Myunionterminal.org launches to engage public, garner support for Museum Center levy campaign

The Cincinnati Museum Center is taking its message to the people of Hamilton County and beyond with an innovative approach to garnering public support for its fall levy campaign to help restore its art deco details. The Center has launched Myunionterminal.org an interactive Web site that uses the Share This widget that lets users share Web site features on MySpace, Facebook and other networking and link sharing sites. Myunionterminal.org relies on engaging Museum Center supporters and others, who can share their favorite stories of what the center means to them. The site allows people to detail a favorite memory and upload a photo that will be shown on the site. “This Web site has the potential to capture and preserve some amazing stories,” said Douglass W. McDonald, president and CEO of Museum Center. “Every day we hear about people’s wonderful connections to Union Terminal and we’re happy that many of these memories will now be located in one place.” Here are some the memories posted so far: “A few years after the Museum Center was established, I spent weeks in the library there researching the huge endeavor of building of the Union Terminal during the depression. I was amazed by what I found. I felt that I was part of moving the mountain of soil that was brought in to raise the height of the area, part of Reinhold's drawings for the exceptional murals that watched over the rotunda and long halls that led to the boarding gates, part of the artist who installed the murals and designed the unique, retro wall coverings, lighting fixtures, furnishing, register covers, etc.” -- Mary Lyons (Peach Grove, Cincinnati, OH) “I have a strong personal attachment to the Union Terminal Building. When my nephew had triplets in 1999 I helped out once a week. I started taking pictures of them, including our visits to the Museum Center. Then I started coming almost every week when my granddaughter was born in August 2004. When a student at the College of Mt. St. Joseph, part of my Senior Photography Thesis included a virtual reality of Union Terminal. I am attaching this particular part of my thesis study to this note.” -- Mary Jo Sheppard (Delhi, Cincinnati, OH) The Museum Center was built as a train station in 1933. It’s a National Historic Landmark and after shutting down and following several incarnations, it reopened as the Cincinnati Museum Center in 1990. The first phase of its $120 million restoration project began in early June. “Tax dollars will be needed for this public building, but we recognize that the tax burden on Hamilton County residents cannot be increased,” said McDonald. “Any request will be in accordance with the Hamilton County Board of Commissions Voted Tax Levy Policy.”  The new site outlines details and costs of the renovation project, and offers information on how to register to vote in Hamilton County where a levy is planned for the fall ballot. Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Chad Mertz Cincinnati Museum Center Director of Public Relations