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Lytle Park plan taking root

Lytle Park is rich with history and is poised for a face lift. The park sits on the site of the Lytle family homestead that was built back in 1809. The homestead site then became known as Lytle Square and was then owned by the City of Cincinnati in 1905.

Lytle Square was then marked to be demolished to make way for the connection of I-71 to Ft. Washington Way. Public protests saved the parkspace and led the creation of what is known to be one of the first uses of air-rights over an expressway in the nation. Lytle Tunnel nows runs underneath this small yet important park in the south-eastern portion of Downtown.

The park also boasts an 11-foot statue of Abraham Lincoln that was a gift to the City from the Taft family. The Taft family connections don’t end there though as the Taft Museum of Art is located on the eastern edge of the park.

The park is now in the process of a master plan that will give the park a new look with new features. A couple new water features are planned, a new stair connection to Lytle Street (GoogleMap), new garden space, new streetscape along 4th, and more open lawn spaces for creative use are some of the key features of the plan.

At a November 20th public meeting the plan was “well-received” and no major changes were suggested. No specific timetable, budget or financing has been set for the changes, but the next step is to finalize a master plan with more specifics that will be taken to the Cincinnati Park Board for approval.

Preliminary Lytle Park Master Plan (259kb)

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Boylan Bottling Co.

This is a shameless promotion but I can’t help it…this stuff is amazing. The Boylan Bottling Company was started over 100 years ago originally producing Birch beer. The family-owner, New Jersey based company also produces a host of another products as well.

I recently had my first Boylan experience at Coffee Emporium in Over-the-Rhine. I had a Diet Cream Soda which was amazing and was hard to distinguish from other non-diet drinks. Their regular drinks apparently are made with cane sugar as compared to the typical high fructose corn syrup that most companies use nowadays.

Coffee Emporium is the only place that I have seen this in Cincinnati. Can it be found elsewhere around town, or has anyone else had similar experiences? I just need to know, I’m hooked.

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Can Nippert Stadium really be expanded?

With the success of the Bearcat football program combined with the already tight confines of Nippert Stadium it is only natural that talks have been in progress about expanding the stadium. The expansion would not only add more seating capacity, but take care of some other much needed improvements for concessions, restroom facilities and luxury suites.

Recently University of Cincinnati Athletic Director, Mike Thomas, described Nippert as the Wrigley Field of college football. The small and intimate setting certainly agrees with that. The surrounding buildings that are incorporated into the stadium also plays along with that theme.

Well the University had some drawings done by a Baton Rouge architecture firm a little while ago and have been sitting on those drawings ever since. There have recently been rumors flying about that Coach Brian Kelly has met with UC officials about these plans. What are your thoughts? Too soon, not enough, awesome, tacky, too modern?

Personally I think it works pretty well with a few exceptions. The area behind the west concourse that is sandwiched in between the stadium and Tangeman University Center (TUC) will become a dark and damp place as a result of this. It would also block out much of the sunlight that floods TUC via the giant glass wall on that side of the building.

The other issue I have is with covering most (or all) of the CCM building that is in the south endzone. The building is one of the coolest features of the stadium and I think could be manipulated in some way to incorporate luxury suites and avoid being blocked out (get creative).

Images from Trahan Architects – Click to view larger sizes
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Day After Thanksgiving Fun Downtown

The day after Thanksgiving is often the day where people line up outside the most generic big box store they can find and wait in long lines to spend their hard-earned money at places that won’t recycle that money locally like locally owned/operated businesses.

In an effort to encourage local shopping, and continue upon the success built at Cincinnati Unchained, Gateway Quarter businesses have organized the inaugural Holidays in the Bag event from 9am to 9pm the day after Thanksgiving. Shoppers are encouraged to buy a special shopping bag ($3 – money goes to Tender Mercies) at the Gateway Quarter Information Center that will get you 20% off at participating retailers.

After your stuffed full of Thanksgiving goodies and partake in the “Black Friday” craziness be sure to leave some energy for the annual Light Up The Square festivities on Friday, November 28th.

Light Up The Square is the annual event on Fountain Square where Cincinnati celebrates the start of the holiday season with the ceremonious tree lighting festivities. This year’s tree is the biggest ever standing 60 feet tall, with roughly 20,000 lights and five-foot tall red star.

The fun officially starts at 6:30pm with a performance by “Team Cincinnati” (from Clash of the Choirs) which will then be followed by the tree lighting at 7pm by Mayor Mark Mallory. There will then be a fireworks show following the tree lighting. Santa Claus is expected to be there and the Fountain Square skating rink will be open to the public.

Traffic Notes: 5th Street (between Race & Walnut) & Vine Street (between 4th & 6th) will be closed from 6pm to 9:30pm.
The Fountain Square parking garage will be open but only accessible via the Walnut Street entrance.
Metro bus routes will be detoured around these streets during the closure.
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News

Be a part of the 2009 YPKC

In 2006 Mayor Mark Mallory launched the Mayor’s Young Professional Kitchen Cabinet (YPKC) – the first of its kind anywhere. The goal was to tap into the minds of those young people that so many cities are trying to both retain and attract.

Each year one hundred young professionals are tapped from all over the tri-state to volunteer their efforts to help make the Cincinnati region a more welcoming place for young people. The young professionals work on a variety of committees with different focuses. They work within their various committees and then push forth their ideas. If those ideas gain approval from the YPKC as a whole, then they are then directed to the Mayor’s office.

The YPKC is a great opportunity to get involved especially if you’re one of those many people who have had that brilliant idea come to you in the middle of the night and think, “boy it would be nice if I had the opportunity to talk to the Mayor about this.” Well you can.

You can apply now to be a member of the 2009 YPKC. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the 2008 YPKC as a member of the Transportation Committee. Due to travel plans, a spring graduation and other time constraints I will not be able to once again apply. I do strongly encourage everyone else who is interested to do before the December 3rd deadline (sorry for the late notice).