Fantasy Fest in Covington

Just learned about this event. Sounds like a lot of fun. I'll definitely be checking it out.

First Annual Fantasy Fest
Sat, Oct 3 Noon to 11pm, Mainstrasse, Covington, KY
The Festival hopes to attract families to visit the Village, hunt for the decorated doors, explore local merchants, enjoy free entertainment, and browse the art and craft booths.

Evening events are planned featuring the Fantasy Parade at 5:30 p.m. with unicycles, clowns, and stilt walkers, followed by the Razzamatazz Gala at Leapin Lizard, 8th & Main Streets. read more

The Festival hopes to attract families to visit the Village, hunt for the decorated doors, explore local merchants, enjoy free entertainment, and browse the art and craft booths.

Evening events are planned featuring the Fantasy Parade at 5:30 p.m. with unicycles, clowns, and stilt walkers, followed by the Razzamatazz Gala at Leapin Lizard, 8th & Main Streets. The Gala includes a benefit auction for the Baker Hunt Arts Center Scholarship Program.

Robbins Street Open House

 

Join the Center for Great Neighborhoods as they celebrate the completion of another rehabbed home in Covington's Arts District. Tomorrow, Thursday April 16th 4-7pm.
[Where: 308. W. Robbins Street, Covington, KY 41011]

Seneca Place House Setting

The Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington and Huff Realty are proud to announce two new homes (both of which are sold) are being constructed as part of the Seneca Place development in Covington. We are also excited to announce the 3-story row house, at 520 Thomas will be the first L.E.E.D. GOLD-certified home in Kentucky. The Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington, with support from The City of Covington, continues to bring cutting edge housing development to Northern Kentucky. The two new homes will have a panelized foundation by Superior Walls. The Energy Star modular homes will be constructed by Phoenix Building Solutions using the newest technology in building science. These homes will demonstrate that “Green” construction is not only good for the environment, but can also be affordable for homebuyers.

Previous posts on Seneca Place here and here. I missed the last house setting, but hope to make it to this one November 5th, 9-5 with a presentation at 10am.
[Where: 518-520 Thomas Street, Covington, KY 41014]

Seminary Square Christmas Walk Sunday

I plan on attending. This is a cool area of Covington.

 

Covington, KY-The Old Seminary Square Neighborhood Association will celebrate the holiday season by hosting a Christmas Walk on December 9, 2007 from 5-8 p.m. Sixteen homes and businesses will be fully decorated in holiday fashion. Ticket holders will visit the homes and enjoy refreshments and holiday music. The Holmes High School Choir will provide Christmas Carols. Old Seminary Square encompasses Russell Street North to South, 8th Street to 12th Street and East to West, the railroad to Bracken Court.

"Our historic neighborhood is so lovely at Christmastime and we want to share that with the community," said event organizer Linda Carter. "We are eager to open our homes so that others can enjoy the beauty and the flavor of the holiday season."

Recognized as a historic district, Old Seminary Square has retained much of its architectural integrity of the 19th century Victorian brick houses and row houses. In the late 1830s, the Western Baptist Education Society purchased 370 acres (1.5 km²), which would define Covington's southern boundary in 1841. On this tract, the organization established a seminary and set aside 22 acres for a cemetery, which in 1843 would become known as Linden Grove Cemetery. To raise money to build its campus, the Baptists entered into the real estate market, subdividing the land and selling lots around its campus and cemetery, an area now known as Old Seminary Square and the Westside.

The public is invited and tickets can be purchased the evening of the event for $15 per person at the Ashbrook house at Russell and West Robbins Streets. Proceeds from the event will benefit ongoing beautification efforts for the Seminary Square neighborhood association. Free parking is available at John G.Carlisle Elementary School.

Directions: I-75, exit on 12th Street (exit 191), East on 12th, left on Russell. Left on Robbins Street to school parking lot. For more information, contact Kathy Groob, 859-341-4278.

Seneca Place Website

Check out this cool website for pictures and details on Seneca Place.

 

Previous post on Seneca Place.

Homeless Shelters Banned from Covington?

Maybe I missed this story, or maybe, no one locally is covering it. The Lexington Herald has an article and it mentions that Covington rewrote their zoning code to specifically not allow homeless shelters anywhere within the city. Existing shelters can remain, but cannot expand. Can that be true?

... organizers looking to re-establish northern Kentucky's only emergency shelter have been unable to find a suitable facility.
...
The shelter shutdown earlier this year amid complaints from local officials and the neighborhood. Raterman's group has pledged to run a managed shelter, but has yet to find a location.

It may be impossible to resettle in Covington after the city commission changed the zoning code last year, specifically banning homeless shelters within city limits, said City Manager Jay Fossett.

...The closest other shelter, the Drop Inn Center in Cincinnati, is operating beyond capacity, said general coordinator Pat Clifford.

...(the Drop Inn Center) often exceeds its 250 limit, averaging 270, with guests sleeping in the center's lobby, and that was when the Emergency Cold Shelter in Covington was open.

..."Everyone thinks there should be 'somewhere' for people to go" he said. "But its always somewhere else."

Seneca Place Austinburg

 

A good friend of mine works at the Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington, and I thought I would forward an announcement they recently made:

Please join us, Thursday, November 8th, 2007, starting at 8am and continuing all day, as 2 modular homes will be placed on foundations at 522 and 524 Thomas Street in Covington's Austinburg neighborhood. We will have a brief program at 9am to celebrate this great day.

The 2 homes will be used as models to sell 10 additional new homes to owner-occupants as part of this development. Each style of home offered has full basement, off-street parking, 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The homes are Energy Star-rated:
- The Vineyard: 1,600 SF 2-story w/ front porch.
- The Rowhouse: 1,700 SF 3-story w/ 3 decks.

What makes Seneca Place so exciting is that it is the first new construction in the neighborhood in decades. Seneca Place is part of a larger revitalization initiative in Austinburg to help improve the lives of residents and to promote homeownership.

The house-setting event will be weather-permitting. In case of inclement weather, please contact Rachel Hastings at 859-866-7527.

[Where: 522 Thomas Street, Covington, KY 41014]