Month: April 2010

Categories
Business News

Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori High School seen as national model of success

The nation’s first public Montessori high school is a feather in the cap of Cincinnati Public School District, and Clark Montessori is also one of the best schools in Ohio’s third largest public school district by student population. The school has now gone even further and been recognized on a national level as a model of educational success for other high schools across the United States.

This accomplishment has not gone unnoticed by President Obama who has established a goal of having the world’s highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. As part of President Obama’s education goals, he has established the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge which has been whittled down to six finalists including Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori.

“These six schools represent just a few of the stories of success that are happening all across the country,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We won’t accomplish the President’s national goal of leading the world in college completion by 2020 without the hard work and dedication of the school leaders, teachers and students exemplified by our six final high schools.”

To get to this point, Clark Montessori seniors worked with representatives from the Get Schooled Foundation to produce a video illustrating the excellence at their school. The video is currently being used as a judge for those voting for a winner from the six finalists. Starting today, voting opened to the public and Clark Montessori’s application and video have been posted to the White House website. The winner of the competition will receive a visit from President Obama where he will deliver the spring commencement speech at the winning high school.

“The quality of the applications we received is a testament to the exciting work happening in schools throughout the country, and I look forward to visiting and speaking at the winning school later this spring,” said President Obama.

In 2009, Clark Montessori graduated 100% of its senior class. You can vote for Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori in the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge now until 11:59pm on Thursday, April 29.

Race to the Top Challenge announcement photograph provided.

Categories
Development News

LEED building practices helping turn around Covington neighborhood

Two new homes in Covington have been awarded LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for their green home building and design. The two homes become some of the first LEED certified homes in Kentucky, with the home at 520 Thomas Street being the first home to achieve LEED Gold.

The home was built by the Center for Great Neighborhoods (CGN), with assistance from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky and the City of Covington, and incorporates a variety of sustainable design features that include low-flow plumbing, low-e windows, EnergyStar-rated appliances, high efficiency HVAC systems, recycled construction materials, bamboo flooring, sustainably-harvested wood moldings and more. In total, the green building features of the new home scored the project 78.5 out of 136 total points possible in the LEED for Homes certification – Gold status projects must score between 70.5 and 85.5).

“As a LEED certified home, 520 Thomas Street serves as a model of greener living for the entire community,” said Nate Kredich, Vice President of Residential Market Development for the U.S. Green Building Council. “The home is at the national forefront of quality; and their example can help us all to live better by reducing our environmental footprint, cutting our utility bills, and coming home to a healthier place to live.”

The new homes are part of a larger revitalization wave happening in the Austinburg neighborhood of Covington which is bordered by the Licking River and the proposed Licking River Levee Walk.

“The Center for Great Neighborhoods aims to make Covington a place where people choose to live, work, and play,” Rachel Hastings, Director of Neighborhood & Housing Initiatives with CGN, described. “We built homes on a formerly vacant lot in Covington’s Austinburg neighborhood at the request of the Austinburg Neighborhood Association in an attempt to increase home ownership and remove blight.”

Hastings explained that the CGN uses its housing development program in a targeted effort to increase property values, reduce blight and increase high-quality affordable market-rate home ownership. She is also excited about the positive impact the Seneca Place development is having on the neighborhood which is seeing its first new construction in over 50 years.

“When neighbors saw the new homes being built, it helped restore their confidence in their neighborhood and encouraged them to make improvements on their home because they saw that they could get a return on their investment,” explained Hastings. “The homes also show that, for a reasonable price, you can build LEED Gold homes that are easy for the average homeowner to maintain.”

The new homes also mean an addition to Covington’s tax base and new residents populating Covington’s urban core. The success is planned to continue as CGN owns additional lots in the Austinburg neighborhood where it plans to construct an additional eight homes, and invest another estimated $1.6 million into the immediate area.

520 Thomas Street construction photograph provided.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

First-ever UrbanCincy Visual Showcase – 4/30

UrbanCincy will host its first-ever gallery exhibition at this month’s Final Friday gallery hop in historic Over-the-Rhine. The gallery will focus on the works of three local Cincinnati photographers and videographers. Their work will celebrate Cincinnati built form and cityscape through photographs and engaging video pieces.

Photographer and transportation historian, Jake Mecklenborg, will be showcasing his cityscape photography in standard print form. Additionally, Mecklenborg will be premier his bicycle ride from Cincinnati’s Fountain Square to the Statehouse in Columbus. The video has been sped up and will highlight the 100-plus mile journey.

North College Hill resident and UrbanCincy writer, Jeremy Mosher, will be showcasing his work covering Cincinnati’s unique urban landscape through his critically acclaimed videography mode. Finally, Allister Sears will be participating in his first gallery exhibition and will showcase his urban cityscape photography in a variety of formats.

All of the participating artists will have prints available for purchase either on-site, or have ordering forms ready to be filled out in case you are interested.

The first-ever UrbanCincy Visual Showcase will take place on Friday, April 30 from 6pm to 10pm in the former A Lucky Step showroom on Vine Street (map). The location makes for a perfect stop before or after you visit Senate or Lavomatic. At the free showcase, visitors will be treated to light refreshments, music and an engaging gallery space perfect for anyone fascinated by Cincinnati’s urban landscape.

