Why 3CDC Roof Blew Off

As I watch 3CDC repair the damage to their building on Race Street I have been pondering why the damage was so extreme. And then, while looking at the picture below, the cause became apparent. Here is a picture from the Washington Park construction website from April 7th. The roof that blew off is circled in red.  

Now the most obvious thing in the photo is the huge excavation in the foreground. I was at my windows watching the gusts of wind as they came in after midnight April 19-20th. The gusts came from the West, gained speed in the hole, and blew upward across Race Street, where it blew off the roof of 1400 Race and blew slates off of Nast Trinity church, and blew down a street tree.

This hole was previously covered with 3-4 story buildings, and later a school. All of the clustered buildings in OTR collectively buffer the winds and protect each other. It is clear that the removal of this buffer allowed the winds to damage buildings that had previously been buffered by buildings and park trees.

Does This Building Stay or Go

I've heard that this building may be demolished for a new development on Vine. Is that true?
 

A drawing on 3CDC's website seems to show it missing:
 

Non-profit corporations are allowed an exemption to the Historic District guidelines which prohibit demolition, but so far as I know 3CDC has not used this exemption much, if ever. In another drawing, it looks like the building will remain:
 

[where: 1314 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]

Fish Out of Water

Monday was a bad day. I had a embarrassing episode in front of a historic review board. I had been helping a neighbor who bought a very small vacant building to rehab. He wanted to make some changes that were not very compatible with the historic nature of the building. I didn't really agree with his proposal, but he is a good friend, and I was helping him turn a vacant building into a home.

So, last fall, I did a quick drawing for him and he submitted it for permit. Online we could follow the process of the permit through the approval process, and in early November we were pleasantly surprised to see that the reviewer had approved the plans and that I wouldn't have to modify the drawing. But it turns out that he didn't even look at the plans so this approval was a mistake that would come back to bite us.

So Monday, months after construction started, my wimpy drawing ended up in front of a discriminating board. I was so embarrassed because I know better. But this was a minor addition on a minor building on a side street, and my friend knew what he wanted to do, so I drew it ...and the board rightly rejected it.

After the meeting, I dejectedly took a walk with my son around the blocks around our house and all the construction sites and vacant buildings. It was a beautiful sunny day, but there weren't that many people around because... well there just aren't that many people here anymore...at least around Washington Park, most of the buildings are vacant and/or under construction. And I had this overwhelming feeling that I was not in my neighborhood anymore, that a wave has washed over the hood and some of us fish are left flapping on the shore.

There was a time when I felt like I knew everyone and everything that happened here. Maybe it was also a time when I was more relevant to the neighborhood. We were doing things, saving buildings, and building a community. But now all that stuff we did seems so small and irrelevant under the wave of huge projects with big 3CDC budgets.

For example, I posted once about a small building that I helped rehab in the 1990's. It was a difficult project: condemned, no money, partially collapsed and a community that sometimes didn't seem to care. I and many others spent a good part of two years on this dinky little project, and at the end the mayor at the time, Dwight Tillery, did come and cut a ribbon. Woohee. Back then, it seemed like it was all a Sisyphean battle. If there were 500 vacant buildings, and each one took 2 years of work, and each month another one was demolished, well.. it just seemed impossible. It also seemed more crowded, and loud... and crazy.

At one time it seemed like not many other people were against demolition. I mean people and groups like the CPA, the OTR Foundation etc were against demolition, but they just couldn't make any headway and their voices seemed drowned out of a bigger political economic picture. But today there are lots of people fighting this fight, ....and 3CDC will rehab a dozen buildings like 1425 Elm in half a year. (They will also demolish a few, which is another story.)

So with feelings of irrelevance in my head, my son and I were climbing around the construction sites and collecting bits and pieces of trashed cell phones and soft bricks for a science project, and I noticed that these unfamiliar people were walking past us. They were youngish with tight pants, dress shoes, sunglasses and talking on their phones. 3CDC just moved into their new offices at 14th and Race, and it was 5pm and they were all leaving for the day. It seems like they just started rehabbing that building a few months ago, and already they are moved-in, fully furnished and staffed.

