Cincinnati’s string of parks along the Ohio River makes for a pleasant way to cool off during the hot summer weather thanks to the softscapes, water features and cool air off of the river. UrbanCincy contributing photographer Thadd Fiala is well know for his almost daily strolls along the Ohio River. During those walks, he often captures interesting scenes of Cincinnati’s waterfront parks.
If you are looking for some relief from Cincinnati’s 90-plus-degree weather this upcoming week you may want to take a page out of Thadd’s book and head down to the riverfront for a stroll. Be sure to get over to The Banks and check out the progress being made on the Smale Riverfront Park which will become the most recent addition to the miles of parks along the city’s urban waterfront.
Riverboat cruises along the Ohio River [LEFT], and children cool off at the Otto Armleder Fountain at Sawyer Point [RIGHT]. Photographs by Thadd Fiala.
Major progress has been made on Cincinnati’s new central riverfront park since project manager Dave Prather last delivered an update. Thanks to a $20.75 million private donation, the park is now named the Smale Riverfront Park in honor of Phyllis W. Smale and her family who donated the large sum of money.
The Smale Riverfront Park now also appears poised to host portions of the decommissioned USS Cincinnati submarine which has long been sought for display on the Ohio River. Furthermore, Prather says that an announcement will soon be made on a new hotel to be constructed adjacent to the park as part of The Banks development.
In Prather’s video update he also highlights the progress on the Moerlein Lager House which now includes a tower crane as vertical construction progresses, and the Schmidlapp Event Lawn which is nearly complete.
Surrounding the event lawn are mature Red Maple trees which were purchased by Cincinnati Parks two years ago and prepared for planting. The event lawn itself is largely complete and is awaiting final granite installation and the shade structure for the event stage which will include photovoltaic solar cells atop it.
The demolition of the old Merhing Way has also been completed along with the demolition of the former wall along the Ohio River. The result of those two demolition projects, Prather says, is now improving the visual connection with the river.
Other notable updates are that the Walnut Street Steps are taking form and are aligning with Walnut Street. The steps will then connect activities at the upper level of the Smale Riverfront Park to those lower at the Women’s Committee Garden. Prather also says that the slab for the interactive will be poured soon, and that the cascading water feature spilling down from a glass overlook will also take shape in the near future.
The League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) annual conference is well underway in downtown Cincinnati. The conference, and its thousands of attendees, is in the process of diving into issues surrounding Latinos in America while also exploring the Queen City through a host of events.
One unique event at the conference is the premiere performance of Cincinnati: City of Immigrants which takes place this evening, appropriately enough, at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The event begins at 7:30pm, and is free and open to the public.
Cincinnati: City of Immigrants was written by critically-acclaimed playwright Joe McDonough. Produced by ArtsWave and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the story follows six fictional characters representing the six major waves of ethnic immigrants – German, Irish, African-America, Jewish, Appalachian and Hispanic – to Cincinnati over the past 180 years.
The fictional characters include a young German woman living in Over-the-Rhine in 1850, an African-American former slave in search of her son, and a Latino family celebrating a birthday in Cincinnati’s west side Price Hill neighborhood. The goal, producers say, is to tie together common experiences and encourage audience members to think differently about how their family history might connect them to other Cincinnatians.
The show will be performed at the theatre on the third floor of the Freedom Center. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (map) is located along downtown Cincinnati’s riverfront in The Banks development. Convenient parking is available in underground parking garages located directly beneath the museum, and the Freedom Center is easily accessible by Cincinnati’s future streetcar line.
There are four other opportunities to see the show, which includes a dialogue with the cast after each performance. Additional performance dates and locations include:
These performances begin at 7:00 p.m. and include time for a post-show community dialogue with the actors. Performances are free and open to the public.
City leaders will gather today in downtown Cincinnati to accept a national award for its Ohio River Trail project. The John A. Sasso National Community Development Week Award will be presented at the National Community Development Association (NCDA) convention currently being held in Cincinnati.
