Covington : Development News

The historic preservation offices of Covington and Bellevue are searching for historic homes and commercial buildings or owners and tenants who are interested in talking about their experience with their historic homes or buildings for an educational film.
 
The film will focus on historic preservation in Northern Kentucky and will begin filming in June. Chosen submissions will be filmed and included in the final video, which will be shared online and will be used to educate people throughout the region, says Beth Johnson, preservation and planning specialist for the City of Covington.
 
“This project will make people look at the buildings and appreciate them in a different way,” Johnson says. “When you live in a historic district, you see these buildings every day and take them for granted.”
 
Johnson has already received numerous submissions. “People are in love with their historic buildings and take pride in their community,” she says.
 
This is the second video that the Covington and Bellevue historic preservation offices have collaborated on. The first video, “Historic Preservation: Saving Place,” was produced in 2011 and narrated by Nick Clooney. It won the 2012 Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation Preservation Award and the 2012 National Alliance for Preservation Commission Excellence in Public Outreach/Advocacy.
 
The second video is a continuation of the first, but it includes more education. The first was a basic introduction to historic preservation, Johnson says.
 
Both films were funded by the Certifiable Local Governments grant.
 
All historic homes and commercial buildings in Covington, Newport and Bellevue are eligible to be included in the video.The focus of the video is on the architecture of Northern Kentucky, including Greek revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, second empire, colonial revival, four square and craftsman/bungalow style.
 
To submit your home or building, send interior and exterior photos of it to bjohnson@covingtonky.gov by 4:30 p.m. May 13.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Two weeks ago, Covington’s Department of Public Infrastructure hosted a tour and shared its best practice models. Many of DPI’s current projects focus on capital improvements related to problems such as street reconstructions and landslide concerns.
 
Covington’s infrastructure developments keep things running, says City Manager Larry Klein.

“When people see a fire truck, ambulance, police car or someone cutting grass, they’re all results of the city’s public works division,” he says. “Citizens see services such as snow removal or street repair, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes.”
 
For example, the city’s fleet division does auto repairs in-house, rather than outsourcing those repairs. In 2009, the city contracted with KOI Auto Parts as its in-house auto parts vendor. The city used to spend $600,000-700,000 on parts, but by bringing KOI in-house, the cost is now about $350,000-400,000, says Tom Logan, director of public improvements.
 
“The fleet division keeps everything running smoothly and gets the vehicles back out on the street,” Klein says. “We’re not only saving money but time as well.”
 
DPI also recently replaced single-purpose trucks with dual-purpose models. Snow removal trucks, for example, were only used three or four months of the year. The dual-purpose trucks come with swap-loaders, which allows DPI to interchange the dump beds for other equipment. These trucks saved the city about $100,000, Logan says.
 
DPI is currently also involved in storm water improvements, renovations to Devou Park, riverfront development and the replacement of the Brent Spence Bridge.
 
“It’s guided by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Ohio Department of Transportation, but Covington has a strong stance and the ability to provide input in the decision-making process,” Logan says of the bridge planning. “It’s a very important project for the whole region because of the traffic that travels along I-71 and I-75. For Covington, we have to ensure that the connections to the bridge are maintained.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Art appraiser and entrepreneur Morgan Cobb has a vision to turn innovation into an art form. What does that look like?

Imagine a sort of startup pitch day held at an art gallery with photo portraits of entrepreneurs overlaid with QR (Quick Response) codes that link viewers virtually to company founders. Imagine the real-time exchange of art, business and support.

That’s the idea behind “Disruptors, QRtifacts by Peiter Griga,” curated by Cobb, which opens April 26 at Covington’s Artisan Enterprise Center.

“The whole event was designed to encourage collaboration, participation and appreciation,” says Cobb, 28, who founded Newport’s Bryson Appraisals four years ago.

The exhibit started with a conversation between Cobb and fellow curator Cate Yellig, who took over as the city of Covington’s art director earlier this year. Yellig, who works at the intersection of economic development and arts programming, was in search of a way to bring together local entrepreneurs and artists, groups she believes have much in common.

“It was really kind of serendipitous,” Yellig says of the exhibit, which features 10 local startups that have a total of 12 founders, including nugg-it, BlackbookHR, Earthineer and GirlDevelopIt.

Cobb, who has degrees in art history and economics, had become engaged in the local startup ecosystem. She welcomed a chance to connect her two passions.

