The City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Park Board have approved a lease agreement with MLH Cincinnati USA, LLC (Christian Moerlein Brewing Company) to build and operate the Moerlein Lager House, currently under construction as the first new restaurant at Cincinnati Riverfront Park.

The City will enter into a 40-year lease for the two-story, 15,000-square-foot brewpub, which will have an indoor seating capacity of 500 and room for an additional 600 patrons in its outdoor beer garden.

A memorial paying tribute to fallen firefighters from 194 regional fire agencies is on its way to having greater prominence Downtown following a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday morning.

Greater Cincinnati Firefighters Memorial Park, to be located , will be a 33,500-square-foot public space featuring a central garden area in the shape of a Maltese Cross, tree-lined lawn areas, and walkways made of pavers etched with the names of donors.

Following a five-month search, Lighthouse Youth Services now has the go-ahead to purchase a Corryville building for a 28-bed shelter for homeless youth thanks to a notwithstanding ordinance passed by Cincinnati City Council.

The building, located at and labeled "Highland Professional Building", sits in an OG Office General Subdistrict, which doesn't allow special assistance shelters.

With a repaving project scheduled to begin next month, Cincinnati's Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) is seeking public feedback on a proposed "complete streets" project.

The project, on , would utilize a "road diet" approach consisting of two travel lanes in each direction, a center turn lane, and dedicated bicycle lanes.

Cincinnati's Department of Community Development plans to work with the Oakley Business District Advisory Committee to identify options for the redevelopment of a vacant passenger train station and additional public parking, department director Michael Cervay said in a recent memo to City Council.

The memo is in response to a May communication to Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls from John Hutton and Sandra Gross, owners of Brazee Street Studios, Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore and Decafé, who worried that the condition of the property might hurt the investments that they and others have made in the Oakley business district.

Commercial/Multi-family residential
DOB: 1928
Died: September 2009
Cause of death: Fire damage to the building's electrical and heating systems, holes in the ceilings and walls, broken and missing windows, a defective chimney, and severe water damage. The property had numerous calls for City barricading, and police reported that it was being used as a crack house. The courtyard was littered with human waste.

The building was condemned in March 2007, declared a public nuisance in April 2008, and razed by the City following asbestos abatement.

The property was owned by someone in New York state and may be in criminal status.

Click on each photo to enlarge to 640x480.

Two years ago:

• Fifty-five photos of the Krohn Conservatory Butterfly Show were posted and added to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• Cincinnati City Council passed a resolution supporting the deconcentration of social services.
• The Cincinnati Park Board held a public meeting to gather feedback on a new master plan for Lytle Park.
• Banners paid for and installed by the Covedale Garden District suddenly disappeared, and residents were concerned that they had been removed by the City at taxpayer expense.
• In Avondale, a former mansion that had become a nursing home was razed.

Cincinnati City Council's Budget and Finance Committee has approved a $14 million financing package for the $47 million redevelopment of Over-the-Rhine's Washington Park.

The construction and financing package includes $11.5 million in bonds, $2 million in City capital funds, and a --> --> --> Green Demonstration Program grant of between $450,000 and $550,000. Debt for the bonds would be serviced through revenues from the Downtown/Over-the-Rhine East tax increment financing (TIF) district.

The City of Cincinnati supports the creation of a county-wide land bank to address its problems of vacancy, abandonment, and blight, according to a resolution passed unanimously by City Council last week.

Substitute House Bill 313, signed by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland in early April, gave 41 Ohio counties the power to form County Land Reutilization Corporations (CLRCs).

The former site of a Wonder Bread bakery is being eyed for new single-family housing, and could possibly be the site of CitiRAMA 2012.

But the 4.3-acre site, at in the West End, will require a Phase II Environmental Assessment before the City of Cincinnati decides to proceed.

On June 16, Cincinnati City Council passed unanimously three ordinances that promise to bring at least 87 new jobs and a new medical office building to Cincinnati.

Nehemiah Manufacturing Company will receive $2 million in Cincinnati Empowerment Zone funding to acquire and rehabilitate a 38,000-square-foot warehouse building at in the West End. Of that $2 million, $300,000 is structured as a five-year, 3.5 percent interest loan that will provide the company with additional working capital.

