Good news out of Dayton today.  Per the Business Journal.

 

$30M complex planned for downtown

 

By John Wilfong

 

The next big thing for downtown Dayton is on its way.

 

Local development officials are planning RiverScape Live, an estimated $30 million entertainment, restaurant and shopping venue, modeled after developments in Louisville, Ky., and Baltimore.  Officials expect the project, along the Great Miami River at the foot of the Patterson Boulevard Bridge, to be complete by 2010 and draw as many people downtown as the Dayton Dragons’ Fifth Third Field.

 

 

OK, if freaking Dayton gets a mixed-use riverfront development before Cincinnati does!....

I have very mixed feelings about this....I guess I show my old-fogey "counterculture/alternative scene" bias here, but I tend to be more into the funky home-grown stuff like whats happening in the Oregon district (yeah, I know..but it has its moments) and Canal Street Tavern...and will be going to that new Foundry place later tonight to hear some local jam bands....

 

....this complex sounds a bit too "glitz" for me.  Fourth Street Live is not my idea of an interesting, organic nightlife scene as it seems sort of "chain store"..there is a big Borders, a Hard Rock Cafe, a bowling alley, and so forth, but its sort of, well, corporate, compared to a more organic streetside nightlife scene.  I guess that was inveitable as Louisville had that dead downtown shopping mall, & this was a way to bring it back to life...it wasn't purpose-built to be a entertainment center...

 

I am trying to be positive about this as downtown Dayton needs all the help it can get, but I would hate to see scenes like the Oregon or some of the other places fade due to this complex sucking out the life from them.    I do like that whitewater rafting concept and the covered stage for the summer festivals that happen there....

Not to worry - different audience I think. I can't see people who go to the places you mentioned abandoning them for this. This sounds geared more toward the Fraze crowd.

 

 

And, uh, where is the "Patterson Boulevard bridge" anyway?

They are talking about Riverside Dr. Bridge (Patterson comes the other way).

 

Generally, Dayton DOES need a project like this, due to the fact that the suburban populace are starting to not come downtown anylonger (besides the typical plays and Dragons games).  Thus, what else but bring city AND metro residents a mini-"Inner Harbor" which in the past has done wonders of cities of similar size of Dayton (Louisville, Providence, and even Rochester, NY for example).  I'm not a fan of these glitzy open-air mini-Horton Plazas but it has been successful in similar cities and certainly won't "fail" in the grand scheme of getting rich quick with the suburbanites and such.

 

Granted, I WOULD like the Arcade to be top priority but since I'm in "the field" of such matters, I know it's a longer shot than a Cordish project.

Sounds good to me.  And I'd be quite happy to see parking lots along the river be built upon.

Is this still on anyone's radar?

 

I found Fourth Street Live to be a very alive place.

I searched the Dayton Business Journal website and all I found was the original article that I posted last year.  So I have idea if this thing is still on.

 

My one time experience with Fourth Street Live didn't seem so great.  First they threatened not to let my friend in because he was wearing his hat backwards (after a Bats game have you) then the bowling alley there wouldn't let me in cause I wasn't dressed properly ( I was wearing khaki shorts and a tee).  So if they do ever end up building this thing and it's ran like Fourth Street Live, then they prolly wouldn't see much of my business.

Umm, where's the housing?

OK, if freaking Dayton gets a mixed-use riverfront development before Cincinnati does!....

^There's a good chance this will happen!!!