“Entrepreneurs face the same challenge as contemporary artists,” Cobb says. They strive to remain creative, relevant and “hip.” 

The startups featured in 'Disruptors' are in various stages of development. Some, like We Have Become Vikings, have achieved a level of notoriety, while others, like GamiGen, are less known. 

“They haven’t arrived yet, but they have all this potential to be cutting edge,” Cobb says.

In order to fully experience the opening, Cobb urges potential visitors to bring their smartphones. It will also help to visit
'Disruptors' online in advance and to download QR and Twitter apps. The event also includes a projection of a live Twitter feed.

“The Twitter feed is to encourage feedback and to broadcast the event to an audience that can’t be there,” says Cobb, who has invited venture capitalists and angel investors, as well as a DJ and performance artists, to the opening. 

Even as she works to give entrepreneurs a new platform to communicate their ideas, Cobb also incorporates artistic innovations that have already drawn interest from venues in Austin, Texas. Photographer Peiter Griga, a personal friend, started by photographing each of the entrepreneurs the old-fashioned way—on film.

He then prints the images by mixing silver nitrate with organic honey, which is, at the microscopic level, a living thing. The print process then mirrors how technology and life intertwine. “The media was an important component to the concept,” Cobb says. “It’s an artifact, but it’s still a living thing.”

Most of all, Cobb hopes the exhibit helps foster an understanding of the struggles and challenges faced by both artists and entrepreneurs, and an appreciation for their work.

“At the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want?” she asks.

Although there won’t be a West Sixth Brewing taproom or beer garden in the Cincinnati area, beer lovers will still be able to buy the new brewery’s beer around town.
 
West Sixth opened in Lexington on April 1, and founders Ben Self, Brady Barlow, Joe Kuosman and Robin Sither have already seen the demand for their beer go through the roof. “We’ve had people drive down from the Cincinnati area just to buy our beer,” Self says.
 
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area was the last part of Kentucky that West Sixth added to its distribution network—the taproom and beer garden are in Lexington, and West Sixth’s beer is available in Louisville, too.
 
The quartet has heard from lots of retailers, bars and restaurants that they’re excited to be getting West Sixth’s brews, Self says. West Sixth beer became available locally about two weeks ago. The brewery kicked off its expansion at Cincy Winter Beerfest, which featured the West Sixth IPA and Deliberation Amber.
 
West Sixth does things a bit differently than other breweries, Self says. It’s the only brewery in Kentucky to can its beers; and Self and his co-founders are not only committed to brewing great beer, but to giving back to the community. They give six percent of the brewery’s monthly profits to local charities and nonprofits to support environmental packaging efforts and rehabilitation projects in Lexington.
 
You can order West Sixth’s beer at Gordo’s Pub in Norwood and Bakersfield in Over-the-Rhine. You can also purchase it at:

• Party Source
• Liquor City
• Party Town
• DEPs
• I-75 Liquors
• Valley Wine and Spirits
• United Liquor
• Hyde Park Wine and Spirits
• Root Cellar
• Listing Loon
• Gramer’s Meat and Produce
• Country Fresh Farm Market
• One Stop Liquors
• Luckie’s Pony Keg
• Antone’s Wine and Spirits
• Bluegrass Carryout
• Churchill Market
• City Beverage

By Caitlin Koenig
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Russian-based Unipack Group, a full-service glass container decorating and packaging company that has served the alcohol beverage industry since 1995, is expanding into the United States. Westpack, a new branch of Unipack, will soon have a plant in Covington.
 
Currently, Kentucky is home to about 420 internationally based companies from 30 countries that employ about 80,000 people.
 
“With decoration plants in Russia and Europe, expanding into the U.S. market was a natural next step,” Westpack Managing Director Simon Mnoyan said in a press release. “And selecting the right state for our production was a function of customer logistics, business operating costs and quality of life. The Commonwealth of Kentucky provided and met all three requirements for our expansion. We would like to express our gratitude to the Commonwealth and the City of Covington for guidance and support in our endeavor.”
 
Westpack will mainly serve bourbon, spirits and wine producers, and the perfume and cosmetic industries, but the company will also produce promotional tumblers and other items for the tableware industry, according to Sam Popianksy, director of business development for Westpack, in a press release.
 
