Tag: photography

PHOTOS: Custom-Designed Banners Installed Throughout Central Business District

Post author By Eric Anspach
Post date January 22, 2015
12 Comments on PHOTOS: Custom-Designed Banners Installed Throughout Central Business District

The holiday season was another record-setting year for Downtown with tourists, shoppers, and general holiday revelers packing the center city. At the same time Downtown Cincinnati Inc. partnered with Resource/Ammirati to design and install custom street pole banners.

DCI leaders say that the concept is modeled off of the iconic I “heart” New York marketing campaign that has since been copied countless times around the world. In this rendition, Resource/Ammirati developed 10 original designs that play off local traditions and things that people enjoy doing downtown.

In addition to the 10 total designs, the spelling of Cincinnati is done with typography that is drawn from logos from some of the city’s most famous brands including the Reds, Christian Moerlein, Skyline Chili, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Bengals, Findlay Market, Know Theatre, and the Taft Museum of Art.

In total, DCI installed 42 of these street banners throughout the Central Business District. They will remain in place throughout 2015. There is no word as to what will happen with the campaign at that point, or if the campaign will be expanded to other mediums.

EDITORIAL NOTE: All nine photographs in this gallery were taken by Eric Anspach for UrbanCincy in January 2015.

Tags christian moerlein, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Arts Center, downtown, Downtown Cincinnati Inc, findlay market, know theatre, photography, Resource/Ammirati, Skyline Chili, Taft Museum of Art

Development News

Film Center Renovation to be First Project in Northern Liberties for Urban Sites

Post author By Travis Estell
Post date November 19, 2014
7 Comments on Film Center Renovation to be First Project in Northern Liberties for Urban Sites

Over the seven year history of UrbanCincy, we have seen a tremendous amount of revitalization and new development in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Most has occurred in the southern half of the neighborhood, near the Central Business District. We’ve often wondered what it would take for development to jump across Liberty Street into the part of the neighborhood known as the Northern Liberties.

We may have recently hit that critical point. Findlay Market is thriving and growing, and will the addition of Eli’s BBQ, will soon offer a late-night dining option. The nearby tap room at Rhinegeist Brewery has quickly become a hot spot, bringing hundreds of visitors each weekend into a part of the neighborhood that was desolate just a short time ago. And Model Group has announced a $14 million office development along Race Street.

Most recently, the Business Courier reported that Urban Sites is moving forward with a plan to revitalize the 40,000 square foot Film Center building. It will be “the largest single site construction project that Urban Sites has performed to date,” according to Michael Chewning, Chief Operating Officer for Urban Sites. It is also the company’s first foray into the Northern Liberties.

The building was originally owned by Warner Bros. and contains dozens of large vaults that were used for storing films and protecting them against the elements. “The Film Center is unique in that it gives us a glimpse of the lesser known, but important role that Cincinnati played in the film industry,” said Seth Maney, Vice President of Development for Urban Sites.

Over the next 18 months, Urban Sites will put together a development plan for the property. The company is considering office space or residential as potential uses for the building.

The Central Parkway Cycle Track passes the Film Center

Part of the FIlm Center was used for the Cincinnati Business Incubator

EDITORIAL NOTE: All 13 photos were taken by Travis Estell for UrbanCincy on a recent exclusive building tour.

Tags brewery district, christian moerlein, Cincinnati, Eli's Barbeque, findlay market, Michael Chewning, Model Group, Northern Liberties, over-the-rhine, photography, Rhinegeist, Urban Sites

Arts & Entertainment News

Check Out These 14 Amazing Images of Cincinnati’s Inner City Neighborhoods

Post author By Randy A. Simes
Post date November 14, 2014
3 Comments on Check Out These 14 Amazing Images of Cincinnati’s Inner City Neighborhoods

University of Cincinnati [Brian Spitzig]

The first part of this two-part series proved to be very popular. While last week’s edition focused on aerial photographs of the center city, this week’s collection looks at neighborhoods just outside the city center.

As previously noted, Brian Spitzig is studying urban planning at the University of Cincinnati and is an occasional contributor to UrbanCincy. He recently took a flight over the city to capture these photographs.

We went through hundreds of photographs that he took and selected some of the best for you. The following 14 photographs capture views of the West End, Queensgate, Corryville, Mt. Auburn, Mt. Adams, Clifton Heights, Walnut Hills and University Heights.

If you like what you see here, you can follow Brian Spitzig on Instagram.

Tags Brian Spitzig, Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, clifton heights, corryville, Eden Park, mt. adams, mt. auburn, photography, queensgate, Short Vine, Union Terminal, university heights, university of cincinnati, uptown, walnut hills, west end

News Transportation

PHOTOS: Streetcar Maintenance Facility, OTR Track Work Nearing Completion

Post author By Travis Estell
Post date November 11, 2014
3 Comments on PHOTOS: Streetcar Maintenance Facility, OTR Track Work Nearing Completion

Construction of the Cincinnati Streetcar system has been moving quickly over the past several months. In the Central Business District, track work on Walnut Street has been completed between Central Parkway and Seventh Street, and two stations are under construction along this stretch.

Downtown drivers will soon get a break from track construction until next year, when crews will return to the CBD to finish the Walnut Street track after the holiday season.

In the mean time, crews have moved to the Northern Liberties to finish up the Over-the-Rhine portion of the system. The special track work in this area includes turnouts on Henry and Race streets, connecting to the Maintenance & Operations Facility, and turnouts to Findlay and Elder Streets, which will allow the Uptown Connector to be built in the future without disrupting service.

Crews recently finished resurfacing portions of Elm and Race streets along the route, which means that underground utility work has wrapped up. Many of the streetcar stops in Over-the-Rhine are also now complete and many of the new traffic signals have been activated.

While much has been accomplished, a significant amount of construction remains, including track work along Main and Second streets in the CBD. But anyone taking a walk down Race Street, in Over-the-Rhine, today should get a good impression of what the finished track and stations will look like.

Walnut Street Track Work [Travis Estell]

EDITORIAL NOTE: All 14 photos were taken by Travis Estell for UrbanCincy between October 21 and November 1, 2014.

Tags Backstage Entertainment District, brewery district, Cincinnati, Cincinnati streetcar, downtown, findlay market, Gateway Quarter, over-the-rhine, photography, Washington Park

Arts & Entertainment News

Take a Look at These 20 Breathtaking Photos of Cincinnati’s Center City

Post author By Randy A. Simes
Post date November 7, 2014
8 Comments on Take a Look at These 20 Breathtaking Photos of Cincinnati’s Center City

Many of you who read UrbanCincy get to see and experience the center city on a regular basis, but others of you cannot. But for those of you that do, rarely do you get to take a bird’s eye view of the city.

Brian Spitzig, an occasional contributor to UrbanCincy, recently took a flight around the inner city to take what turned out to be some incredible aerial photography. He took hundreds of photos, but we went through them and selected some of the best to share with you.

This is the first part of what will be a two-part series. The following 20 photographs are all of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine, while the next part of this series will focus on neighborhoods outside of the greater downtown area.