Enright Ecovillage building an urban homesteading store and community gathering space in Price Hill


Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage has been a cornerstone in Price Hill for the past 30 years, creating a community focused on stewardship and sustainability. Enright Ecovillage will gain even more visibility this summer when it opens a general store and pub at the corner of West Eighth Street and Enright Avenue.
 
Enright Ecovillage purchased the former Paradise Lounge last year and is currently rehabilitating the building into a destination store within the neighborhood.
 
“Although we will have a liquor license at the store, the goal isn’t to be a bar,” says Elizabeth Doshi, resident of Enright Ecovillage. “The goal is to become a homesteading store and educational center as well as a community center.”
 
The store will have everything needed for homesteading, including animal feed and composting tools. Enright Ecovillage is keeping the bar aspect of the space because it wants the building to be a community space and hold public events. A liquor license will also help the village raise funds to continue its outreach efforts and programming.
 
One of Enright Ecovillage’s goals is to engage the surrounding community about healthy eating habits and how to be more sustainable. The village currently operates a community supported agriculture site (CSA) that’s open to anyone in the city, and last summer it sold surplus produce at a farm stand in front of the future store.
 
“It was a good opportunity to reach out to our neighbors and offer affordable, fresh local produce,” Doshi says. “Enright Ecovillage is getting more and more attention from the neighborhood and the city and is starting to become more recognized within the city.”
 
Doshi says the farm stand will continue once the store opens, and there are plans to offer starter plants this spring. The store will also sell produce when there’s an overflow, and as the village becomes more financially stable it will start to grow more and offer more.
 
The store’s official name is still in the works but will be announced in the next few weeks.
 
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Caitlin Koenig is a Cincinnati transplant and 2012 grad of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. She's the department editor for Soapbox Media and currently lives in Northside with her husband, Andrew, and their three furry children. Follow Caitlin on Twitter at @caite_13.