The company’s services include screen printing, etching and frosting, electrostatic and liquid organic spray coating, automated hot stamping, PSL and decal application.
 
Unipack’s expansion will create 63 new, full-time jobs and will represent a $4.49 million investment in Northern Kentucky. The 126,000-square-foot facility at 200 W. 43^rd Street in Covington’s Latonia neighborhood isn’t on the riverfront, but in a residential area with retail and other industries.
 
Not only is Westpack creating jobs, but it’s making use of an existing, vacant building. “The redeveloped building will hopefully attract new companies to the area and breathe new life into the market,” says Karen Finan, senior VP at Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation.
 
Construction is to begin on the Westpack plant this spring.
 
Interested in working at Westpack? Send your resume to: sunny.saloman@west-pack.com.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Did you recently buy a historic home and need help getting renovations underway? Or do you want to learn more about living green? Then NKY Restoration Weekend is for you.
 
The second annual Restoration Weekend is from 9 am to 5 pm on Feb. 23 at the Gateway Community and Technical College's Urban Campus in Covington. The event will feature many opportunities for historic home owners, including classes and demonstrations on how to make historic houses and surrounding property more energy efficient and sustainable; researching historic homes; utilizing the Kentucky homeowner’s rehabilitation tax credit; Rookwood tile history and maintenance; historic ironwork; window restoration; plaster; masonry repair and maintenance ask the expert.
 
There will also be a vendor fair with more than 20 booths featuring craftsmen and contractors that represent all aspects of the renovation process.
 
“The weekend is about combining sustainable and green practices with historic homes,” says Beth Johnson, preservation and planning specialist for the City of Covington. “The vendors are a huge part of the event, and helps connect homeowners with good products and contractors.”
 
But Johnson says the highlight of the event is the keynote speakers, Matt Grocoff. He’s a nationally known TV personality who turned a 100-year-old folk Victorian house into net zero, which means it’s historically sensitive, but doesn’t use energy.
 
“There’s such an amazing stock of historic homes in Northern Kentucky and the surrounding area, and people need to be responsible homeowners and be better stewards of historic homes,” Johnson says. “DIY is really big, and they need to know the proper ways to do things.” 
 
The event is partially funded by the Certified Local Government grant that’s given to the cities of Bellevue, Covington and Newport from the National Park Service and administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council.
 
NKY Restoration is an unincorporated association and collaboration of businesses, artisans and craftsmen, nonprofit organizations, cities and the Historic Preservation offices in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
 
The event is free, but reservations are requested to ensure a spot at the keynote luncheon.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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PizzaBomba, a Northern Kentucky food truck, is no longer just on four wheels. As of Dec. 26, PizzaBomba opened its doors to its permanent location on E. Fifth Street in Covington. Both the food truck and the store serve New York-style pizza, made with homemade dough and sauces and local ingredients.
 
PizzaBomba’s owner, Bill Stone, put himself through college bartending and waiting tables at a high-end Italian restaurant in Rochester, NY. He’s also worked in Cincinnati restaurants and been trained in food and beverage management.
 
Stone and his partner Terri Wilson, who helps with PizzaBomba when she can, began their food truck last March 30. After their fast success, a storefront seemed like the next logical step, says Stone.
 
If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, the Load of BS pizza is topped with homemade pizza sauce, Brussels sprout leaves, bacon and ricotta cheese. PizzaBomba also serves salads, sandwiches (atop homemade bread) and pasta skillets. Customers keep coming back for the Bangin’ Elvis sandwich, which is topped with creamy Thai peanut butter, pepper jelly and bacon, says Stone.
 
Stone currently employs four people, and once PizzaBomba’s POS system is completely up and running, they’ll start delivery service to Covington, Newport, Bellevue, downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine to Liberty Street. PizzaBomba is still waiting on its beer-only license from the state, but they’ll soon serve local brews and a few higher-end microbrews.
 
The restaurant is open Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you’re looking for the food truck, make sure to follow PizzaBomba on Facebook and Twitter to find its daily location.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Chris and Joey Jenco have always loved candy.
 
“A lot of our memories from growing up involved candy stores,” says Chris. “We would always visit one on vacation and spend our allowances on candy.”
 
The Jenco brothers, both in their 20s, began their business venture in the summer of 2010. Joey saw a candy store in Indiana and thought it would be a viable business model. For about two years, the brothers worked through what opening their own business would mean and what it would require. Chris graduated from college in 2011 and moved to Cincinnati; they found a storefront in January, but really got the ball rolling after Joey graduated from college in May.
 