Downtown Cincinnati redevelopment projects at the Metropole Hotel and the Federal Reserve Building have received Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced Friday.

3CDC will receive $5 million in tax credits to redevelop the Metropole into a 21c Museum Hotel, a $53.7 million project that will feature 160 guest rooms, more than 7,000 square feet of art exhibition and event space, and a restaurant and bar.

Two-family
DOB: 1885
Died: July 2009
Cause of death: A fire-damaged roof, missing and broken windows, water damage, and deteriorated gutters and downspouts. The house was vacant and believed to be a neighborhood crack house.

The house was condemned in June 2008 following a two-alarm fire that had occurred the month before, causing $40,000 in damage. The deceased owner's heir told the City that she was indigent and couldn't afford either repairs, demolition, or a Vacated Building Maintenance License, so it was referred to hazard abatement.

In September 2008 it was declared a public nuisance and eventually was razed by the City.

Three years ago:

• Cincinnati City Council identified two sources of funding to help purchase properties for the MetroWest Commerce Park project in Lower Price Hill.
• In Anderson Township, Horizon Community Church released sketches of its proposed 160,000-square-foot project off of Newtown Road.
• Medallion Properties completed a new single-family home in Hyde Park, which was listed for $819,900.

Cincinnati's bicycle infrastructure will change dramatically as the result of City Council's passage of a new Bicycle Transportation Plan.

The 15-year plan will add 329 miles of on-street and off-street bike lanes and other improvements, with the stated goals of reducing bicycle crashes and injury and of doubling the number of regular riders over the next five years.

Following up on the downzoning of ten portions of Hyde Park and Mount Lookout in April, Cincinnati City Council over its last two sessions has approved the downzoning of an additional six areas in the Mount Lookout neighborhood.

The single-family (SF) parcels' downzonings are intended to address residents' concerns over the subdivision of large lots to build multiple new houses, a development trend that many believe is destroying the neighborhood's density and character.

Low income seniors will soon have more spacious living options thanks to a $1.76 million federal HOME loan approved by Cincinnati City Council.

The 45-year, 2 percent interest loan, through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program and the City's Rental Rehabilitation Program, will allow St. Paul Village I Limited Partnership (Episcopal Retirement Homes) to rehabilitate its buildings at in Madisonville.

Two Cincinnati road projects are moving forward following approvals by City Council.

Last week, council passed unanimously an ordinance allowing the City to enter into an agreement with the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners for improvements to in Lower Price Hill.

Multi-family
DOB: 1908
Died: September 2009
Cause of death: Damaged porches and downspouts, chimneys needing tuck pointing, rotten gutters and cornice, lack of protective paint. Water service had been shut off.

The building was condemned in March 2008, declared a public nuisance in July 2008, and razed by the City following asbestos abatement.

The elderly owner's daughter claimed that he had been placed in a nursing home and had no money for repairs or a Vacated Building Maintenance Licence. This case may be in criminal status.

Two years ago:

• Twenty-five photos of Taste of Cincinnati USA 2008 were posted to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• Cincinnati's Urban Design Review Board was set to review and discuss schematic design plans for the first phase of The Banks.
• A public meeting was held to decide how the Gray Road landfill site in Winton Hills would be redeveloped.
• Uptown Consortium arranged a public meeting for the Uptown Parks Study design team to present its plans.
• A West End two-family was razed by a neighboring church.

A Northside project that's been held up for five years due to environmental contamination and financing issues is set to begin within the next few days.

Factory Square, an $18 million mixed-use development by Bloomfield/Schon + Partners at , will include 110 loft apartments and approximately 12,000 square feet of commercial office space.

Cincinnati City Council has authorized Interim Finance Director Kathy Creager to issue up to $10 million in economic development bonds for Phase IIA of .

Phase IIA, originally estimated to cost the City and Hamilton County $12 million, includes the construction of a new parking garage west of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the relocation of Mehring Way, and additional street grid work.

