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Arts & Entertainment News

Community Campaign raises $11M for Fine Arts Fund

The Fine Arts Fund announced this evening that the Cincinnati community gave $11 million for the arts in during their annual campaign – matching their aggressive goal set last year. Julie Janson, Chair of the 2010 Annual Community Campaign for the Fine Arts Fund, said that the amount matched 2009’s contributions and was more than any other such campaign in the nation.

The news comes as nonprofits and arts organizations around the country have struggled to raise money during a difficult economy, with many organizations scaling back their expectations. Fine Arts Fund leadership noted that donations came from people all over the region, with most people making less than $150 contributions.

“We decided that we had to set an ambitious goal in order to ensure that people continue to share the benefits of the arts that make our community such a vibrant and appealing place,” Janson described in a press release. “And this year, setting a goal equal to last year’s donations was very ambitious.”

The Fine Arts Fund benefits nearly 100 arts organizations throughout the Cincinnati region including museums, theatre companies, dance companies and instructional organizations. Cincinnati’s arts community received another major boost during this difficult economy when Louise Nippert donated $85 million in December to create a musical arts fund supporting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera.

“This is an extraordinary sign of community support for the arts and the benefits they bring to the entire area” Lee Carter, Chair of the Fine Arts Fund Board of Trustees, said. “People recognize that our dance, theatre, museums, music, art centers, and so forth make communities more vital and bring people together throughout the region.”

On top of the $11 million raised in the Annual Community Campaign, several foundations contributed special initiative funding that totaled $12.3 million.

“We’ve heard from all corners of the region: the arts make our community a great place to live and visit,” Janson concluded.

CORRECTION: The Fine Arts Fund provides funding to nearly 100 organizations throughout the Cincinnati region, and provides additional services to dozens more. View a full list of grantees here.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Know Theatre to host 2nd Annual Derby Day Party – 5/1

The Know Theatre will host their second annual Derby Day Party at Sycamore Place in downtown Cincinnati this Saturday, May 1 from 4pm to 7pm. The party will also celebrate the Know Theatre’s 12th Season, and will help raise money for the non-profit theatre in historic Over-the-Rhine.

According to event organizers, the Derby Day Party has a $15 suggested donation and will include a live viewing of the race, bourbon tasting and mint juleps. There will also be prizes awarded for the three best hats and for those picking the horses that place in the 136th Annual Kentucky Derby. Raffle tickets purchased for the horse placing competition will have all proceeds go to benefit the Know Theatre.

The event will be held in the lobby of Sycamore Place at St. Xavier Park (map) in downtown Cincinnati. The location is served by on- and off-street automobile parking, nearby bicycle parking and Metro bus service (plan your trip).

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Development News

Historic structures threatened by wrecking ball in OTR

Early yesterday morning several buildings in the 1400 block of Vine Street were badly damaged by fire. The collection of buildings included the long-standing Smitty’s clothing store and several apartments above where the residents lost just about everything.

The risk now is losing additional historic structures in one of the most at-risk and important historic districts in the nation. One building was already demolished yesterday following the fire clean up, and others are scheduled to be demolished today – including the building that houses Smitty’s.

The Over-the-Rhine Foundation is asking residents to call Amit Ghosh (513-352-3433) from the City of Cincinnati immediately and ask that these buildings not be torn down, and instead be examined to see if they could be saved.

Danny Klinger, known for helping save the historic Meiner Flats building down the street recently, states that the City is required by ordinance to first attempt to preserve these buildings rather than demolishing them.

In historic districts, the administration will encourage the use of demolition funds to repair buildings rather than demolish them. At the very least, repair of a building will be funded for the same amount that it would cost to demolish the building.

“The City is ignoring its own laws by going straight for the demolition option rather than at least considering using the demo money to preserve these structures,” Klinger implored. “Mr. Ghosh and his department must understand that those of us who care about preservation and about OTR are not ok with this. We expect that preservation be given full consideration.”

UPDATE: Danny Klingler has just confirmed that the City has backed off of demolishing the remaining two structures for now, but he encourages everyone to continue to call to inform the City on their stance on preserving Over-the-Rhine’s historic building stock, and to thank them for saving these structures for now.

Categories
Development News

Covington examining dog park for MainStrasse Village

Residents of Covington’s historic MainStrasse Village are yearning for a dog park that will provide another amenity in their neighborhood. Dog parks have become highly sought after by urban dwellers as city living becomes increasingly more attractive.

In Cincinnati, early efforts were stalled for a dog park downtown due to the lack of capital money to build the park. The efforts to create a downtown dog park yielded fruit earlier this year when Procter & Gamble’s Pet Care division announced that it would contribute $50,000 towards the construction of a dog park on a half-acre piece of land on the eastern edge of downtown Cincinnati. Planners have also included a dog park in Washington Park’s redesign that is to be reconstructed over the next year in historic Over-the-Rhine.

Dog park supporters in Covington will meet on Thursday, April 29 at 5:30pm on the second floor of Chez Nora (map). Those in attendance will hear from Tom Biedenhorn who was instrumental in making the Pioneer Paw Park reality. Biedenhorn will be joined by Covington Commissioner Sherry Carran who did the site design for the Pioneer Paw Park, and will share information from that project with the audience.

Urban Dog Park image courtesy of Ask Dog Lady.

Categories
News Transportation

Cincinnati to host conference on high-speed rail

The European-American Chamber of Commerce (EACC) will host the Urban & Regional Public Transportation Conference on Wednesday, May 5 at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The EACC 2010 Conference & Gala will gather a group of international, national and regional transportation experts to discuss Ohio’s 3C rail corridor and high-speed rail in general.

“High-speed rail has brought economic, social and environmental benefits to many countries around the world,” said EACC Executive Director, Anne Cappel. “The United States and the Midwest region can learn from case studies and experiences from our European counterparts and, hopefully, provide time and economic savings as we move forward.”

Event organizers say that the conference is designed to address issues surrounding the 3C rail corridor with a pragmatic approach. Conference attendees will hear from experts involved in Ohio’s high-speed rail plan in regard to its cost-effectiveness, safety and environmental impacts from local, regional and national levels.

Ohio’s 3C rail corridor was recently awarded $400 million from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, and will eventually carry nearly 500,000 passengers annually between Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland. The 3C rail corridor itself serves an estimated 6 million people and is considered to be the most under-served passenger rail corridor in America, and would eventually be connected into the larger Midwest High-Speed Rail Network.

The EACC 2010 Conference & Gala will include three panels made up of representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Ohio Department of Transportation, Midwest High-Speed Rail Association, American Public Transportation Association, FirstGroup America, General Electric, the City of Cincinnati and representatives from England, France and Spain. The three panels will focus on Economic Development, Performance/Environmental Impact, Financial/Operational Models.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, John D. Porcari, will deliver the conference’s key note address to the hundreds of decision-makers and thought leaders expected to be in attendance.

The EACC 2010 Conference & Gala will take place at the Westin Hotel (map) in downtown Cincinnati from 10am to 9:30pm and include lunch, a cocktail/networking session following the conference, and the gala dinner. A variety of registration packages are available until Friday, April 30 at 5pm.

If you are unable to make the event, be sure to follow UrbanCincy on Twitter where we will be live tweeting from the conference using the #eaccConference hashtag.

High-Speed Rail image from Environmental Law & Policy Center.