BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BLUE ASH -- A $450,000 expansion and fix-up begun this fall at the city's square near Cooper, Kenwood and Hunt roads is only the beginning of an ambitious effort to upgrade the city's downtown core.
Next year, work will begin on a $300,000, 24-to-26-foot-high bell tower to honor notable Americans as the city celebrates the millennium. Plans call for the tower to be dedicated in May 2000. "I recommended the bell tower to city council as the Blue Ash American Heritage Tower, to recognize great Americans from our past," City Manager Marvin Thompson said.
Illustrator Gary Carson will design etchings of the honorees. Mr. Carson also created the illustrations of American servicemen and -women from various wars used for the sculptures that ring the veterans memorial next to Towne Square, city officials said.
The bell tower's four columns will have recessed niches, each holding three black granite etchings of famous Americans in historic settings. There will be eight external niches to accommodate 24 etchings; additional space is provided for more niches for future honorees. The etchings will be 24 by 22 inches and include up to 25 words of explanatory text, Mr. Thompson said.
"Some of these people are no-brainers, such as George Washington at Valley Forge," Mr. Thompson said. "Or Lincoln, Jefferson, Franklin, Martin Luther King."
A committee of 10 residents, school officials and business people will choose the honorees, Mr. Thompson said. All honorees must be deceased for at least five years. The goal is to honor a cross-section of Americans who contributed to their country, he said.
The tower project will begin after improvements to the square, just started, are completed next fall. The tower will be between the veterans memorial and Towne Square.
"The city square, as it was designed in the 1980s, was a passive park," Mr. Thompson said. "But in . . . the last 10 years, it has become an active place with several of the city's large social events.' The square is home to the annual Taste of Blue Ash, which draws an average of 250,000 people over three days. A series of popular community concerts and other events draw large audiences, he said.
"We will provide a new, three-tiered viewing area, giving the whole square a fresh look," Mr. Thompson said. The new viewing area will extend east toward Hunt Road.
Mr. Thompson said the project also will involve new brick walls and other changes.
Also, the city will invest about $200,000 on a four-year streetscape program started in the spring to spruce up the area surrounding the Blue Ash Veterans Memorial Park and Towne Square areas. The streetscape project will involve some new brick pavers, an irrigation system, new trees, bushes and other plantings.