So here I am feeling a bit down, a bit out of place, when we came upon the Homeless Coalition's fliers that were posted all over and I felt sympathy for their weakness, their powerlessness in the face of this wave. I also felt stupid for being so self-centered in my feelings about the neighborhood. I mean, here I am, secure in my job and house, while others have neither....


But I'm not homeless, and I only had my injured pride to heal. So by Wenesday I was recovered and in a better mood. The sun was out and the hood seems so clean and fresh like spring. And my wife and I attended an event packed with dozens of friendly faces. I talked with others who also feel uncomfortable with some of the developments. It used to be that we would take any improvement, any rehab we could. Now we can be critical of the decisions being made by executives that none of us have even met like: why are they building so many parking lots and why does every storefront have to be bronze aluminum...

I say to myself, face it, neighborhoods do not stand still. They are either moving moving upward and getting more expensive, or they are getting cheaper and suffer disinvestment. Sometimes it may happen so slow that it is unnoticeable, and other times like now it will happen like a whirlwind and knock a lot of people over.

While the changes are happening, it it is an exciting mixed neighborhood. I am attracted to this mix, even one more on the poor side..., but I'm wondering how long it will be before this place has gone too far for me, or am I changing to fit the place?

I love Over-the-Rhine and I love downtown. But no one person owns it or designs it in his own image. The clash of intentions is part of what makes cities so interesting. Yes, I would prefer that development happen one building at a time, one quirky family at a time. But that is a hard way to save hundreds of large vacant and expensive buildings when one organization with all the political and corporate power can make it happen, and they can even make it look easy. Unfortunately they cannot do it right... kinda right yes, but not really right, with the character and passion that this unique place deserves.

Berta Propagandist

If you want to change your city, what is the best way to go about achieving such change? Say for example, you wanted to improve conditions for the poor and homeless. Seems to me that there are 2 basic approaches, either you can speak about the need for change or you can begin making the change yourself. There is honor in both approaches. Sometimes a non-profit group, say the Drop Inn Center will do both. They will feed and house the homeless, but also be vocal advocates for change. And in different periods in the organization's growth they will do more of one or the other.

But say you stick with the vocal advocate role, and pride yourself on advocacy and protest. What is your strongest weapon? Truth. It is my contention that if you are speaking truth to power, then you better make sure of your facts. In advocacy, if you lack the facts, if you just demonize and repeatedly attack the enemy without facts, then you become just an annoyance, an ineffective propagandist.

And so I come to Berta Lambert:

Here is Berta, holding a sign claiming something for which he has no evidence at all. It is pure propaganda.

On July 19th, the Park Board cut down a dead tree in Washington Park. My wife happened to be walking by and took a picture as they started:

It was an American Elm tree, planted during a memorial service for Buddy Gray in 1996 shortly after he was killed. I never knew that this was a memorial tree, there was no plaque or anything, but my wife concerned about the trees in the park, took a photo.

That morning when they were beginning to remove this tree, Jim Burkhardt a Manager with the Parks Department was there. Jim is an arborist by training and he said he planted the tree in 1996 at the community's request and now he unfortunately had to remove it. I've met Jim several times at different public forums, and he seems to be exactly what you want in a City employee. He loves Cincinnati, and he is completely dedicated to his work in the parks. Oftentimes his job involves removing dead or diseased trees.

The tree It wasn't very big, it was obviously dead, (click on the picture for a bigger view where you can see the leaves are all gone). Did 3CDC have anything to do with this? Highly unlikely. They have stated at numerous public meetings that they will be removing dozens of trees, many of them older and larger than this. They have not started any of the park renovations. They have no reason to kill a single tree out of dozens they plan on removing. The Park Board completely controls the park up to the point sometime in the upcoming months when construction starts.

How many lies can you fit in one simple sign with only 5 words?

So I also noted some of the other signs Berta was displaying:

And this is another annoying sign. Pat Clifford is nothing if not totally dedicated to the Homeless in Cincinnati. Berta is upset that the Drop Inn Center board is supposedly in negotiations with 3CDC and the City about moving the shelter. But there are no details on this. Maybe they will be going to a bigger location. Maybe they will be getting better facilities. Maybe they will stay. I have no idea, and neither does Berta. I trust Pat and the DIC board to do what is best for the residents of the shelter. They always have.

