produce distributor warehouses and scrap yards to the point you could barely see the river. In addition to being ugly they drove people away from the river and in my case away from downtown.

 

Cincinnati deserves a great big hooray both for the concept of this park and the carrying it out.

 

Once Smale is completed, the Parks Commission needs to turn its attention eastward for an update of Yeatman's Cove and Sawyer Point to the same level of excellence. Cincinnati has the opportunity here to have a riverfront park system unequalled in the US.

 

I have enjoyed such as Eden, Ault, and Alms parks for years. But downtown, No Way when my kids were young. Now that my kids have kids and those kids are about to have kids, for a long time downtown has still been no way. You can only spend so much time at Fountain Square with a handful of squirmy kids.

 

But Smale Park is changing all of that. It is becoming a shining beacon of Cincinnati to the rest of the world. All I can see that is missing is a museum to Cincinnati's river heritage. And it needs to be a working museum. By that, I mean it needs to have either a sidewheeler or a sternwheeler for cruises on the Ohio. Perhaps that can come when they push the park system west of I-75.

With each new section completion the Smale Park becomes an even bigger feather in the City's hat. What a tremendous welcoming addition to the City's front door.

 

I remember when the riverfront was lined with produce distributor warehouses and scrap yards to the point you could barely see the river. In addition to being ugly they drove people away from the river and in my case away from downtown.

 

Cincinnati deserves a great big hooray both for the concept of this park and the carrying it out.

 

Once Smale is completed, the Parks Commission needs to turn its attention eastward for an update of Yeatman's Cove and Sawyer Point to the same level of excellence. Cincinnati has the opportunity here to have a riverfront park system unequalled in the US.

 

I have enjoyed such as Eden, Ault, and Alms parks for years. But downtown, No Way when my kids were young. Now that my kids have kids and those kids are about to have kids, for a long time downtown has still been no way. You can only spend so much time at Fountain Square with a handful of squirmy kids.

 

But Smale Park is changing all of that. It is becoming a shining beacon of Cincinnati to the rest of the world. All I can see that is missing is a museum to Cincinnati's river heritage. And it needs to be a working museum. By that, I mean it needs to have either a sidewheeler or a sternwheeler for cruises on the Ohio. Perhaps that can come when they push the park system west of I-75.

 

I don't see the park going west of I-75 for a very long time.

With each new section completion the Smale Park becomes an even bigger feather in the City's hat. What a tremendous welcoming addition to the City's front door.

 

I remember when the riverfront was lined with produce distributor warehouses and scrap yards to the point you could barely see the river. In addition to being ugly they drove people away from the river and in my case away from downtown.

 

Cincinnati deserves a great big hooray both for the concept of this park and the carrying it out.

 

Once Smale is completed, the Parks Commission needs to turn its attention eastward for an update of Yeatman's Cove and Sawyer Point to the same level of excellence. Cincinnati has the opportunity here to have a riverfront park system unequalled in the US.

 

I have enjoyed such as Eden, Ault, and Alms parks for years. But downtown, No Way when my kids were young. Now that my kids have kids and those kids are about to have kids, for a long time downtown has still been no way. You can only spend so much time at Fountain Square with a handful of squirmy kids.

 

But Smale Park is changing all of that. It is becoming a shining beacon of Cincinnati to the rest of the world. All I can see that is missing is a museum to Cincinnati's river heritage. And it needs to be a working museum. By that, I mean it needs to have either a sidewheeler or a sternwheeler for cruises on the Ohio. Perhaps that can come when they push the park system west of I-75.

 

I don't see the park going west of I-75 for a very long time.

 

And years ago I couldn't vision it being where it is now. But at the rate I see this City changing its character, I wouldn't predict No on west of I-75. Why should the westside not desire to be blessed with the same level of luxury the downtown and eastside already have? As I said, this is a unique opportunity for Cincinnati, a several mile riverfront park anchored by a riverboat traversing its entire length. If you want to dream, Dream Big. Over 2/3rds of the park already exists. What is another 1/3 if you are saying come to Cincinnati and enjoy the greatest riverfront park system in the US? It is right there for the taking, what makes Cincinnati unique in the country.

I thought there was a park in the works between 50 and the river somewhere in the Sedamsville area with a connection to Smale via the Ohio River Trail.  Am I completely mistaken?

I am often criticised for not venturing downtown and therefore speaking on subjects I don't have personal experience in. I am the first to admit I do not venture downtown, for multiple reasons.

 

But I do pay attention to what is going on in the City. And Smale Park is a Big Deal!

