| The College Hill eNewsletter |
| Telling
the story of "A Diverse and Neighborly
Community." |
June 6,
2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Reader,
Last week Ken told you there would be no eNewsletter until later this
month, but I couldn't let the groundbreaking of the first
College Hill Housing Team/WIN house wait two more weeks. See
below for this exciting news.
Belated congratulations
to Arnice Smith, the award-winning librarian at our College
Hill Branch Library. She was promoted to the branch manager
earlier this spring. Congratulations, too, to all the Aiken
and McAuley graduates, and all graduates in the
neighborhood.
There will be no eNewsletter next week,
as your editors will both take a break to catch their breaths.
But keep sending in news and photos, we'll be back
soon.
Gail Finke,
Co-Editor
| |
| Saranac
Groundbreaking
Neighbors gathered yesterday for the
groundbreaking of one of the first new College Hill homes to
be built in College Hill in decades. See media coverage here.
The College Hill Forum Housing
Team and Working in
Neigborhoods (WIN)
broke ground of the first of three
new houses that will be built in the area of College Hill
around Cedar Avenue. A fourth will be completely rehabbed for
resale. It's a project designed to boost home ownership,
improve the quality of housing stock, and build pride in a
great old neighborhood.
The house, which
will be finished in the fall, will have three bedrooms, two
and a half baths, and a two-car garage. It will be LEED
certified for top energy efficiency, and will have a 15-year
tax abatement from the City. It will be priced at a market
rate, but a grant from the city Home Program will allow
qualified buyers (at 80% of median income) to afford
it.
Vice Mayor David Crowley (Mayor Mallory was
traveling) and Council Member Laketa Cole were on hand for the
occasion, as were Simon Sotelo from PNC Bank (project
financing), Brian Fitzpatrick from JCB Homes (construction),
WIN Executive Director Sister Barbara Busch, the entire
College Hill Housing Team, many staff from WIN, neighbors
(including Fr. George Jacquemin of St. Clare Church across the
street, who offered the opening prayer), representatives of
other College Hill civic groups, and friends.
If you
are interested in buying this or one of the other three
project homes, or you know someone who is, contact WIN at
513-542-4109. |
About the Neighborhood
Linda grew up on Cedar Ave., where she lived
until 1960. She lives in Anderson Township now, but writes to
say how much she loved that area of College Hill:
"I had girlfriends up and down
Cedar Ave., also on Attwood, Homeside, Leffingwell and Argus.
I went to College Hill Elementary. My Mom and I used to walk
up to the 'Avenue,' as we called it, and caught a bus on
Saturday mornings to go downtown. Our neighbors kept
their property up and yards and houses were
beautiful. The neighborhood was both Black and
White and everyone respected each other and their property. I
remember we took care of our neighbors, either Black or
White!!!
"I
feel very close to College Hill as it made me the better
person I am today."
Many people still love the
neighborhood and are justly proud of their homes and yards.
Neighbors turned out in force for the groundbreaking, and for
a neighborhood dinner hosted by St. Clare Church
Thursday night. They believe their section of College Hill can
be one of the neighborhood's best -- and so does the College
Hill Forum and Working in Neighborhoods.
We do too, for
that matter! Congratulations on the start of an exciting
project that will benefit all College Hill residents.
|
What is WIN?
"I love the acronym Working in
Neighborhoods," Council Member Laketa Cole told the crowd at
Thursday's groundbreaking. "When we work in our neighborhoods,
we all WIN."
Working in Neighborhoods is a non-profit
organization founded in 1978 to help low- and moderate-income
people buy, keep, and maintain homes. WIN offers classes for
people interesting in buying first homes, buys and resells
homes to qualified buyers, and operates other programs
including a new program to help people with adjustable
mortgages negotiate with their banks.
WIN has worked
with College Hill residents for several years, and began
partnering with the College Hill Forum two years ago. Buying
the properties and arranging for new construction took longer
than any of the participants expected.
It's grubby,
slow work and we understand that a lot more now than we did at
first," said long-time neighborhood volunteer Ed Wells, one of
the project's pioneers (shown here with the vice mayor), who
then challenged City Hall to help College Hill and other
neighborhoods speed the project along.
To sign up for a
WIN program or find out how to volunteer, call
541-4109.
|
| Meet the College Hill Housing Team
College Hill residents, activists, ministers,
and good neighbors are all members of the College Hill Housing
Development Team, under the auspices of the College Hill
Forum. The members are:
- Rev. Harold "Chappie" Chapman
- Ron Cowgill
- Valerie Herschberger
- Joe Poole
- Phyllis Schoenberger
- Rev. Sil Watkins
- Ed Wells
- Rev. Dan WeyandGeise
Volunteers are welcome. The
Housing Team needs people to go door to door and work with
neighbors and help with events, people with experience in real
estate, and people available for property
maintenance.
"This team not only wants to build houses,
we want to build community," says member Phyllis Schoenberger.
To help with both, call 588-6465.
|
College Hill Pool Opens
The shallow pool at the College Hill Rec
Center opens June 9 -- for a $5 membership fee (which admits
you to all city-owned pools) you can splash and swim all
summer long.
This year the Cincinnati Recretaion
Commission will offer two sessions of swim lessons for only
$10 to CRC Center members, $30 for non-members. The sessions
are June 16-July 3 or July 7- 24, and are taught by American
Red Cross-certified instructors.
For more information
see the front desk at the College Hill Rec Center or call
357-POOL.
|
More About Pools
 College
Hill's pool was built by residents in the 1940s. It's a great,
cheap place to cool off and play, but can't accommodate swim
teams or lap swimming.
