$1.6M Mount Adams steps project nearly complete

The $1.6 million reconstruction of the public steps between the Adams Crossing condominiums and the Holy Cross-Immaculata Church in Mount Adams is largely complete.

The Mount Adams Steps Restoration Project began shortly after Easter 2008, when work began on replacing the 369 steps and missing railing along the key pedestrian corridor.

But the most significant part of the project was the installation of the historic Arch and Ellipse, uncovering of a weed-strangled public plaza, and construction of a new retaining wall at the end of Adams Crossing.

The Arch and Ellipse, which have been part of the Ohio Historic Inventory for 32 years, were constructed for the city's first park around 1853 and were known at the time as the Riverfront Playground Entrance.

The structures were moved in 1990 to make way for the Adams Place Condominiums, where they sat in storage at Hummel Restoration.

The project is scheduled for completion within the next few months.

Still to be completed are final painting of hand rails, landscaping, and wayfinding and educational graphics.

Partial funding for the project came from $647,000 in Federal Transportation Enhancement Funds, and project partners included the Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, and the city's departments of Transportation and Engineering, Public Services, and Parks.

The Adams Place Condominium homeowners association and AP Parking Company, LLC donated one-eighth acre for the project.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Tiffaney Hardy, senior communications specialist, City of Cincinnati