More than 300 people, including local dignitaries and community partners, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new $14.4 million American Red Cross regional headquarters yesterday at Keystone Parke in Evanston.

"When we first started our search for a location to build a new Red Cross Building and Disaster Operations Center, we had certain requirements," said American Red Cross, Cincinnati chapter COO Steve Drefahl in a media release. "We had to have flexibility in the space design so we could respond to disasters of all sizes while not having large amounts of space lying dormant for extended periods of time.

The relocation of the headquarters of both 3CDC and developer NorthPointe Group moved one step closer with Cincinnati City Council's unanimous approval of a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) tax exemption agreement.

The $6.8 million Saengerhalle project, located at in Over-the-Rhine, includes the renovation of 26,450 square feet in three vacant, attached buildings and the construction of a nearly 10,000-square-foot addition.

Single-family
DOB: 1896
Died: June 2009
Cause of death: Deteriorated chimney; missing siding, windows, gutters, and downspouts; a lack of protective paint. It appears to have been abandoned and required City barricading on several occasions.

The house was condemned in November 2007, declared a public nuisance in September 2008, and razed by the City.

A criminal case was filed in May 2007, but dismissed five months later at the prosecutor's request. In late 2007, Discount Homes USA, LLC of Indianapolis purchased the property for $4,500. The assessed value of the house was only $1,000 at the time of demolition.

Three years ago:

• An approved rezoning cleared the way for the rehabilitation of a multi-family building at 315 Warner Street in Clifton Heights.
• Walnut Hill Redevelopment was seeking low income housing tax credits through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for the $3.8 million rehabilitation of the Walnut Hills Apartments.
• CityBeat launched the Cincitecture column, written by Sarah Stephens, a feature that really needs to come back.

• In an interview with Building Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine Community Housing Project Manager Sarah Allan provided details on the Jimmy Heath House, a 25-unit permanent supportive housing project planned for Odeon Street.
• Due to a perceived conflict of interest, the Lower Price Hill Community Council made a formal request to Cincinnati City Solicitor John Curp to recuse himself from negotiations with Queensgate Terminals, LLC.
• Cincinnati City Council approved an application for a $2.97 million grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for Cincinnati Riverfront Park.
• Thirty-seven photos of Over-the-Rhine, Botany Hills, Mount Auburn, Lewisburg, the Cincinnati skyline, Clifton Heights, and Downtown were added to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• Cincinnati City Council was considering the appointment of Over-the-Rhine Foundation Executive Director Michael Morgan as the chair of its newly-formed Board of Housing Appeals.
• In Bridgetown, a planned single-family home was listed for $159,900.
• A Corryville home was razed by the Cincinnati Zoo Foundation.

The following photos were taken between April 29 and May 22.

The first few Over-the-Rhine shots were taken during a trip to Smitty's to check out the aftermath of the raging fire. The archway and "smoke" photos were taken the next evening.

The cost of allowing condemned buildings to stand is far higher than the cost of demolishing them, according to a recent memo to Cincinnati City Council from Department of City Planning and Buildings Director Charles C. Graves III.

The memo is in response to a March e-mail, submitted to the office of Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, from Paul Willham, a historic preservation consultant and author of the Victorian Antiquities and Design blog.

The third annual Covington Quest will be held this Saturday, a part-foot race/part-scavenger hunt that serves as a fundraiser for the --> --> -->Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington --> --> -->.

Teams of four will travel a four-mile course hiding 12 secret locations, all the while finding clues, solving riddles, and participating in physical challenges.

A unique fundraiser takes place Saturday evening from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. as the Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) hosts "Suds + Signs + Saving Our City" at the American Sign Museum, 2515 Essex Place.

In addition to admission to the museum, the event will feature a beer tasting and a grill-out by Vonderhaar's Catering.

Commercial/Multi-family
DOB: 1870-1890
Died: July 2009
Cause of death: Failing retaining walls, unsafe exterior steps, broken and missing windows, lack of protective paint, deteriorating gutters and downspouts, disconnected electrical service.

The building was condemned in May 2007, declared a public nuisance in March 2008, and razed by the City.

