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UC’s Campus Recreation Center named best in America

UC’s Campus Recreation Center named best in America.

Most everyone knows by now that the University of Cincinnati has transformed its previously drab uptown campus into one of the world’s most beautiful college environments with stunning architecture and public spaces. One of those stunning pieces of architecture is the university’s Campus Recreation Center (CRC), which opened in 2005, and has been rated as the best college recreation center in America. More from Best College Reviews:

The UC Campus Recreation Center is an impressive building, with over 200,000 square feet of recreation facilities. A juice bar and a convenience store are also available to students for immediate refreshing during or after a big workout. The CRC has three pools, over 21,000 pounds of weights, a climbing wall, and a suspended track.

The University of Cincinnati has always placed a premium on impressive architecture, and the CRC is an example of this. UC’s facilities for student athletes are also impressive…UC students have all the amenities that modern students expect, but they enjoy partaking of them in world class architectural achievements, which is a big part of why Cincinnati takes our top spot.

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Arts & Entertainment News Politics

Lee Fisher to Discuss the Future of Cities at UC’s School of Planning

The University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning will host Ohio’s former Lieutenant Governor and current CEOs for Cities President, Lee Fisher, next Thursday.

The event will start at 4pm with Fisher explaining what CEOs for Cities does and what they stand for. Organizers also say that those who attend will also hear about civic activists can work with professional architects, planners, designers and artists in a collaborative way to change their communities.

While serving as Lieutenant Governor, Fisher was perhaps most well-known for his economic development work and the implementation of the Ohio Hubs of Innovation & Opportunity to foster urban-based collaborations between businesses, colleges and universities, and research institutions.

Cincinnati was named an Ohio Hub of Innovation & Opportunity for Consumer Marketing in July 2010.

Fisher’s interest in these collaborative approaches to building up cities aligned him perfectly with CEOs for Cities which helps lead these types of discussions and has becoming a prominent voice on these topics over recent years. Specifically though, leadership at CEOs for Cities believe that great cities are not simply places that are born, but are rather made and improved over time.

“A living place is someone’s success,” Paul Grogan, who founded CEOs for Cities in 2001 with Richard M. Daley. “These are matters of choice and skill, not laws of physics.”

This work of enhancing cities has spread throughout North America to more than 60 cities, and CEOs for Cities currently has offices in Chicago, Cleveland and Washington D.C.

Following the speech, organizers say that the audience will get an opportunity to meet and discuss their ideas with Fisher during a reception to be held at 5:10pm.

The main event will kick off at 4pm on Thursday, April 4 inside the Kaplan Auditorium (Room 5401) at UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

The University of Cincinnati is well-served by Metro bus service (plan your trip), but those taking personal automobiles should be able to find cash parking in the nearby Clifton Court Garage.

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Business Development News

Proposed Clifton Heights Development Would Demolish Historic Christy’s & Lenhardt’s

On Tuesday, developers presented an initial concept to the CUF Neighborhood Association (CUFNA) for a proposed development at the southeast corner of W. Clifton Avenue and W. McMillan Avenue.

The development team of Gilbane and Optimus, is proposing a six-story, mixed-use development that would include 210 student apartments, street-level retail, and a 245-space parking structure. A total project cost has yet to be defined.

Clifton Heights Development_Concept Rendering
A concept rendering for what the proposed development would look like at W. Clifton and W. McMillan Avenues. Image provided.

Developers say that the two-story parking structure would be hidden by the larger apartment portion of the development, and mention that there would enough room for two retailers along both Clifton and McMillan Avenues.

“The building has an urban character that reflects and harmonizes with the new retail and residential complex across the street,” developers explained in a project report obtained by UrbanCincy. “A dramatic reduction of building scale happens as you turn the corner onto Lyon Street. The majority of this elevation is only two stories high and contains residentially scaled punched openings that are at the base of the Clifton elevation.”

Representatives from Gilbane and Optimus also say that the development will have “abundant” bicycle parking in addition to the spaces provided for automobiles.

Clifton Heights Development_Section Elevation
The concept section elevation shows how the proposed development would relate to its surroundings in Clifton Heights. Image provided.

Should everything go according to plan, the development team says that construction would start in May 2014 and open in August 2015.

The more than four-acre site currently has several houses on it along Lyon Street, the Clifton Natural Foods building, the historic mansion that is home to Christy’s & Lendhardt’s Fine German Dining, and a surface parking lot.

