The goal of the CUREator is to not only inform, but also educate, entertain and engage. 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!
CUREator Issue #3
New Property Acquisition Opens the Door for Mt. Airy South Gateway Development
After many years of collaboration, this past August Mt. Airy CURE, with the help of the City of Cincinnati and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development, was able to acquire the Warsaw Wireless cell phone store at 5460 Colerain Ave. This property, at the strategic southeast corner of Colerain Ave. and North Bend Rd., completes a much larger parcel that includes eleven additional adjacent properties with four buildings to make a total area of nearly 2.5 acres. The buildings on these properties have long been vacant and have gradually deteriorated. Sadly, the urban blight at this corner has come to reflect negatively on the Mt. Airy neighborhood as a whole to anyone passing through this very busy intersection.
We at CURE are currently working with authorities to have all five of these buildings demolished and expect this to happen in the near future. The next steps are to continue working with the Port and the Department of Economic Development on demolition and site cleanup. CURE expects this work to begin in the first half of 2025. After the site is cleared, we will be meeting with development partners to investigate future construction options. Our mission is to support the Mt Airy business district and we feel this project is representative of what we learned following the community engagement process done while making the Mt. Airy Plan. Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns and hopefully you will be seeing action at the corner soon.
A Fruitful Future for Mt. Airy
This past fall, the Mt. Airy Commons Community Garden Committee took the next step toward fulfilling its vision by planting a fruit orchard. Over a dozen trees were planted on CURE owned land just behind the cell tower in the heart of the business district. It can be accessed by foot or from either the Commons parking lot or the lot behind Thornton’s. This space was first cleared of invasive vegetation (primarily honeysuckle) and numerous tall trees were dropped to provide a sunny and fertile area for the fruit trees to thrive.
With a generous gift from Duke Energy, the committee partnered with the Common Orchard Project to plant 13 fruit trees including apple, peach, pear, pawpaw and jujube. Additional plans to plant herbs and fruit shrubs like bush cherry and blackberry are in the works for this spring. The Common Orchard Project is a fantastic venture with a mission “to provide increased food access, tree canopy, walkable green space, and community building in neighborhoods that have experienced disinvestment.” While it will take time to see the fruits of our labors, the orchard is a key component of our budding community garden as we seek to provide fresh and nutritious produce for the Mt. Airy community.
City Helps To Make Mt. Airy Streets Safer
For anyone living in Mt. Airy, excessive speeding along our main thoroughfares is quite evident, and advocating for safer roads and sidewalks is something that is a high priority for Mt. Airy CURE. In late 2022, in response to data showing greater instances of traffic and pedestrian fatalities, Cincinnati City Council passed the Complete Streets ordinance. Some of the traffic reforms that have resulted citywide include bike lanes, raised crosswalks, new sidewalks and speed cushions. CURE, along with Mt. Airy Town Council have established a strong relationship with the Cincinnati Department of Traffic and Engineering (DOTE) and have been working cooperatively to see significant progress in 2024. As we look to the future, we are seeking to take further steps to make our neighborhood safer and more pedestrian friendly.
The most evident change has been along the nearly two mile stretch of the Colerain Avenue hill. This has long been a race track that is fraught with high speed accidents that are too often fatal. Over the past year, five sets of speed cushions spanning all four lanes were built, electronic speed signs have been added and the speed limit has been painted on the roadway. While it is too early to measure the effectiveness of these projects through statistics, in speaking to residents that frequently travel this stretch, the general observation is that there has been a significant improvement in speed reduction. CURE and Town Council are also pushing for similar traffic calming projects to be implemented on both North Bend and Kipling Roads where high speed accidents are also a big problem. Another long needed 2024 accomplishment was the installation of a sidewalk on Kirby Avenue south of North Bend allowing for those living at the Sun Valley Apartments to walk safely to the neighborhood including children going to school.
For 2025, DOTE has numerous new projects in the pipeline. They plan to add a three inch high raised crosswalk in the center of the business district. This very welcome measure should not only slow traffic, it will greatly add to making Mt. Airy a more pedestrian friendly place. They also intend to engineer for a new traffic signal at the dangerous Colerain/Shepherd intersection for hopeful installation in 2026.
Remembering A Neighborhood Treasure
While she is not as famous as some other past residents of Mt. Airy like Powell Crosley, Ruth Lyons or Ken Griffey Jr., perhaps no one in the proud history of our neighborhood has meant more to the community than Cindee Walsh. Cindee lived in the Raeburn subdivision of Mt. Airy and possessed a strong sense of local fraternity which led to her involvement in a multitude of volunteer groups. She devoted untold hours giving back through any and all organizations devoted to the betterment of the neighborhood. She was particularly passionate about beautification and spearheaded countless cleanup events, flower planting and holiday decorating. She was instrumental in the founding of Mt. Airy CURE and was a driving force for the acquisition of the Klosterman Dry Cleaners property which is now the business district centerpiece Mt. Airy Commons. She also led the charge to save the Mt. Airy Water Tanks from potential demolition which led to its designation on the historic register, thereby assuring its survival as the iconic symbol of our community.
Sadly, we lost Cindee to cancer but she leaves a lasting legacy that will have a positive impact on Mt. Airy for years to come. Fortunately, not too long before she passed, Cincinnati Parks dedicated a beautiful picnic area at Mt. Airy Forest to her where she was a long time volunteer. She attended the ceremony with a big smile on her face and is now smiling down on us as we seek to keep her good works going. Perhaps take a drive around Cindee Walsh Circle to keep her memory alive.
Business Profile: Underdog K-9 Academy
Entrepreneur and Mt. Airy resident Darah Williams’ lifelong love of animals combined with her background in psychology and social services provided a perfect foundation for her to become one of the area’s most highly respected dog trainers. Originally from Canada, Darah moved to Cincinnati in 2007 and established Underdog K-9 Academy, a licensed and insured company that operates out of her home on Mt. Airy Ave. She also travels all over the city where she can go to her clients homes for private sessions. In addition, she conducts outdoor individual training and group classes at Mt. Airy Forest. Check out the website for the multitude of services Underdog provides.
Before em’bark’ing on training her new dog and human customers, Darah starts with a detailed evaluation session where she observes the dog, conducts a comprehensive interview with the owners and then customizes a program tailored to their needs and wishes. Her general philosophy is that every dog, regardless of whatever negative behavior they exhibit, can be transformed into a happy, well adjusted pet. She has a soft spot for dogs
adopted from shelters that exhibit aggressive behavior and has had numerous success stories in facilitating a greater sense of trust and perhaps saving their lives. Working closely with owners is of paramount importance as training the human to be an effective leader is the key to making every furry friend an obedient and loving member of the family. You can email Darah directly at [email protected].
CUREator Issue #2
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.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Tom Wurzelbacher at [email protected]
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.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Tom Wurzelbacher at [email protected]
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.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Tom Wurzelbacher at [email protected]
3rd Saturday Beautification Committee