Later Berta put the tree sign down where the tree was cut. Notice the car parked in the grass!!?? Some things never change.

Washington Park Garage Entrances

I noticed that 3CDC has updated their website with a Power Point presentation about the proposed Washington Park underground parking structure. While I am very excited about the new park extension, I am still kinda on the fence about an underground parking garage.

Below is an image showing in dark, the proposed parking garage entrances:

Here is the description of the intentions:

-To accommodate major events, two ingress/egress points are needed – one on Elm and one on Race.
-Elm Street access will have strong relationship with Music and Memorial Hall, sliding in between the existing tree lawn and the proposed concessions area.
-Race Street access will take advantage of the mid-block signalized intersection at 13th Street, building upon the idea of a major new gateway and arrival plaza.

I think "gateway and arrival plaza" really means traffic clogged, oil-stained concrete sloping driveway to underground parking, but maybe they are planning to make it nice somehow.

I was a bit surprised to see that they were proposing a driveway entrance here, so far south into the park. I had assumed they would be on 14th Street, or at least closer to 14th, and go directly into the garage.

Here is a photo of the spot at 13th and Race at the park, where a new entrance is proposed for the garage:

Same area, diffeerent angle:

I have a few concerns about an entry here. First, I understand that the proposal is to perhaps make 13th Street 2-way. The problem with this is that for some reason, 13th Street between Vine and Elm is narrower than what is best for 2-way streets. It is only 3 lanes. 12th Street makes a good 2 way street because it has 4 lanes, 2 for parking and two for driving. If 13th is made 2-way, then one direction of traffic will be tight against pedestrians on the sidewalk, and would be unsafe, as parked cars make a good buffer for pedestrians.

Also, I had been hoping that 13th and Race would be a good place to change back to stop signs. By making it a 4-way stop, that is less likely. Studies show that "T" (3-way) intersections are generally safer.

If you look at the drawing above, you will see indications of bump-outs at the corner intersections. Will these really be built? I hope so, but this seems doubtful. They won't fit on 13th, and traffic engineers at the City seem to be against them.

As a bonus, here are schematics of the Bandstand and Toilets:

Closing Toilets on FS Huge Mistake

 

3CDC's decision to drastically limit the hours that the toilets are open on Fountain Square is a huge mistake. Moving them from their formerly underground dingy location was one of the best parts about the redesign of the square. I saw this story on local TV news last night, and I couldn't believe it! I predict that management will cave under pressure, and re-open them. This is a terrible decision for those of us with little kids.

Lots of Conc Block

Construction is continuing at the project at the southwest corner of Vine and 14th Streets:

 

Lehmann Furniture and Carpets sign as seen from Pleasant Street. The one-story garage in the foreground is slated to get an addition and provide parking for the new construction above:

 

See here for previous posts on this project.

Washington Park Will Expand

The Park Board has officially announced that they have reached an agreement with the School Board, and will expand Washington Park to 14th Street. See the Press Release here. This is good news.

However, there is no commitment to save the pool or rebuild some sort of outdoor deepwater pool in OTR. This is bad news.

Plans are proceeding to add a 3 level underground parking lot at the site. At the request of some neighbors, the new design will add two half basketball courts on the Race Street side.

St Paulus Kirche

Kevin, at Building Cincinnati, reports today that the City is considering an ordinance to transfer this church, among other properties to 3CDC. Over the past few months parts of the tower have been falling off. Will 3CDC save the oldest standing Protestant church in the city? It had roof repairs ten years ago to stave off demolition, but has sat crumbling since.

 

 

 

[Where 1419 Race Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]

UPDATE: Some additional photos:
Here is a historic postcard type photo that I got from some parishioners at St Peter and Paul Church (at Ferguson and Queen City, Westwood). St Peter and St Paul church apparently merged and moved to Westwood in 1948. St Peter, which was near Rothenberg has long since been demolished.

 

The Parsonage, 1417 Race, which was demolished by the City in 2006, after the rear wall collapsed:

 

And from the Cincinnati Public Library Memory Project comes this photo of St Peters:

 

That is the corner of Main and McMicken, and Rothenberg would be located right behind it. What a great building at a great location.