Jenco Brothers’ Candy is in an older building on McMillan just off the University of Cincinnati campus. The building needed lots of renovations, including rewiring the electricity, putting in new plumbing and raising the ceiling four feet.
 
The old-fashioned candy store will have a little bit of everything, from chocolates and gum to lollipops and popcorn. The Jenco brothers will also be selling frozen yogurt, slushies and fountain beverages.
 
Most of the candy will be brought in from distributors, such as Asher’s Fine Chocolates, a Pennsylvania-based chocolatier, and Putnam’s Opera Creams, a candy made by Papas and Sons in Covington. But the Jenco brothers will be making their own popcorn. The butter, cheese and caramel flavors will be made in-store. The popcorn machines are in the front window and will be vented outside, so passersby can smell the freshly popped corn, says Chris.
 
Jenco Brothers’ isn’t open yet, but the brothers hope that in the next few weeks, they’ll be opening their doors to kids of all ages. Stay up-to-date on the status of Jenco Brothers' on its Facebook page.
 
When the shop opens, Jenco Brothers’ will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays. On weekdays, visitors during happy hour (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), can get a 10 percent discount on their favorite sweets and treats.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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A group of eight University of Cincinnati students have designed seven projects that will bring creative elements to existing, underutilized spaces in Covington. The projects this semester focus mainly on the area around Pike Street and Madison Avenue, but in the future, the class hopes to have a continued impact and involve community members in Covington and other areas in the region.
 
The students are members of Matt Anthony’s Tactical Urbanism class at the UC Niehoff Urban Studio. It’s the first year for the class, but many elements of it have been seen in other classes where students have engaged and built projects that focus on changes in urban areas. Soapbox sat down with Anthony to discuss the impact of the class.
 
Q: Why are the projects based in Covington when there are opportunities in Cincinnati to revitalize the city’s urban core?
A: “Recently, the CDC has been engaged with a few projects in Covington, including some involvement in the studies or development of their Center City Action Plan. Covington itself offered a unique set of issues to address and also a territory that was largely unfamiliar to students, even though we are so close to this very central and urban area.

When we first started talking about doing this project, Frank Russell, director of the CDC, was the first to suggest Covington as a prime location. We’ve been fortunate to have a great relationship with some city officials, such as Natalie Bowers, who is the arts district director in Covington. She has been a great internal champion of arts projects and knows the right channels to get more official approval for some of our projects that require it. Katie Meyers from Renaissance Covington has also helped organize some business and commercial-oriented work.

There are more communities in our region on both sides of the river that we’d like to work with. Our hope is that there is some excitement with these projects and we can take what we learned in Covington and apply it elsewhere. There was interest in some temporary installation projects around the Pendleton neighborhood recently, so that is a possibility.”
 
Q: Has anything like this ever been done at UC before?
A: “I don’t think there have been many projects of this specific type at UC. There have been many design/build activities over the years for both architecture and art projects, especially in urban areas, but I think this is one of the few that have allowed the students to identify the opportunity area themselves through personal research and viewing existing urban studies and then planning a temporary installation.

The studio is called “Tactical Urbanism” after a more recent movement to try to empower people to create temporary projects that have a potential to create long-term change. The idea itself isn’t new, but there is a renewed interest and a growing movement around it right now—I recently heard someone call it ‘urban prototyping.’”
 
Q: What about in Covington?
A: “In Covington, I know there have been various arts engagement projects around the city, including a class from NKU that created an installation under one of the train overpasses, so I don’t think we’re claiming a lot of firsts. The Awesome Collective has also been talking a lot about doing more subversive positive messaging and advertising to make people aware of Covington. But again, I think the student’s control of the projects and the kind of blitz we’re putting on with eight projects is more unique.”
 
Q: Does the Tactical Urbanism class partner with any organizations for projects and/or events?
A: “We’ve done a lot of work with the people from Renaissance Covington and the City of Covington, CSX for train overpass inquiries and various small businesses have been generous with their support of projects in effort and materials. One of our students is collaborating with holiday storefront installations that Covington merchants are planning, and another is working with the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center to transform student drawings into life-size renditions that will enliven a train underpass. So the students have been a whirlwind through Covington and various organizations there.”
 
