Greetings from the Editor
Dear Friends of Mt. Airy,
I am a lifelong resident of and quite possibly the only living sixth generation inhabitant of Mt. Airy. My great, great, great grandparents were German immigrants and settled in the small crossroads farming village of Mt. Airy in the 1840s. This long family legacy with our beloved community has contributed to my feeling a strong sense of civic pride and a need to try to help make my beloved neighborhood a better place to live. Upon retirement, I decided to become more actively involved and thereby joined the board of Mt. Airy Community Urban Redevelopment Enterprise (CURE). We at CURE have come to the conclusion that one of the problems needing to be addressed is a lack of community engagement. We therefore decided to start a quarterly digital newsletter called the Mt. Airy CUREator to better communicate with all who share our love of all things Mt. Airy.
We will be working with the Mt. Airy Town Council and Mt. Airy Civic Club to provide
information not only about neighborhood issues and projects, but also stories about its people, places and history. The goal of the CUREator is to not only inform, but also educate, entertain and engage. Our first issue will hopefully provide a broad view of what we are seeking to accomplish by focusing on current issues of importance. We also invite you to become active participants in this endeavor. If you have ideas for future articles or would like to become a contributing writer, we would love to have your help. Please email me directly at [email protected]. Lets all work together to make My. Airy a better place to live!
With Kind Regards,
Tom
CUREator 10/24/2024
Greater Cincinnati Water Works Announces a Big Step to Improve Mt. Airy Tanks
One of the most iconic structures in the entire city and symbol of Mt. Airy is overdue for a face-lift. As the Mt. Airy Tanks approach it’s 100th anniversary, GCWW has announced that it will be making a significant investment to fix the crumbling facade. According to deputy director Andy Orth, “it’s to the point now where the structure needs a major overhaul”. They have already begun a $2.8M year-long investigation into stabilizing and maintaining the existing structure and landmark attributes. This will be the first phase of a potentially larger project.
GCWW is also engaging with other city departments to formulate a more comprehensive plan that will impact neighborhood development beyond just fixing the tanks. They have opened up communication with the Departments of Planning, Transportation and Recreation. They have also committed to working directly with the neighborhood to gather input and feedback on future options as a feasibility study is created. Stay tuned as Mt. Airy CURE will be closely coordinating with the City and will announce when they are planning to have community engagement opportunities.
Rep. Greg Landsman Brings in Major Development Funding for Mt. Airy!
On August 2, our congressman Greg Landsman met with CURE President Scott Hand and Mt. Airy Town Council President Tafrinda(TJ) Smith to announce $850,000 in funding for Mt. Airy. This is to be used to make improvements to the dilapidated southeast corner of the Colerain/North Bend intersection. The federal funds are specifically designed to be used by CURE to facilitate site prep and redevelopment of that corner as a catalyst for additional business district improvements.
CURE recently acquired the Warsaw Wireless building in addition to the adjacent properties to consolidate a large enough area to begin the redevelopment process. Through the incredible community engagement that led to the Mt. Airy Plan in 2023, we have a direction to provide an improved business district that includes businesses, housing and safer streets. CURE is expecting to continue working with the City and development partners to create a phased development to help support Mt. Airy.
New Improvements Implemented at Mt. Airy Commons Thanks to Grant from Keep Cincinnati Beautiful
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful(KCB) has a grant program called Safe and Clean that “is designed to support and encourage community based efforts to improve safety and increased livability through neighborhood level problem solving projects”. Mt. Airy CURE decided this would be the perfect opportunity to seek funds to make improvements to the community space at 5536 Colerain Ave. known as Mt. Airy Commons. The grant application had the four elements of clearing the undeveloped space behind the parking lot of unwanted vegetation, procuring picnic tables to install at the plaza along Colerain, adding security lighting affixed to the Little Brothers building aimed at the parking lot and improve the attractiveness and accessibility of the meandering pathway that runs through the beautiful mural garden area. We were enthusiastically approved for our full asking amount of $21,000! We quickly got to work hiring contractors and buying materials and the tasks are now complete.
The impact of winning this grant award has already had a major impact on our neighborhood. The biggest change to this point is that the clearing of the rear of the property has allowed CURE to quickly transform this space into a community garden. Eight raised beds for growing vegetables and herbs, a pumpkin patch and a pollinator garden have already been established with more exciting future plans in the pipeline. The addition of the picnic tables, security lighting and rebuilt pathway have resulted in increased pedestrian traffic in the Commons. We invite all to come and enjoy this beautiful space and watch as we continue to make improvements.
3rd Saturday Beautification Committee