The property appears to have been vacant since at least 2001, and it looks like the owners could not be found.

Two years ago:

• Cincinnati City Councilmember John Cranley introduced the Regional Transportation Act, a motion that would restructure the finances and control of SORTA.
• A Community Reinvestment Area agreement was amended to give the eight upper units at East Walnut Hills' Schoolhouse Lofts a 15-year property tax exemption.
• Grant money was being channeled into the Local Initiatives Support Corporation's Recoverable Grant Pool to provide more funding for the pre-development of market-rate housing.
• In the West End, a neglected three-family with severe structural problems was razed by the City.

• $25 million in federal economic stimulus funding for public infrastructure at The Banks put the project ahead of schedule, but may have driven up its costs.
• Cincinnati City Council was considering a funding transfer to help prepare an Evanston site for the $12.5 million King Studios project.
• In Columbia Tusculum, Cincinnati City Council was considering extending a Community Reinvestment Area tax exemption agreement for the renovation of a three-story, ten-unit apartment building.
• The Cincinnati Museum Center unveiled a new website with readers' memories of Cincinnati Union Terminal, hoping it would help pass an upcoming tax levy.
• Cincinnati City administration reported that its hazard abatement funding levels were to low to administer a large-scale deconstruction and salvage program.
• The Go OTR 5K Run/Walk and OTR Summer Celebration highlighted everything that Over-the-Rhine has to offer.
• An abandoned and blighted Westwood multi-family owned by absentee landlords was razed by the City.
• I took a tour of Sedamsville.
  

Potterhill Homes unveiled its net-zero energy Solaris Collection model home during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its Northwind development on Tuesday.

The energy-efficient home is the culmination of four years of work by Potterhill to develop a net-zero energy home at an affordable price point.

Neyer Properties has completed its largest transaction ever with the acquisition of Gateway 75, a 1.1 million-square-foot office, distribution and bulk warehouse building in Sharonville.

Constructed in the late 1970s for Montgomery Ward, the 71.8-acre Kemper Road property was most recently owned by Macy's, Inc., which still occupies 100,000 square feet. The remaining 985,000 square feet represents the second-largest contiguous, available space in the Cincinnati market, with only the former Ford Motor Company plant in Batavia being larger.

A proposal by then-Cincinnati City Councilmember Laketa Cole to reduce inspection fees for buyers of foreclosed properties would likely duplicate other available programs and take up valuable City employee time, according to Department of City Planning and Buildings Director Charles C. Graves III.

"While the administration supports rehabilitation of foreclosed properties, establishing a program to eliminate fees for permit and inspections would be more costly to implement and administer than the value of the outcomes," Graves said in a recent report to City Council.

Cincinnati mountain bikers will have to leave the City to pursue their sport in the foreseeable future, according to a recent report to City Council from Cincinnati Parks Director Willie Carden Jr.

In the report, requested by eight of nine councilmembers in April, Carden said that his department's general prohibition against off-road bike trails is based on a combination of past experience and national and international research.

School
DOB: 1970
Died: October 2009
Cause of death: Razed to make way for a new $11.7 Hoffman-Parham school, a 63,000-square-foot building for 400 students in grades PK-8.

A 2002 site survey done by the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission and DeJong & Associates, Inc. recommended renovation, citing issues with the building's ventilation system, classroom sizes, security, fire alarm and sprinkler system, and site circulation. The building was not ADA-compliant and the campus required the addition of modular buildings.

A later look at construction figures by Cincinnati Public Schools showed that the cost of a new school building was competitive with the cost of renovation and, in 2008, the school board approved architectural drawings by DHArchitects, Inc.

Completion of the new school is scheduled for spring 2011.

Three years ago:

• Questions about Cincinnati's liability in the Queensgate Terminals settlement began to resurface.
• Elevations for the new Nordstrom store at Kenwood Towne Centre were released.
• The owners of the Hudepohl property at 801 W Sixth Street in Queensgate were preparing plans for redevelopment of the site into residential lofts and commercial space, though significant hurdles remained.

• Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners, a consortium of 12 companies, was selected to manage Cincinnati's streetcar project.
• Cincinnati City Council was considering applying for a $2.97 million grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for construction of Cincinnati Riverfront Park.
• Unconfirmed reports surfaced that an auction house charged with selling a North Avondale home has sold off its contents, without having the legal standing to do so.
• Cincinnati City Council passed an ordinance allowing it to appropriate approximately 6.11 acres of Lower Price Hill property to relocate four sets of railroad tracks, the first phase of the Waldvogel Viaduct replacement project.
• Clifton Plaza was in its final design phase and was almost ready to be put out for bid.
• Covington Quest, part scavenger hunt and part foot race and a major fundraiser for the Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington, was scheduled to take place.
• In Evanston, a fire-damaged two-family was razed by the City.

The sale of a 6.26-acre parcel in Sycamore Township has brought Neyer Properties' Kenwood Towers and the (FBI) new division headquarters one step closer to completion.

Molasky Group of Companies of Las Vegas bought the rights to own and construct the development from Barry Real Estate Companies of Atlanta, which struggled to obtain financing for the project.

On Thursday, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed House Bill 519 (H.B. 519) into law, establishing implementation rules for the state's four casinos.

The legislation, sponsored by Democratic state representatives Kenny Yuko (Richmond Heights) and Todd Book (McDermott) establishes a seven-member Ohio Casino Control Commission. It also creates a Joint Committee on Gaming and Wagering, comprised of Ohio House and Senate members who will review all legislation related to casino gaming.

Single-family
DOB: 1897
Died: June 2009
Cause of death: Cracked and failing foundation walls, broken and missing windows, water damage, lack of paint, poor gutters and downspouts, and excessive brush. The structure was isolated and open to trespassers. It appears that it became vacant around 2005 due to bankruptcy.

The house was condemned in May 2008, declared a public nuisance in November 2008, and razed by the City.

This side of Pulte Street, between Seegar Avenue to the dead end, is now entirely vacant lots.

Three years ago:

• In Columbia Tusculum, a home to be built by C A R Construction was listed for $299,900.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded an $8.5 million contract to Monarch Construction Company, the first contract it has bid and awarded for Phase I of Cincinnati Riverfront Park.

The contract is for construction of the Walnut Street Grand Stairway and Fountain, which will feature restrooms, an elevator, landscaping, interactive fountains, and various mechanical systems. The concrete construction will be clad in sandstone and paved with granite.

This Saturday in College Hill, Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity and project partners Crossroads Community Church and Xavier University will begin construction on two homes – one of which will be a newly-designed green home.

The new build at is a green design by SHP Leading Design, winner of a statewide architecture contest sponsored last year by Cincinnati Habitat, the American Institute of Architects Ohio Committee on the Environment (AIA COTE), and other Ohio Habitat affiliates.

Accessibility, safety issues and maintenance costs will keep the public from enjoying City Hall's new green roof, according to a recent report to Cincinnati City Council.

The report, from Department of Public Service Director Andrew Glenn, was in response to a May 11 motion by Councilmember Laure Quinlivan asking City administration to explore the feasibility of creating access to the rooftop for City employees and individuals who tour the building.

The --> --> --> (ODOT) has announced that Metro will receive $1.9 million to purchase three 40-foot hybrid diesel-electric buses, which should be in operation next year.

The award is part of ODOT's Clean and Green Transit Program, a $15 million investment in 41 environmentally-friendly buses for 11 local and regional transit agencies with the goal of increasing the use of alternative fuels and lowering the operational costs of public transportation.

Cincinnati City Council has passed an ordinance authorizing City Manager Milton Dohoney to apply for, accept, and appropriate a $175,000 Brownfield Area-Wide Planning grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The pilot program, which was announced in March, provides direct assistance to facilitate community involvement in area-wide brownfield planning approaches to brownfield assessment, cleanup, and eventual reuse.

Single-family
DOB: 1900
Died: July 2009
Cause of death: Failing foundation walls, defective cornices, lack of protective paint. At various times, the building was occupied illegally.