Other pools bordering College
Hill are the North College
Hill municipal pool on Grace Street off Galbraith Rd.,
which offers non-resident memberships; and the North Hills Swim
and Tennis Club on Daly Road, which offers bonded and
seasonal memberships. (Young Oliver, pictured, is checking out
the pool on its opening day this year.) Both offer swim
lessons and have swim teams.
The pool at Colonial Racquet
& Fitness Club on Goodman Avenue off Hamilton will not
be open this summer. Owners plan extensive repairs this year.
The gym, tennis courts, and racquetball courts remain open and
members can use the North College Hill pool without paying an
additional fee.
|
Todd Trotter is Aiken Valedictorian
College Hill Resident Todd Trotter was this
year's Valedictorian for Aiken University High
School.
Todd is active in football and track. He was
part of the school's engineering program, and participated in
a UC dual enrollment class on the Aiken Campus. Todd is the
son of Todd Trotter and Karla Walker. He will be
attending Bluffington College on scholarship in the fall.
Story contributed by Aiken
University High School. |
Tupelo Honey Video, Independent Films Premier
A music video shot at the College Hill Coffee Co. and
a film featuring area actors premiered at the Esquire Theater
Thursday night.  "I was
told by Laura Stratton at the Esquire that last night's
premier was the largest crowd that they had ever had" for an
independent premiere, said producer/writer/actor Mike Baker
(left, in the Esquire lobbey before the premier), who also
shot the video for the band Tupelo
Honey.Baker is a Finneytown resident who
started a film company, Fade to Gray, this year to make a
trilogy of short films. The first is Perceptions, featuring two
actors from the College Hill area: Gregory Patrick Agnew and
Glen Schaich. It was directed by Lana Read, whose short film
The Pictionary Murders
also premiered. "My main goal was to create new
ventures in film locally with all local talent," Baker says.
While most independent films shot in the area have been horror
movies, Perceptions is
a psychological courtroom drama about the mystery of
evil. To buy a DVD or to audition for a future film,
send an email here.Thanks to Melanie Crowe for this
story. |
New Firehouse Approved
Thank goodness the City finally mowed the lot
at Llanfair and Hamilton last week. The meadow won't be a
problem much longer, according to Engine 51 Captain Robert
Hart.
Design plans for the new firehouse have been
approved, he announced at last week's College Hill Forum
meeting, and should go out to bid in early June. "In my
opinion it will be the best firehouse in Cincinnati," said
Capt. Hart. "You will all be proud."
The firehouse will
be LEED certified and will have a "green" roof ("I've ordered
a goat," Capt. Hart joked). The building site includes the
vacant lot and the adjacent building, formerly a grocery
store. Groundbreaking may be as early as this fall -- we'll
let you know! |
Forum Officers Sworn In
Vice Mayor Dave Crowley swore in the College Hill
Forum's Board at last week's meeting.
Returning
are President Elizabeth Sherwood, Secretary Amy Finnegan, and
Treasurer Jim Bodmer. Replacing Marianne Puntennay as Vice
President is Phyllis Slusher.
The next Forum
meeting will be June 24 -- come see them in
action.
Photo by Sarah
Wolf.
|
Family Enrichment Center Opens in
Northside
Sharon Said from the new Cincinnati Family
Enrichment Center in Northside writes to invite College Hill
families to the center's June 28th open house from 4 - 7
pm.
The center at 4244 Hamilton Ave, will serve all
surrounding neighborhoods with children's classes in topics
such as yoga, singing, and Spanish; programs for pregnant moms
and children from preschool through teens; and many other
offerings.
Sharon invites you and your family to meet
the staff, tour the center, register for programs, and find
out what the center has to offer. For more information call
591-CFEC or click here.
|
Sweet New Farm Market Booth
There's a sweet new booth at the College Hill Farm
Market -- and a new vendor of sweets.
Candy maker
Staci Kovacs makes gourmet carmel corn sold at local coffee
houses, and one of the servers suggested she take her wares to
local farm markets. Try some (vegan friendly) home made Carmel
Corn, you won't be sorry!
|
Next Issue
What is all this work going on on Hamilton Avenue? Next
issue, we'll tell you! We'll also have more pictures from the
groundbreaking, more area summer camps, news on what a locally
based charity has been doing in Haiti, and a lot more news...
see you then.  |
Calling all Mowers
Just in case you missed it above... the
College Hill Housing Development Team is looking for
volunteers to help with property maintenance, especially
mowing and litter pickup on the four properties it is
redeveloping.
Right now Ed Wells is doing all the
mowing for four yards -- but at 82 he could use some help. If
you're 81 or younger and think you could free up Ed's time for
some other pressing volunteer work, call 588-6465 and get
started mowing.
| |
The eNewsletter is published every week or two by
the volunteers listed below. Our purpose is to help make
College Hill an even better place to live, play and do
business by publishing a broad spectrum of news for and about
College Hill, with an emphasis on stories of College Hill
people working together to improve our community.
The eNewsletter is
independently prepared and published by neighborhood
volunteers. It is not affiliated with the College Hill
Forum Community Council.
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of any
College Hill or other organization--or even of the editor. The
inclusion of an article is not necessarily an endorsement. The
fact that something isn't in the eNewsletter is not
necessarily a lack of endorsement--it's most likely because no
one told us about it.
eNewsletter photos are often edited to remove
extraneous material.
Send us news that you think would be interesting to your
College Hill neighbors--and we'll very likely publish it.
- Editors: Ken Lyon and Gail Finke
- Contributing Editor: Sarah Mann Wolf
- Backup Editor: Tom
Strothers
| | |