Walnut Street photograph by Jake Mecklenborg.

Categories
Development News

Cincinnati Port Authority lands $1M grant for brownfield redevelopment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that the Port Authority of Greater Cincinnati has been awarded a $1 million grant that will be used to investigate contaminated properties throughout Hamilton County referred to as brownfields.

The $1 million grant is broken up into two separate categories that includes $800,000 to investigate properties contaminated with hazardous substances, while the remaining $200,000 has been earmarked for the investigation of properties contaminated with petroleum.

Brownfield sites are more problematic to redevelop due to the contamination of the site that is often very costly and time consuming to clean. As a result it is quite typical that government agencies assist in such remediation processes in the form of financial assistance or liability deferral. Most recently the City of Cincinnati pledged to assist Boston Beer Company in its expansion efforts that include the redevelopment of a contaminated property adjacent to their existing West End operations.

“Returning brownfield sites to productive use has tremendous benefits for Cincinnati and Hamilton County,” said Port Authority President Kim Satzger. “A clean site is an enduring contribution to our environment and our economy.”

The collaborative effort between the Port Authority, City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County will focus on priority areas identified in the GO Cincinnati report including the Mill Creek Corridor, Madison Road Corridor and Seymour/Reading Road Corridor.

“As Greater Cincinnati’s industrial base declined, many Hamilton County communities were left with a legacy of abandoned and underutilized properties,” said Christine Russell, Director of Brownfield Development at the Port Authority who believes that the grant money offers an opportunity to continue to redevelop affected properties throughout the county.

According to the Port Authority, since 2001 it has worked on nine brownfield sites in Hamilton County, returned 157 acres of land to productive use, removed over 80,000 tons of contaminated soil, captured nearly 384,000 gallons of polluted water, recycled more than 1.7 million tons of steel and over 164,000 tons of concrete. Port Authority officials estimate that these projects have resulted in a $1.35 billion annual economic impact and supported 13,793 jobs.

Brownfield clean up work photo provided.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

2010 MPMF Reveal Showcase at the CAC this Friday

This Friday night marks the return of all things MidPoint to Cincinnati’s urban core. It seems hard to believe that the 2009 version of MidPoint Music Festival is already seven months behind us, but it is. It also seems like just yesterday that bands like The Heartless Bastards and Chairlift were filling the tent in the parking lot at Grammer’s, and that acts were packing smaller venues like the Havana Martini Club and Mainstay throughout the course of a rainy September weekend. In any case, while the 2010 version of MPMF is a full five months away, MidPoint organizer Dan McCabe and his team have been very busy getting everything organized.

One such event upcoming is the 2010 Reveal Showcase being held at the Black Box at the Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Cincinnati. Tickets to the showcase starting at 8pm will cost $10 (tickets also available at the door). The event will feature three up-and-coming bands: The Buried Wires, Cincinnati’s own Pomegranates, and Aloha which will be headlining the event.

McCabe has been most proud about how MPMF has brought such a positive music experience to all of the attendees. Since 2008 attendance has increased at the music festival a whopping 27%. And while last year’s festival was widely publicized for the programming debacle at Cadillac Ranch, at the end of the festival, McCabe pointed out how in the year that historic Over-the-Rhine was dubiously listed as America’s most dangerous neighborhood, MPMF went off without incident. He attributed this to a close relationship with businesses, a great crowd that is there to experience the music and a strong working relationship with District One of the Cincinnati Police Department.

With the biggest stage right in the heart of OTR at Grammer’s, many music lovers walked from the historic neighborhood to the Central Business District and vice versa. Without question, MPMF has had a positive impact on the community and the perception many concert goers may have had about OTR prior to visiting. Instead of reading the headlines and being scared away, everyone enjoyed themselves safely even if they had to dodge a few raindrops over the course of the weekend.

Instrument [LEFT] and The Sleeping Sea [RIGHT] perform at the 2009 Midpoint Music Festival – photos by Dave Rolfes.

While some businesses stayed open longer hours during 2009, the hope from MPMF organizers is that all of downtown will benefit from the music lovers roaming the streets for three consecutive days and even more businesses will find a way to partake this year through extended hours, specials or by partnering with the music festival in some way.

This year’s festival will include even more bands than last year’s record of 270. The success of last year’s expansion has given MPMF increased credibility which McCabe has described as being “embraced by the industry.”

2010 is currently shaping up to be the biggest year in the festival’s history with a hope of bringing in 350 acts. So far this year, submissions are about on pace with last year’s where roughly 1,000 different acts submitted material for consideration. It is fully expected that 2010 will also push, if not exceed, the same number by the time the deadline comes around Friday, May 14.

For the immediate future though, this Friday’s Reveal Showcase will offer up an opportunity for those interested to learn more about all things MidPoint. Aside from the show, there will be announcements regarding some of the acts already confirmed for MPMF 2010, an unveiling of the venues for the festival this fall, the new MPMF website will be launched and the full line-up will be revealed for the PNC MidPoint Indie Summer Series on Fountain Square.

Contemporary Arts Center photography by Jeremy Mosher.