Fountain Square wins prestigious IEDC Partnership Award

Since completing its renovation in 2006, Fountain Square has since sparked millions of private investment downtown and brought tens of thousands of people to the heart of Cincinnati every year.  That success has not gone unnoticed outside of the larger Cincinnati region.

This fall the Square's developer and manager, Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), and HR&A Advisors were awarded the pretigious International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Partnership Award. The award, in the public-private partnership category, recognizes "outstanding and innovative public/private development projects that have enhanced the economic revitalization of distressed communities, states, or regions."

The award highlighted the creation of the non-profit 3CDC organization which has been charged with leading downtown Cincinnati's revitalization efforts.  3CDC's efforts were made into reality through a business plan developed by HR&A Advisors which also helped design the corporation's initial organizational structure.
 
The business strategy developed by HR&A looked at a number of issues facing Cincinnati's center city and identified that a poor design of Fountain Square, combined with the absence of event programming, left a major void in Downtown.

Following a complete redesign of Fountain Square, Cincinnati's central gathering space rid itself of unsightly skywalks and underperforming retail frontages, and incorporated a variety of new design elements that invited activity to the square.

The award comes from the unique public/private partnership agreement between the City of Cincinnati and 3CDC for the ongoing programming and maintenance of the space including its 635-space underground parking garage.  Since completion, Fountain Square has returned to its rightful position as Cincinnati's most popular gathering space and has also sparked millions of private investment surrouding the square and influence dramatically higher retail sales at nearby businesses.

Today the non-profit Fountain Square Management Group, a 3CDC subsidiary, oversees the square maintenance and programming as part of the award-winning public/private partnership.

Writer: Randy A. Simes
Photography by Scott Beseler
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