Q: There are lots of rejuvenation efforts going on throughout the Tri-State area. Why do you think it’s important for students to get involved in rejuvenating a city?
A: “I’ve seen more and more students looking for a way to make a difference in the world by utilizing the skills they are learning in school. I wanted to find a way to connect students with real problems that they could identify and physically make something that could make a difference that they can and should detect, even if it’s limited in scope.

I think it’s important from a civic engagement perspective both from the city’s and the student’s sides. Design and creative problem solving will continue to grow in importance as our cities grow, and empowering students now with experiences in affecting their environment is an important step.”
 
Q: What do you hope to see come out of the tactical urbanism class?
A: “I’d like to see students execute successful projects that are well attended that positively influence the City of Covington. But of equal importance is that the students understand the impact it had and the implications or suggestions they could make to the city regarding the issue they hoped to affect.

A number of students have projects aimed at changing perceptions of areas or creating some awareness around spaces and problems, so I think seeing people gather or talk about those things would be good as well. A number of students have ideas that they are documenting that could successfully be executed again, or have a version that with a few more local champions and perhaps a small cash infusion could scale up to be nice civic projects. So we’re looking for partners whose interest may have been peaked by some of the events to keep the ball rolling.”
 
The projects for this semester kicked off on Nov. 16 with Chalk Walk in the Arcade, and Covington’s first urban golf tournament was held on Nov. 17 on top of City Center Garage. The other projects will be popping up in Covington throughout the month of November.

• Through Nov. 31, images of what Covington looked like in the past will be juxtaposed with what the vacant commercial properties look like today.
• Weekends in November: Empty planters along Madison will see new plant life and help beautify the area.
• Until Nov. 23, signs were on display along sidewalks to encourage people to visit local attractions.
• Friday, Nov. 23: The Covington Urban Spaces Installation Project put up holiday storefront installations in windows near the corner of Pike and Madison, which will be on display until New Year’s.
• Wednesday, Nov. 28: A pop-up park and café will appear under the overpass on Pike to bring together residents and visitors.

By Caitlin Koenig
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With 10 restaurants and bars launched in 10 years, and more set to open soon, Four Entertainment Group (4EG) continues its successful run with Igby’s downtown, at 122 E. Sixth Street in between Main and Walnut streets.

4EG founders Bob Deck, Dave Halpern, Dan Cronican and Ben Klopp have two spaces reserved in the new U Square development in Clifton, one of which will be the group’s third Keystone Grill (other locations are in Covington and Hyde Park) and an adjacent bar.

“I think Cincinnati’s just moving in the right direction,” says Deck. “I grew up here, so, just seeing the city change over the last, you know, six or seven years, with all the independent restaurants and all the independent owners, it’s pretty cool.”
Deck and his partners cemented their commitment to the city by opening a central business office in Over-the-Rhine, across the street from The Anchor-OTR restaurant and above Zula, a bistro and wine bar slated to open soon.

“We moved our offices down here because we’re invested in the city,” Deck says. “We didn’t have a central office, so we thought, ‘Hey what better place than to put our offices down in OTR, and support the whole area and movement.’”

Just across downtown, Igby’s represents 4EG’s collaboration with Core Resources, Beck Architecture and 3CDC. Think its name sounds mysterious? That’s the point.

“We called it Igby’s because we really wanted to come up with a name that didn’t really give you any idea of what the bar would be before you walked in,” Deck says
.
“We’re really designing this bar around good beer, and good wine and good craft, fresh cocktails,” Deck says.

Open Monday through Saturday, Igby’s weekends ramp up the energy by opening its second and third floor open up and featuring a DJ.

The space itself is huge—approximately 7,500 square feet. The Civil War era building posed challenges, but developers persevered through massive restoration work to create a wood-filled, modern and hyper-stylized space. Igby’s atrium features balconies around each level so that patrons can look up or down onto the other floors. Igby’s also has an outdoor patio with a lounge.

Cincinnati Chef Lauren Brown has a five-item menu, featuring oysters, sodabread and cheese and even seasonal salads, that is served from 4 to 10 pm. “It’s really meant to accompany people coming in and having some drinks,” Deck says. “It’s all very high-quality and fresh, and everything we can source locally, we try to source locally. It’s hard to source West Coast oysters locally, though.”

