Saturday, April 24, 1999

Millennium lot cleared, awaits tower

---

Official talks up bell's role

BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Lot is cleared where Millennium Monument is supposed to be built. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        NEWPORT — The big empty lot across from The Syndicate restaurant on Fifth Street is still empty, but city officials and staff of The Millennium Monument Co. insist that a 1,000-foot-high tower will one day fill the void.

        The tower, which would occupy most of the block bordered by Fourth, Fifth, York and Monmouth streets, has been on the drawing board for a couple of years. To date, only some artist renderings give any hint of what it might look like.

        “It would be neat if everything concerning the tower were finalized, but it isn't,” said advertising/public relations executive Joe Bride, who also serves as vice president of marketing and public relations for Millennium Monument Co.

        “There is no feeling that this is over, that the tower won't be built,” he said. “Everyone involved fully expects to see the tower go up. But there still is no definite time line.”

        He said the Millennium Monument Co. staff is concentrating on the World Peace Bell and its arrival in late summer. The 66,000- pound bronze bell, the largest swinging bell in the world, is on its way from France (where it was cast) to New Orleans and eventually to Newport.

        In the original monument plans, the big bell and several smaller bells were to be a part of the tower. But the Freedom Bell now will hang in its own pavilion somewhere on the block, where it will ring in the year 2000 on New Year's Eve.

        “As to how the tower will be financed, I can't really say at this point,” Mr. Bride said. “But I think the (financing) process will be accelerated as more people become aware of the bell. I think the bell will have an great impact and bring more response for the tower.”

Depiction of tower. | ZOOM |

        The man behind the tower, and the bell, is Northern Kentucky businessman Wayne Carlisle, who was out of town and unavailable for comment Friday.

        But the recent announcement that Mr. Carlisle would sell his construction business has prompted rumors that the deal might push the tower development ahead.

        “I think (the sale) obviously will have an impact on the tower situation,” Mr. Bride said. “It will impact and change (Mr. Carlisle's) life. It couldn't be anything but a positive, where the monument is concerned.”

        He said the plans for the tower have undergone several changes over the months, and new drawings are now in the works.

        The tower will be a single column, 1,000 feet high, with a restaurant still planned on a lower level and an observation deck on an upper level. A millennium museum, based on Life magazine's 100 great events and people of the past millennium, is planned for the ground level.

        “The tower will be visible from I-75 in Covington and Cincinnati,” Mr. Bride said.

        There has been no work of any kind on the block-square lot since all but one building was cleared; the property leveled and partly paved with asphalt; and some concrete pilings were put in place last year.

        The Campbell Towers building at Fourth and York, where the Millennium Monument Co. has its office, is the only remaining structure on the block. A planned implosion to demolish the building is still on hold.

        Newport City Manager Phil Ciafardini said he is still confident that the tower will rise on the downtown site, but he also has no idea when it might happen.

        “The city is doing everything it can to assist the developers in the project,” he said. “I know they are looking at various ways to finance the tower.”

        The Freedom Bell is a reality. Cast in Nantes, France, in December, it will be a part of 4th of July festivities in New Orleans before beginning a journey up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

       

---

Interventions don't help only the alcoholic
Tristate schools act upon threats
Teens: It could happen here
What do you think
Counselors' plea: Open hearts to kids
Light rail could bore through Mt. Auburn
Millennium lot cleared, awaits tower
Crime victims find a friend
Prosecutors' victim/witness assistance programs
Cyberspace threats tracked down
Grandson's band serenades woman on 97th birthday
Justin's birth parents sue their attorney
Y2K highlights our dependence
Campbell Co. official, under probe, resigns
Drunken-driving suspect on bond
Teens arrested in pellet shootings
Ballet's 'Butterfly' turns heartbreak into beauty
GET TO IT
Jazzy soloist shines as CSO alters image
Cemetery ties Lebanon to pioneer times
Chief wants road spikes to slow fleeing suspects
Church will honor retired Rev. Booth this Sunday
Court looks at police probe
Court orders retrial in sisters' murder case
Fernald to have new DOE manager
Foundation honors tree program
Grandparents find help raising kids
Man hurt in crash fleeing police
Mason water, sewer fees rise
Police find 26 guns in car; 5 arrested
Rielage is Ohio's fire marshal
Scouts collecting food, clothes Sunday
TRISTATE DIGEST