The Queen City receives her CROWN
Private and public entities join forces to link communities in health, transportation, environmentalism and commerce.
Reading
The City of Reading has two mottos: “The Crossroads of Opportunity” and “We Do Our Best” (from the German “Wir Tun Unser Bestes”). Downtown Reading has seized opportunities and done its best in recent decades by forming the country’s most well known Bridal District. A concentration of wedding related businesses lines Benson Street and beyond, attracting altar-bound regional shoppers from far and wide. Reading’s economic bread and butter, however, is supplying aerospace and automotive plants in nearby Evendale and Sharonville. Historically known as a “sundown town,” African Americans were prohibited from residing in Reading for many decades. Census data shows zero Blacks within the Reading population from 1860 to 1960.
Working in Neighborhoods wins EPA grant to reduce water pollution
Thanks to a $120,000 federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, improvements will be made to the Mill Creek Watershed.
Volunteers, signatures needed for affordable housing trust fund
A proposed charter amendment will allocate funds to support the city’s most vulnerable population.
Ten-year plan: improvements to Cincinnati’s libraries
Over the next decade, all 40 branches will receive renovations and improvements.
Soapdish: Mill Creek meanders from toxic channel to genuine asset in just 20 years
A three-hour canoe trip down Cincinnati's urban waterway yields eye-opening results from Mill Creek Watershed Council cleanup and education efforts.
Science rules: High school paves the way for tech-oriented careers
Cincinnati's all-girls Mount Notre Dame has become a shining example of how STEM courses are becoming a more popular option for high school students.
Funds granted to clean up vacant gas stations and auto repair shops
Three area communities were recently awarded Urban Land Assistance Program grants for the redevelopment of vacant and underutilized gas stations and auto repair shops.
Cincinnati Public Library will open three new locations in 2015
On April 21, the Cincinnati Public Library will break ground on three new branches in Clifton, Reading and St. Bernard. The locations are expected to open spring or summer 2015.
My Soapbox: Kara Clark Williams, Vision 2015
Kara Clark Williams knows about vision. And about the region where she was born, raised and trained to think across state lines. The vice president of Vision 2015, who receives the NKU Outstanding Alumnus Award this week, shares her distinctively regional insights with Soapbox.
Reading eyesore readied for life sciences companies
Environmental remediation of a Reading eyesore is complete, and lots on the site of the former Nivison Weiskopf Box and Glass factory are being marketed for sale or lease as an addition to the Reading Life Sciences Complex. The 10.3-acre tract at Third and Voorhees street required $2.3 million in Ohio Job Ready Sites grants, a nearly $1 million commitment from the City of Reading, and smaller federal grants through Hamilton County and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remediate hazardous buildings and soils and make the site shovel ready. Remediation included the demolition of 155,000-square-feet of condemned buildings and the cleanup of petroleum-contaminated soils. Infrastructure upgrades are now being made to the site. The adjacent 59-acre Reading Life Sciences Complex is home to more than 1,000 employees at three life science technology leaders, Patheon Pharmaceuticals, theUniversity of Cincinnati Genome Research Institute, and Girindus America Mark Fitzgerald of LSR Consultants, LLC, the firm retained by the city to find remediation funding and to market the site, says that the Nivison Weiskopf property is being targeted specifically for similar end users. "The principal permitted uses on the site must comply with 'RD' zoning, which is research facilities and their accessory uses," he says. The new jobs will allow the city to recoup its investment in the project – and then some. "It's expected that 250 to 300 jobs could eventually be on site," Fitzgerald says. "This could generate up to $300,000 annually in earnings taxes, which could be applied to general city services." But to Fitzgerald, the project is about much more than jobs. "While creating new job and investment opportunities is the principal goal of this endeavor, the fact that this project eliminated an unsafe eyesore that posed a threat to the surrounding community should not be overlooked," he says. Writer: Kevin LeMaster Source: Mark Fitzgerald, LSR Consultants, LLC
