While it may not seem readily apparent, the fact that this year's
National Trust Advanced Preservation Leadership Training session is focusing on Over-the-Rhine is yet another indication that the struggling neighborhood's prognosis is improving.
The session, which will bring approximately 25 historic-preservation professionals to Cincinnati Saturday through July 24, will actually try to kick-start solutions for four specific "problem" buildings in Over-the-Rhine - St. John's Church at 1205 Elm St., the Kauffman Building at 1725 Vine St., the "flatiron" building at 1914 Vine, and Clyffside Brewery Building at 244 W. McMicken Street. Teams will tour and study each, and make detailed recommendations for renovation, including financing possibilities, at a public meeting at Memorial Hall at 10 a.m. on the 24th.
That four significant but troubled buildings in Over-the-Rhine need this kind of special pleading to survive may appear to be same-old, same-old. Just another indication that their future is problematic. Clyffside, for instance, where plans have sputtered to convert the historic brewery complex into condos, was in the news this year when the one of its structures was demolished after wall collapse.
But actually, the presence of the session here - and its focusing on the neighborhood - represents exciting progress. It's another sign of good things happening in Over-the-Rhine. Sponsored locally by
Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) with strong assistance from the
Over-the-Rhine Foundation, the session will have local preservation experts attending along with national activists.
It was just four years ago that the National Trust had placed the 350-acre, 19th Century German-working-class neighborhood, historically rich with its Italianate architecture, on its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. That was after a survey showed that roughly half its 3,157 structures had been demolished since 1930.
"I don't see that listing as bad thing - it was an opportunity to raise the profile of an area that needed assistance," says Charlotte Bonini, Washington-based senior education planner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Center for Preservation Leadership and Cincinnati native.
Since 2006, the city has worked with preservation groups to slow that demolition rate considerably. Only 15 buildings have been lost, reports Mike Morgan, the former director of the Over-the-Rhine Foundation. Meanwhile, the non-profit
Cincinnati City Center Development Corp. (3CDC) has targeted Over-the-Rhine south of Liberty Street, restoring 41 buildings since 2004 and land-banking another 152. It's about to start on a Washington Park renovation. Findlay Market, north of Liberty, has developed a strong following among locavores - 600,000 people visited in 2009. And the city, under Mayor Mark Mallory, has promoted a streetcar system through Over-the-Rhine as a catalyst for revival. An announcement last week of a $25 million federal grant makes that appear a reality.
"I think we started building a lot better relationship with the National Trust during that time (2006)," Morgan says. "This is something that's typically a competitive process, so it's considered an honor and win for the city for them to come here."
"We like to think these kinds of programs have cache," says Bonini. "They are bringing people working in preservation from across the country to use the city as case study, a living laboratory if you will. It doesn't happen to everybody who submits a RFP. It is a competitive process."
Morgan, working with former Cincinnati Preservation executive director Bobbie McTurner pitched Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine to the National Trust for this session, and its staff came and toured. Then CPA put in a formal application, which was accepted.
"This should bring an interesting new discussion for those buildings, and new attention for Over-the-Rhine," says Lisa Sauer, a preservationist and Procter & Gamble executive who chairs the CPA-sponsored local committee organizing the session. "While a lot of the participants are from out-of-town, there are a significant number from this area. We hope as a result of this they will become more active in the community and more effective."
Sauer says roughly $30,000 was raised to bring the session here - CPA received grants from Greater Cincinnati Foundation, PNC Foundation, Peterloon Foundation, Frost Brown Todd, and an in-kind donation (food) from Kroger. National Trust also helped fund it.
At first, Sauer says, the plan was to only choose Over-the-Rhine buildings north of Liberty, figuring that 3CDC didn't need much help in its target area. "But they said, 'We're happy to have you,'" she says. So one in Washington Park was also selected. The building picked to study in that area, the old St. John's Unitarian Church, could use the help. Built in 1868 for the city's first congregation of German Protestants, who used it until 1946, it now suffers from disuse and wear-and-tear. But its glorious Gothic architecture and stained-glass windows shine through the grit, especially where the interior drop-ceiling has been removed to reveal the well-crafted structural details.
Cathy Frank, the realtor representing the owners trying to sell it, says they had tried to develop it as an entertainment venue - a smaller venue complementing nearby Music Hall and Memorial Hall. "But they couldn't get investors," she says. "But with all that's going on in Washington Park now, there is much better timing."
The weeklong session, itself, which those involved in it refer to as Advanced PLT, can be seen as the preservationists' equivalent of a boot camp, says Michael Matts, a member of Sauer's committee. "You spend part of the time developing your skills, mental rather than physical, then applying those skills to develop scenarios for revitalization a practical environment," says Matts, who works at Cincinnati's
Gray & Pape Cultural Resources Consultants as director of historic preservation and planning. He earlier spent 15 years with the National Trust.
The National Trust's Benini explains this year's Advanced PLT is different from previous ones, which were shorter retreats in places like Deadwood, S.D. This is the first where participants will study four specific buildings. "With this, we are looking at real-estate and financial tools, and what kind of finance packages can be put together to save these historic resources," she explains. "In this economic climate it's what everyone wants to know."
And when it's over, there will be something more left behind than just memories. "At the end, the city and Cincinnati Preservation will have pretty complete feasibility studies for four projects, to either help those who already own them or other persons who may have an eye toward doing something," Bonini says.
Photography by Scott Beseler
Clyffside Brewery Building, 244 W. McMicken Street
Kauffman Building, 1725 Vine Street
"flatiron" building 1914 Vine Street
1205 Elm Street
Stained glass at St. John's Church
St. John's Church