For a complete and uptodate listing of coming events in College Hill, go to the College Hill calendar. 

This Friday, January 23, at 9 am, the College Hill Business Association asks for your support by attending a public hearing on the condemned burned out building at 5951 Hamilton on the northwest corner of Marlowe and Hamilton.

This blight affects all of College Hill, not just the business district. You will be given an opportunity to speak, especially if you have pictures or evidence that will support the decision to demolish and move against the owner. Please read the information below from the city buildings and inspections department.

If anyone needs a ride, we will make arrangements for some car pools. The meeting is at 3300 Central Parkway and is easily accessed. Call Phyllis Schoenberger  at 513-542-3498 for travel arrangements.

From Al Taylor, City Buildings and Inspections Department

The building at 5951 Hamilton Avenue is condemned and will be in a public nuisance hearing on January 23 to determine if the building is such a nuisance that it should be razed by governmental action.

If the building is declared to be a public nuisance, the City will start the bidding process as soon as the resources are available. The owner is responsible for the cost of demolition. The owner may also have administrative or civil remedies to stop the City from demolishing the building. If the building is demolished by the city, the City may bill the owner for the cost and attempt to collect or place a lien on the property. The owner may also deed the property to the City in lieu of payment if the City has a use for the property and the use is approved by the City Manager and City Council.

You and the community are invited to attend the Public Hearing and provide evidence which will assist the Director of Buildings and Inspections in reaching a fair and equitable decision. The hearing is being held at 9 am at the City of Cincinnati Permits and Development Center, 3300 Central Parkway. If you need additional information regarding this process, please call me at 513-352-4697.

 

Our son, Benjamin Haggerty, lived on Meryton Lane most of his life.  We were very pleased when his bar, the B-List, was featured in the January issue of Cincinnati Magazine. Thought your readers might like to know.

The College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation's annual dinner meeting is coming up Wednesday, February 4, at Llanfair Retirement Community. Chris Bortz will speak on "Place-based Development Strategies."

The buffet dinner starts at 7 pm and costs $15. The meeting starts at 7:45 and is free.  Dinner reservations are required. Call Juanita Canfield at 513-633-0012 for more information.

It's amazing how many of my memories center on the Town Hall: Miss Spills' dancing school, Episcopal and Presbyterian church bazaars and suppers; the Fourth of July festivities, parades and fireworks; voting at the Town Hall on election day; Tuesday Night meetings of the College Hill Building Association, of which my father was president for many years; and playing tennis on the tennis court. I remember coming out of school one time, walking down Davey Avenue to the Town Hall, and seeing my first airplane, circling overhead.

Attending Miss Spills'  dancing school was a special event in my life for several years when I was in the College Hill School. On dancing school day we traipsed to school with a festive air, importantly carrying small silk bags that held our dancing slippers. The minute school was out we hurried down Davey Avenue to the big, barn-like main room of the Town Hall where dance class was held. I remember the ceiling, high up, where birds flew about among the rafters, and the enormous windows often enclosed by big wooden shutters. When we arrived, the noise we made echoed in the empty room until someone started playing the piano which started things going, while we got seated in straight wooden chairs along the walls--girls in a row on one side, boys on the other.

Soon we stood in a line, boy, girl, boy, girl, carefully watching Miss Spills' feet executing a dance step, while she counted, "one and two and three" and "one and two and three." We tried to do what she was doing, and in a few minutes we started dancing the steps with the boy next to us, around the room to music, and it was fun. After awhile, we formed a line again and learned another step, and soon we found ourselves dancing the new step and feeling very grown up and capable.

After a time we retreated to our chairs, girls with the girls and boys with the boys, to rest. Then each boy went to the girls' side to ask a girl to dance. Dancing was fun when the boy knew the step but frustrating when he did not. The biggest boys would pick up little girls like me and swing us around in an exciting, breath-taking swirl until Miss Spills rescued us. At some point in the afternoon we played "musical chairs."

Then the girls sat in their chairs along the wall and a boy brought each of us a plate of Neapolitan ice cream. After this had been cleared away we learned to dance the Virginia Reel, and that was the most fun of all. After this, we stood and watched the Bahmann twins (my attractive next-door neighbors) dance the Highland Fling. That ended with Pop Goes the Weasel and a Big Bang and a big American flag. It was an exciting ending to a festive afternoon.

Recently, Laura Belle Bahmann told me that once during dance school days, Mary Poundsford (the older sister of my friend Laura Poundsford) had phoned them and told them she wanted to do the Highland Fling with them, but they wouldn't let her.

A final note...eventually a flask full of whiskey was discovered in Miss Spills' handbag and that put an end to the dancing school.