All of the juices for the extensive cocktail list are also fresh. Mixologist Brian Van Flandern from New York created the craft cocktail menu, which includes the bourbon-tinged Black Cherry Sling (with a kick of nutmeg), the Apple Toddler, which has Gerber Apple baby food in it, and locally themed drinks like RedsRum and Naked in Newport. Igby’s has 16 beers on tap, including craft beers, imported bottles and cans.

By Stephanie Kitchens

Jason Matheny and Monty Collier chose an unlikely spot to launch their business, which is tucked in a storefront next to the Waffle House just across the river in Covington.

But when the two Thomas More College graduates found out about a vacancy in the spot, its very unlikeliness seemed a perfect tie-in for the brand they had worked together to create: Modern Misfit Classic Genius.

They opened TK's House of Misfits in June and haven't looked back.

Part hip graphic tee design company and part values-driven lifestyle brand, MMCG experiments with the notion that fashion can be about more than aesthetics. One shirt, for example, features the words "Byootefel Luhvle," or "Beautiful Lovely," in a script typeface.

The company's young founders understand that people who see things differently than others often see themselves as misfits. Only by embracing their authentic selves can they unleash their own geniuses.

"Modern Misfit Classic Genius is an inspirational brand that uses design as a main avenue to inspire people to embrace the misfit and become the genius," says Matheny, who graduated from Thomas More with a graphic design degree in 2012.

"We offer a line that really has meaning," says Collier, who graduated in 2011 with an accounting degree and minors in both art and business administration. "Our whole purpose is to change the way people behave."

Collier adds that the business is about more than selling t-shirts; through the designs, he wants people to be able to express both who they are and who they want to become.

The core values that inspire the brand—passion, loyalty, intelligence, confidence and humility—serve as the basis for the company's first fall collection, set to debut Oct. 20.

Collier says the new products, which will be for sale in the Covington shop, include more limited edition designs as well as crew-neck sweaters, hoodies and henleys.

By Elissa Yancey
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Tucked amid concrete streets within the Westside neighborhood of Covington, KY just east of Interstate 71-75 lies an oasis of tranquility, and arguably the only viable green space in the city’s urban core.

The historic Linden Grove Cemetery and Arboretum was consecrated in 1843 and is the final resting place for more than 22,000 burials across a span of 22 acres.

Linden Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is at once environmentally and civically significant. The cemetery provides important green space, and comes with a built-in history lesson as the burial site of many important civic and community leaders, congressmen and important historical figures.

Soldiers from as far back as the war of 1812 and the Civil War are buried there, along with soldiers from every other American war since. Dr. Louise Southgate, early female physician and women’s rights activist in Covington, Thomas Kennedy, one of Covington’s original founders and land owners, William Wright Southgate and Brigadier General John W. Finnell, Kentucky’s Adjutant General during the Civil War are among the important historical figures interred at Linden Grove.

Over the cemetery’s 169-year history, the site has fallen into various stages of disrepair and neglect only to be brought back to life with the help of caring citizens and the local courts.

Although the site is now more like a 22-acre park, Pete Nerone, Chairman of the Board for Linden Grove, says that the grounds lost its pond in the early 1960s when it was filled in during the construction of Interstate 71-75.

The pond once supplied a local brewery and provided a self-sustaining water source to the grounds. Thanks to the work of people like Nerone and former board member John Dietz, the pond is about to make a comeback.

As a former Peace Corps volunteer serving in West Africa, Nerone was instrumental in securing a $30,000 environmental stewardship grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation for the reconstruction and development of the pond.

Why does the pond matter so much? Nerone says that according to studies, the City of Covington is actually 20 percent deficient in green space, permeable surfaces and adequate tree canopy.

A healthy tree canopy provides a filter for noise and air pollution resulting from the neighboring interstate highway. It also provides homes for various birds, wildlife and aquatic species. Water from the pond can be used to improve the tree canopy as well as provide much needed hydration for landscaping and ornamental gardens.

“Linden Grove is very important real estate from an ecological point of view,” says Nerone. “It sits in an old neighborhood in the urban core of Covington. The existence of a pond on the grounds is key to the site’s longevity.”

The new pond will be controlled with a safety shelf and controlled overflow. With the grant award and the restoration of Linden Grove’s pond, Nerone says, “We can enhance and protect our beautiful green space, making it more available as a place of recreation for the community.”

By Deidra Wiley Necco