Friday, March 19, 1999
Warsaw Avenue gets attention long absent
Business, community leaders join
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A team of business and community leaders is working on plans to rejuvenate a Price Hill business district.
Melissa Wegman speaks about early American architectural designs, tree-scaped sidewalks, two-lane traffic and pull-in bus stops.
Those are some of the ideas for revitalizing a two-mile stretch on Warsaw Avenue, from Grand Avenue on the east to Glenway Avenue on the west, which makes up the Warsaw Business District.
Some 30 businesses have joined the revitalization effort. The city of Cincinnati gave the district a $25,000 planning grant two years ago.
“I think we have to build on the historic values of this area to get people who pass through to stop, look and shop,” Ms. Wegman said. “As people drive through and see broken windows and boarded-up businesses and houses, they form a misconception and don't stop.”
Ms. Wegman is part of the Wegman Co., an office furniture firm on Warsaw Avenue. She said her company is expanding in the area — last year it bought a 100-year-old former firehouse at 3120 Warsaw, along with five other buildings in the block.
Plans for the district received renewed interest when the community investment partners (CIP) provided $500,000 last year for planning improvements in the Seminary Square Eco-Village project, which includes a majority of the Warsaw Business District.
CIP is made up of Fifth Third Bank, the Procter & Gamble Foundation, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and the United Way & Community Chest.
“We have included the Warsaw Business District in the village project,” said Eileen Branigan Schenk, project director. “The village project is a major revitalization effort that includes a 50-block area ... The Warsaw Business District plans are separate from the village projects, but they have to go together because they intersect.”
She said residents and businesses in the Seminary Square Eco-Village project will meet again on May 8 at the Price Hill Community Center, 959 Hawthorne Ave., to get feedback on ideas that the University of Cincinnati's planning department will provide.
Ms. Wegman said she has visited other business districts such as Hyde Park and Oakley.
“Facades appear to be an attraction, but they have to be close to the buildings because they can detract from the historic value of a building,” she said.
After meeting with other businesses and property owners along Warsaw Avenue, her suggestions for improvements include: pull-in areas for bus stops, reducing traffic to two lanes on some streets, erecting a clock tower at Grand and Warsaw and better building code enforcement.
“We are working against a lot of negatives such as an area with high drop-out rates, high crime in some areas, high unemployment, low-income families. But the positive side is the historic value and a good housing stock,” Mrs. Schenk said.
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TRISTATE DIGEST
Warsaw Avenue gets attention long absent
Well-heeled glued to TVs
Zoom town gets a boost