 

My wife, her caregiver, and my sister-in-law are soon to leave for lunch. They will go to a local restaurant, the Houston Inn in Mason, one of our favorite places for over 30 years. They will have the soup and salad bar. The salad bar is famous in this area for their content, one being the deviled eggs. In addition, candied watermelon rind, old country style whole corn relish, a half dozen or so types of potato salad, spanish king and ripe olives, sweet and sour pickles. And real blue cheese dressing on the salad along with garbanzo beans, thin sliced radish, diced hard boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, you name it, they got it.

 

This is just one of the many reasons we seldom leave Mason. We have nothing against the City and relish in its doing well. At the same time, we have few occasions to go there.

I thought there was a park in the works between 50 and the river somewhere in the Sedamsville area with a connection to Smale via the Ohio River Trail.  Am I completely mistaken?

 

Not sure if it's the same spot you're talking about, but I remember some controversy regarding a proposed multimodal freight facility on the river, where residents of the nearby neighborhood preferred to have a park built instead. I know the facility deal went south, and left the city dealing with legal fallout as they had made commitments, but I don't know if the park has gained any traction.

At some point we have to remember that the river does have other uses besides recreation.  Yes water-based shipping and industrial uses have been significantly marginalized, but it would be just as naive to dedicate all the riverfront to parks now as it was to dedicate it all to "business" uses in the past.  In a post-peak-oil society many cities could find themselves in trouble after converting all their ports, docks, piers, harbors, and riverfronts to recreational and residential uses.  They may find that they actually need at least some of those original facilities back, and that secondary facilities several miles away from downtown aren't of much use. 

 

Besides, big parks need big populations to keep them activated.  The worst thing that can happen to a park is that it's underutilized, because that makes it unsafe (whether actually unsafe or just in perception) and leads to deferred maintenance and something of a downward spiral.  We don't want to see the pool of park users spread too thin. 

At some point we have to remember that the river does have other uses besides recreation.  Yes water-based shipping and industrial uses have been significantly marginalized, but it would be just as naive to dedicate all the riverfront to parks now as it was to dedicate it all to "business" uses in the past.  In a post-peak-oil society many cities could find themselves in trouble after converting all their ports, docks, piers, harbors, and riverfronts to recreational and residential uses.  They may find that they actually need at least some of those original facilities back, and that secondary facilities several miles away from downtown aren't of much use. 

 

Besides, big parks need big populations to keep them activated.  The worst thing that can happen to a park is that it's underutilized, because that makes it unsafe (whether actually unsafe or just in perception) and leads to deferred maintenance and something of a downward spiral.  We don't want to see the pool of park users spread too thin. 

 

I don't see peak oil happening for a very long time. Peak carbon, maybe, if we get serious about climate change. Which we don't seem to be doing at all.

 

In fact, with fracking and the US becoming an energy exporter, I don't even read blogs like Kunstler anymore. The way I see the story being written in the history books is that oil was artificially low in the 90's, driving was artificially popular, now oil is back at a realistic market price and it's high enough to promote a small but real investment in alternatives and city living, a trend that will continue into the future, but oil price isn't going to upend the US economy.

At some point we have to remember that the river does have other uses besides recreation.  Yes water-based shipping and industrial uses have been significantly marginalized, but it would be just as naive to dedicate all the riverfront to parks now as it was to dedicate it all to "business" uses in the past.  In a post-peak-oil society many cities could find themselves in trouble after converting all their ports, docks, piers, harbors, and riverfronts to recreational and residential uses.  They may find that they actually need at least some of those original facilities back, and that secondary facilities several miles away from downtown aren't of much use. 

 

Besides, big parks need big populations to keep them activated.  The worst thing that can happen to a park is that it's underutilized, because that makes it unsafe (whether actually unsafe or just in perception) and leads to deferred maintenance and something of a downward spiral.  We don't want to see the pool of park users spread too thin. 

 

The river tow boat industry is set up to benefit mightily from carbon credits, should they be enacted.  That means river shipping would increase substantially, and that it would be wise to buy towboat stocks, except it's such a small industry that even its largest company, Ingram Barge, is privately held. 

 

I'd love to see the River be home to both industrial and recreational purposes. The all-industrial thing didn't work out too well (nasty smelling polluted river) and I'm not optimistic an all-recreational riverfront would be sustainable long-term. With carefully monitored (clean) industrial uses combined with revenue-generating recreational uses (boat tours, rentals, races, regatta, etc), the river can support a variety of purposes and economic engines. There are few things more fun than watching a busy harbor. A park and a multi-modal freight facility would be fantastic for Riverfront's vitality.