NCDA officials say that the Ohio River Trail project is helping to improve neighborhoods and better the lives of low- and middle-income residents through the use of the association’s Community Development Block Grants (CDGB). In 2011, eight departments within the City of Cincinnati made more than $13 million in total CDBG requests. Over the past five years, the City has requested approximately $13 million annually in CDBG funds.
The association specifically looked at a 1.1-mile stretch of the Ohio River Trail through Columbia Tusculum which was recently completed thanks to a CDBG Economic Development Initiative grant of $745,125. In May, UrbanCincy partnered with the City of Cincinnati to give future bicycle commuters a tour of the Ohio River Trail.
Once entirely complete, the Ohio River Trail will connect with the Little Miami Scenic Trail to the east and downtown Cincinnati at its western terminus. Future segments could go further west along the Ohio River.
The Ohio River Trail project was chosen for this year’s award out of 550 local governments who work with NCDA on community development projects. Those projects include a wide variety of efforts that are targeted to improve economic development, housing and human services.
Officials will be presented the award by Cardell Cooper, executive director of NCDA, at 12:30pm today at the Pavilion Room inside the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel.
This weekend marks an annual celebration for one of Cincinnati’s most iconic landmarks, The John A Roebling Suspension Bridge. Roeblingfest, now in it’s seventh year, will take place this Saturday in the area just south of the bridge named Roebling Point. The festival which started as a midday celebration on a Sunday afternoon has now gown into a full day event on Saturday to be closed out by Rozzi Fireworks. As the festival has grown, so has the vision as it now features not only a focus on history, but also a focus on local food and local music among other things. It is a true mix brought forth by a collaborative effort of organizers from the Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee (the CCSBC) as well as the businesses in the Roebling Point Entertainment District.
This well known landmark is featured everywhere from the backdrop of local newscasts to the logo of your favorite site that talks about all things in the urban core. The bridge was just painted for the first time in almost thirty-five years and new lights have begun the process of restoring the bridge to its true glory. The CCSBC is dedicated to doing even more to modernize the lighting and maintaining the flags on the bridge, and while memberships are available via the web on an ongoing basis, this festival marks one way for the group to raise money annually.
As the roots of the festival focused on the history of the Roebling Bridge, a prototype for New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, there will be walking tours given of the bridge, the floodwall murals, and other historical Covington landmarks for $5 per tour. The tours are scheduled to go off on an hourly basis from 1p through 4p. It should be noted that there are no tours of the bridge that will allow folks to go to the top, but there will be a silent auctionfor such a trip which includes dinner for four at Keystone Bar & Grill.
In addition to a historical focus, this year’s event features quite a food selection. Of course all the local establishments that are part of the Roebling Point Entertainment District will be out including Keystone, Blinkers, Sidebar, The Down Under and Molly Malone’s. This year too features a few less traditional vendors including Covington’s Amerasia as well as both the Dojo Gelato cart and (making their inaugural outdoor appearance) Pho Lang Thang from Findlay Market. Add in a Roebling Porter from Rivertown Brewing and a special small batch Moerlein Roebling Fest Lager and there are plenty of special drinks to go around too.
Additionally, this year’s festival also features quite a line-up of music that is scheduled to run from 1pm to 1015pm. With the focus being on local & original music, this is one area that Roeblingfest 2011 has really differentiated itself from years gone by. With the stage located in the heart of the square at Court Street and Park Place, it will be a definite focal point throughout the day featuring bands from all across the region and it will have a true mix of genres too.
1pm to 1:45p – Perfect Sequel
2pm to 2:45pm – The Crick Gypsies
3:15pm to 4:15pm – Supermassive
4:45pm to 6pm – The Spookfloaters
6:30pm to 7:15pm – The Chocolate Horse
7:45pm to 8:45pm – The Dukes
9:15pm to 10:15pm – The Lions Rampant
Add in an art show as well as the finish line for the 2011 Covington Quest and the 2011 Roeblingfest has a little something for everyone. As parking could be challenging, the use of public transportation is most definitely recommended and the TANK Southbank Shuttle will be more than sufficient. Taking the shuttle will allow festival goers to park in downtown Cincinnati, Newport, or other parts of Covington and get to and from the festival for only $1 each way.