The house was condemned in September 2008, declared a public nuisance in December 2008, and razed by the City following asbestos abatement.

A criminal case against the owner was dismissed following demolition.

Two years ago:

• Photos of East Price Hill, Downtown, Mount Adams, Lower Price Hill, Fountain Square, the Cincinnati skyline, and West End's City West development were added to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• With the closure of the Walnut Hills Kroger a possibility, Cincinnati city manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said that the problem of inner-city 'food deserts' needed to be addressed.
• The former Quebec Heights School, which had been proposed by a neighborhood resident for use as a new Price Hill recreation center, was found to be unsuitable for that use without extensive remodeling.
• The final buildings on the former Nivison-Weiskopf site in Reading were demolished.
• A dilapidated Avondale house was razed by the owner prior to a pre-prosecution hearing.

• A group was formed to try to stem the tide of demolitions in Over-the-Rhine.
• The Cincinnati Preservation Association urged an auctioneer to reconsider an estate sale that may have featured fixtures and architectural details from a North Avondale home.
• Twenty-six photos of Cincinnati Union Terminal's "Cincinnati Goes to War" exhibit were added to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• Cincinnati City Council adopted a list of policy guidelines to help inform local decision making for the Brent Spence Bridge project.
• Five neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosure were selected to take part in Cincinnati's Neighborhood Homes Initiative.
• Cincinnati City Councilmember Laketa Cole introduced a motion to lower City inspection fees, which could make the redevelopment of blighted properties easier.
• A vacant and neglected Westwood multi-family was razed.

Single-family
DOB: 1960
Died: May 2009
Cause of death: Razed to make way for construction of a new single-family home. The 2.3-acre property was purchased in November 2008 for nearly $1.8 million.

Four years ago:

• I visited University Heights, Clifton Heights, the Newport neighborhood of Clifton, the East End, Columbia Tusculum, and East Walnut Hills.*
  

• In the fight over the proposed Issue 9 charter amendment, Cincinnatians for Progress unveiled a new website and We Demand A Vote said it was two-thirds of the way to getting the amendment on the November ballot.
• Cincinnati was considering applying for $475,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds for remediation work at the MetroWest Commerce Park site in Lower Price Hill.
• Work came to a grinding halt at The Views project site in Covington.
• Cincinnati approved an application on behalf of Hatch's Folly, LLC for a $190,925 Save America's Treasure's grant to help fund the restoration of the George Hatch House in the West End.
• The Federal Highway Administration issued a Finding of No Significant Impact for th $664 I-75 Mill Creek Expressway project.
• Cincinnati launched an electric car incentive program and began the installation of sharrows along some of the City's roadways.
• A South Fairmount home that was the site of a fatal fire was razed.

The developers of the 65 West student apartments in Clifton Heights will receive nearly $5.1 million in property tax relief for their $16.7 million, 129-unit project.

Cincinnati City Council approved the 15-year Community Reinvestment Area LEED tax exemption agreement last week, paving the way for the 126,000-square-foot, four-building gated complex to begin construction on the former Friars Club property at the .

Cincinnati City Council has passed two ordinances that will bring Samuel Adams Brewery Company's $4 million West End expansion closer to fruition.

The ordinances approve a contract for sale of City property for redevelopment and a purchase option agreement for City right-of-way at 1654 Central Avenue and a parcel at , respectively, contingent upon the City's receipt of a $3 million Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) grant.

Sixteen parcels, totaling just under five acres, will be appropriated for the $68 million Waldvogel Viaduct replacement.

Major construction is scheduled to begin next spring on the two-year project, which will replace the existing structure with an at-grade roadway and five new ramp bridges. River Road, , also will be upgraded to current City safety standards.

A key component of an ambitious plan to tie Northern Kentucky's river cities together with greenways and trails has secured $350,000 from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The Northern Kentucky Port Authority has announced that it has received the dollar-for-dollar matching funds for the Ohio River Bank Stabilization Project, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study and stabilization project that is considered necessary to the eventual construction of the $170 million Riverfront Commons.

Fresh off of a May award for excellence in bus safety, Metro celebrated its annual safety month by recognizing two of its finest drivers.