^ Exactly.  I think the riverfront actually lost out when the railroad tracks were abandoned through Sawyer Point.  Seriously, what self-respecting kid (or even adult) wouldn't love this? 

 

That's a beautiful train. Even though it's noisy and dirty with gravel, I love the area along the river underneath I-75. When the trains pass overhead, the screeching of metal on metal is a sound that you just don't get to hear anywhere else. Makes me glad I don't live right next to it, but it's an awesome reminder of how heavy and impressive those massive freight trains are. And with all the semi-trucks on I-75 and the barges on the River, it evokes Cincinnati's history (and future?) as a center for commerce and shipping.

With each new section completion the Smale Park becomes an even bigger feather in the City's hat. What a tremendous welcoming addition to the City's front door.

 

I remember when the riverfront was lined with produce distributor warehouses and scrap yards to the point you could barely see the river. In addition to being ugly they drove people away from the river and in my case away from downtown.

 

Cincinnati deserves a great big hooray both for the concept of this park and the carrying it out.

 

Once Smale is completed, the Parks Commission needs to turn its attention eastward for an update of Yeatman's Cove and Sawyer Point to the same level of excellence. Cincinnati has the opportunity here to have a riverfront park system unequalled in the US.

 

I have enjoyed such as Eden, Ault, and Alms parks for years. But downtown, No Way when my kids were young. Now that my kids have kids and those kids are about to have kids, for a long time downtown has still been no way. You can only spend so much time at Fountain Square with a handful of squirmy kids.

 

But Smale Park is changing all of that. It is becoming a shining beacon of Cincinnati to the rest of the world. All I can see that is missing is a museum to Cincinnati's river heritage. And it needs to be a working museum. By that, I mean it needs to have either a sidewheeler or a sternwheeler for cruises on the Ohio. Perhaps that can come when they push the park system west of I-75.

 

I don't see the park going west of I-75 for a very long time.

 

And years ago I couldn't vision it being where it is now. But at the rate I see this City changing its character, I wouldn't predict No on west of I-75. Why should the westside not desire to be blessed with the same level of luxury the downtown and eastside already have? As I said, this is a unique opportunity for Cincinnati, a several mile riverfront park anchored by a riverboat traversing its entire length. If you want to dream, Dream Big. Over 2/3rds of the park already exists. What is another 1/3 if you are saying come to Cincinnati and enjoy the greatest riverfront park system in the US? It is right there for the taking, what makes Cincinnati unique in the country.

 

Which is why I said for a very long time.  There is pretty much nothing to do in that area and people aren't going to start going there just because a park is built.  As jjakucyk said, you don't want to spread the park users too thin, either.  Sawyer Point is already underused and that area has more going for it than the area around I-75.  I'm a westsider and I can't deny that the westside is slowly declining.  Other things need to be done before a park in an empty part of the city is built. 

I am often criticised for not venturing downtown and therefore speaking on subjects I don't have personal experience in. I am the first to admit I do not venture downtown, for multiple reasons.

 

But I do pay attention to what is going on in the City. And Smale Park is a Big Deal!

 

My wife, her caregiver, and my sister-in-law are soon to leave for lunch. They will go to a local restaurant, the Houston Inn in Mason, one of our favorite places for over 30 years. They will have the soup and salad bar. The salad bar is famous in this area for their content, one being the deviled eggs. In addition, candied watermelon rind, old country style whole corn relish, a half dozen or so types of potato salad, spanish king and ripe olives, sweet and sour pickles. And real blue cheese dressing on the salad along with garbanzo beans, thin sliced radish, diced hard boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, you name it, they got it.

 

This is just one of the many reasons we seldom leave Mason. We have nothing against the City and relish in its doing well. At the same time, we have few occasions to go there.

 

You really should make the trip down to the park sometime.  It's very wheelchair friendly and I'm sure your wife would love it.  :lol:

American Luxury ...

 

Thanks for the invite, but we are becoming more and more reluctant to go anywhere.

 

The women came home from their luncheon/dinner at the Houston Inn in Mason. They were just as enthusiastic as in the past, saying the salad bar is still the absolute best in the Tri-State.

 

While they were gone I thought I needed to also get some food. I calculated it would also be my dinner.

 

I went to the El Caporal Mexican Bar & Grill, my first time being there. I believe they operate out of Louisville. I ordered a double beef burrito platter. It was sumptuous, but I was the only patron in the restaurant! This is not a good sign, a good sized dining facility with zero customers.

 

This has little to do with the Riverfront Park, other than Yes you need to keep people coming there. Otherwise it will just dry up and blow away. I am not concerned about this park not attracting a large number of people. In fact it may attract more than it can handle.