The Banks gets stimulus funding, design updates

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has announced that $23.2 million of the state’s share of federal economic stimulus funding will be directed to The Banks project on the Cincinnati riverfront.According to U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus, $10.2 million of that total will be used for a parking structure as part of the project’s second phase, and $8 million will be applied to rebuilding the riverfront street grid.Also last week, the development team of Carter and The Dawson Company unveiled the latest schematic designs for the project’s first phase.Individual architects presented refinements of the June 2008 designs based upon suggestions from the city’s Urban Design Review Board, which included the incorporation of more contemporary architectural elements.Read more about the stimulus funding here, and read about the updated designs here.