The Price Hill Press from Cincinnati, Ohio • A1

PRICE HILL PRESS Your Community Press newspaper Price Hill and other West Cincinnati neighborhoods WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK How to submit news To submit news and photos to the Community visit the Cincinnati Share website: http://bit.ly/2FjtKoF Contact The Press News: 513-903-6027, Retail advertising: 768-8404, Classified advertising: 242-4000, Delivery: 513-853-6277. See page A2 for additonal information Vol. 94 No. 38 2021 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED $1.00 WFDBHE-21020t Ozie Davis has lived long enough in Avondale to know missing. Whether driving past vacant, grass-covered properties on Hickory Street or paved-over parking lots near the Cincinnati Zoo Botanical Garden or new construction around the Inter- state 71 interchange, Davis still remem- bers the homes and businesses that have vanished since his youth.

notice said Davis, lived in Avondale most of his life. got whole streets no surprise to Davis that more buildings have been torn down in Avon- dale during the past decade than in any other Cincinnati neighborhood. According to an Enquirer analysis of city permits, 1 of every 10 demolitions in Cincinnati since 2010 happened there. With 421 demolitions, Avondale is the runaway leader among the 52 neighborhoods, but not the only one keeping wrecking companies busy in Cincinnati. East Price Hill ranks second with 363 demolitions and Walnut Hills third with 255.

Together, those three neighborhoods account for more than of the 3,832 buildings torn down in the city in the past decade. The number of demolitions and dem- olition permits, the vast majority of which are for residential properties, has fallen sharply in all Cincinnati neigh- borhoods since last year, largely be- cause of the coronavirus pandemic. But city say they expect those num- bers to start ticking up again as the economy improves. Whatever happens next, the impact of demolitions on Avondale and East Price Hill already has been From a mortgage crisis and recession to an uneven economic recovery, been a brutal 10 years for old properties and the people trying to save them. Community leaders, including Davis, say tearing down buildings is not always a bad thing.

It can eliminate eyesores and safety hazards while protecting the value of nearby homes, and it can clear the way for something the neighbor- hood needs, such as new businesses, parks or living spaces. Yet also a cost. Every property torn down, Davis said, once was part of the community. Families lived in the homes. Kids played in the yards.

Clerks and cashiers and salespeople worked in the stores. Regardless of their monetary or his- toric value, all the buildings that are gone once mattered to someone. They mattered to the neighborhood. really losing the spirit of the said Davis, former di- rector of the Avondale Community De- velopment Corp. not just brick and mortar.

City demolitions doubled after recession The story behind the demolitions va- ries from building to building and from neighborhood to neighborhood. Some were lost after being aban- doned during the mortgage crisis and sitting vacant for years. Others fell into disrepair over decades of poor upkeep by landlords long ago converted homes into apartments. And some were gobbled up by devel- opers looking to expand businesses or build new homes, sometimes in part- nership with community leaders and sometimes not. All those scenarios played out in re- cent years in Avondale, where homes were lost not only to the recession, but to expansions of the Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Hospital Medical Center and the I-71 interchange near Martin Luther King Drive.

Davis estimates that or more of 421 demolitions were tied to those projects. The big wave of demolitions in Avondale and in most other neighbor- hoods came in 2012 and 2013 as the economy began its slow recovery and city leaders began to assess the damage wrought by years of turmoil. Some of the problems new: For decades, many neighborhoods in A decade of demolition Avondale, East Price Hill lost the most homes in Cincinnati Dan Horn Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK The demolition of blighted properties like this one on McPherson Avenue in 2012 should help not hurt property values in Price Hill. COMMUNITY PRESS FILE Ozie Davis, executive director of the Avondale Comprehensive Development speaks with supporters. THE GREENE See DECADE, Page 2A You often see high school prin- cipals urging a city to help a developer open a restaurant, beer garden and brewery across from a school.

But happening on Cin- West Side, where local leaders- believe a place to get a sandwich and a beer could breathe life into two of Cin- most populous and oldest neighborhoods. Getting businesses to open in East Price Hill and West Price Hill has been a challenge, particularly around what many consider the center, Elder and Se- ton high schools. why Elder Principal Kurt ing recently found himself before Cin- cinnati City Council. He urged members to approve $2 million to rehab a block of buildings directly across from his school on Glenway Avenue. Development, run by Elder graduates, is slated to develop the prop- erties.

will be a lot of support for this told City Council. addition to Elder High School, just for the residents of Price Hill, they deserve On Friday nights in the fall, 7,500 people on average show up to famed Pit stadium to catch a football game. But if they want to celebrate a win, they have to drive elsewhere. the restaurant, hopefully, after events at Seton and Elder, families will have a place to told The En- quirer. you take a football game, there is a lot of tailgating going on after the game.

Maybe those people will walk across the Resident Laura Hamilton has pushed for the redevelopment of this block for years. going to be the biggest thing built in West Price Hill in 50 she said. one develops anything The neighborhood lacks a sit-down restaurant, said Seton President Kathy Ciarla. our students and families after a good game (or) a musical production, to come across the street and interact with the community here, I think Ciarla said. Council approved the $5 million pro- ject to turn the mostly vacant block across the street into a restaurant, beer garden and brewery.

The city is putting $2.8 million into the project, with mon- ey coming from federal block grants, the Price Hill eager for area development Scott Wartman Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK From left, Elder principal Kurt Ruffing, Seton president Kathy Allen Ciarla, Price Hill Will executive director Rachel Hastings, Daffin Development president Jim Daffin, and Patrick Daffin stand outside several buildings being developed into a restaurant and beer garden on the 2000 block of Glenway Avenue on Aug. 26 in West Price Hill. ALBERT ENQUIRER See DEVELOP, Page 2A.