According to University of Cincinnati engineering student Ryan Lammi, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, the developer implied that the development could not go forward unless both buildings located along W. McMillan Avenue were demolished.

So even while the development presents a large investment in the growing neighborhood, not everyone was pleased with the initial concepts.

“The council was adamant about saving Christy’s and keeping a local retailer like Clifton Natural Foods, citing other projects that have brought national chains,” Lammi explained. “They were also pretty upset about demolishing the building at the corner because its [sic] the gateway to the last of the old building stock.”

Clifton Heights Development_First Floor Plan
The historically significant mansion that once housed Christian Moerlein’s daughter sits on the northeastern portion of the proposed development. Image provided.

Local historians point to the mansion housing Christy’s as a significant piece to the city’s beer brewing heritage. According to Steve Hampton, executive director of the OTR Brewery District, the mansion was built by Christian Moerlein as a wedding gift for his daughter in 1881.

Posing a potentially significant hurdle for the development would be the mansion’s pending historic designation.

“CUF has sent a request to the Urban Conservator requesting a designation hearing along with a formal designation application,” said Hampton, who went on to clarify that a hearing date has not been determined.

The process of attaining such designation, Hampton claims, would protect the property from demolition, under city law, until a final ruling is made.

The development team’s current schedule calls for initial site due diligence and inspection work to be completed by May of this year, followed by an eight-month period for the necessary project approvals.

As the project moves forward, Lammi says that students and neighborhood residents plan to be very involved, and intend to meet on Saturday, February 9 at 2pm to discuss the proposal at Rohs Street Café. He says that the meeting will be open to anyone interested in attending, and will offer a venue for people to voice their concerns and opinions on the development.

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Arts & Entertainment News

2010 DAAP Fashion Show dazzles sold-out crowd, top names in fashion

Considered to be one of the 50 things to do before you die, the 59th Annual Macy’s Fashion Show dazzled a sold-out crowd of 1,500 in Uptown Cincinnati while hundreds more participated in overflow watch parties nearby.  The 2010 class of graduates showcased their work for some of the top names in the industry as they gathered in Cincinnati to recruit some of the best new fashion design talents.

For the second straight year, Seven/Seventy-Nine was tasked with creating videos that introduced each section of the show. With the themes – Adapt, Transform, Evolve – of this year’s show in mind, Seven/Seventy-Nine created the following videos to introduce and compliment the exciting visual experience that was the 2010 DAAP Fashion Show.

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Arts & Entertainment News

DAAP Works 2010 to showcase world’s best design projects

Each year those graduating from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning put on a show of their final work for visitors from all over the nation. DAAP Works 2010 will highlight the creative work of students from the internationally acclaimed Architecture, Urban Planning, Digital Design, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Interior Design and Industrial Design programs.

This year’s exhibition will run from Tuesday, June 8 through Saturday, June 12. DAAP Works 2010 is free and open to the public, and is open on Tuesday from 5pm to 9pm, Wednesday through Friday from 9am to 9pm, and Saturday from 12pm to 2pm. The week-long showcase will be highlighted on Friday night with the 59th Annual Macy’s Fashion Show.

The primary DAAP Works exhibition will be held inside the Aronoff Center for Design & Art and the Meyers Gallery both located on UC’s main campus (map). Visitors will be treated to a variety of visual displays including architectural models, product design, digital animation, fashion showcases, art installations and more.

This year’s graduating class includes UrbanCincy writer, and Interior Design graduate, Jennifer Kessler.  Jennifer’s final project is a design for a children’s library in Over-the-Rhine that utilizes a historic structure along Clay Street.  The Children’s Library of Over-the-Rhine’s design concept is based around a nook concept and will be on display on the building’s 4000 level near the DAAP Cafe.

Considered to be one of the 50 things to do before you die, the 59th Annual Macy’s Fashion Show will take place at 8pm inside UC’s award-winning Campus Recreation Center (CRC) where another sold-out crowd of 1,500 is expected. Tickets are required for this event and cost $40 for general admission to the show or $50 for preferred seating. Tickets are also available for a cocktail reception prior to the show for $40, and the VIA After party for $20. Those unable to attend the fashion show in person are able to purchase $20 tickets for a live simulcast that includes access to the VIA After party located directly outside the CRC. All tickets can be purchased online or by calling (513) 451-6191.