John Kramer of Bridgetown and Roy Emerson of Green Township were inducted into the National Safety Council's "Two Million Mile Club", signifying 30-plus years on the road without a preventable accident.

Two-family
DOB: Likely 1890-1910
Died: June 2009
Cause of death: Vacant for several years, and continuously open to trespassers. There was some record of drug activity.

Although the building had never been condemned or listed as a public nuisance, it had been ordered vacant by the City. Demolition was paid for by the building owner, who did not make any attempts to remedy the problem.

The property was assessed at $8,410 at the time of demolition, with the structure valued at $2,650.

Three years ago:

• A new multi-family building was nearing construction at 3816 Reading Road in North Avondale.
• Loveland Trace, a 16-lot subdivision in Symmes Township, was beginning construction.

• New construction and rehabilitated houses built by Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation and Working in Neighborhoods were opened to the public during an event kicking off National Homeownership Month.
• A ribbon-cutting event was held for Hartwell's new recreation center.
• Thirty-two photos of East Walnut Hills, Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton were added to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• The $9 million first phase of the Cincinnati Union Terminal's restoration was launched with the selection of HGC Construction as general contractor.
• Over-the-Rhine's Jail Alley was renamed for Michael Bany, a well-known local musician who was killed on Main Street following a show in 1995.
• The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments developed a new tool, TIP on Demand, allowing users to visualize federally-funded highway projects through a map interface.
• A signature building at the corner of W McMicken Avenue and Tafel Street, once home of the Cincinnati Costume Company, was razed due to extensive fire damage.
• I visited the West End, South Fairmount, and Downtown.*
  

Xavier University now holds all four corners of the , and construction on its new Hoff Academic Quad and dormitory and dining complex is humming right along.

This 47-photo tour starts along Ledgewood Drive, which is being widened and given a median to provide more of a boulevard feel.

Specific questions about Cincinnati Municipal Code Chapter 761, more commonly known as the "chronic nuisance ordinance", were answered by Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher in a recent memo to City Council.

The memo, requested in a Council motion written by Councilmember Charlie Winburn and adopted on April 7, provides further information on why there has been a disparity in the number of chronic nuisance premises among the City's five police districts, how these premises are identified, what criteria trigger stepped-up enforcement, when chronic nuisances are considered abated, and the number of premises abated since the ordinance was passed in 2006.

The fifth annual Price Hill Pacer 5K takes place this Saturday at 9 a.m. at Elder High School's Schaeper Center.

Runners and walkers will wind their way through the streets surrounding the school, with all proceeds benefitting the community services and development projects undertaken by Santa Maria Community Services and Price Hill Will.

Both single-family
DOB: Likely 1875-1895
Died: August 2009
Cause of death: Razed for the construction of two new six-unit student apartment buildings and the rehabilitation of an adjacent ten-unit building, developed by Daniel Schimberg of Uptown Rental Properties.

Two years ago:

• Twenty-three photos of Pendleton, Over-the-Rhine, Prospect Hill, and the Cincinnati skyline were added to the Building Cincinnati galleries.
• Cincinnati City Council's Economic Development Committee was considering the creation of a planned development district for the $50 million Incline Square development in East Price Hill.
• The Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati was coordinating a Foreclosure Prevention Phone-a-Thon, to be held at the CET studios Downtown.
• A burned-out Fairview single-family was razed, with its owner still in housing court.

The condition of City and county bridges maintained and/or inspected by Cincinnati's Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) has declined slightly since 2008, but the vast majority have no structural deficiencies.

Those were the findings of the 2009 Annual Bridge Condition Report, a document required by the Ohio Revised Code that examined the integrity of 226 bridges throughout the City of Cincinnati.

In celebration of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Preservation Month, Northern Kentucky's three Certified Local Government cities have presented awards for their best examples of environmentally and economically sustainable development.

The 2010 River Cities Preservation Awards, held at Covington's Artisans Enterprise Center last Thursday, highlighted the most outstanding preservation projects completed during the 2009 calendar year in Covington, Newport, and Bellevue.