Wednesday, October 13, 1999
City closer to bringing postal center to Bond Hill
Ordinance OK today is next step
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
With 2,300 jobs at stake, Cincinnati City Council will be asked to name Bond Hill as the preferred site for the new postal distribution center.
The Postal Service has outgrown its Dalton Avenue processing and distribution center and has been looking the past year for another site. Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls and other city officials have lobbied to keep the site and its jobs inside city limits.
At today's City Council meeting, City Manager John Shirey will ask council to approve an ordinance that allows him to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the post office. The memorandum names the Bond Hill site as the most likely location.
“The memorandum of agreement indicates that the U.S. post office is giving serious consideration to the city of Cincinnati site and demonstrates that the process is continuing to move forward,” said Richard Mendes, deputy city manager and development coordinator. “The retention of 2,300 jobs is good for the city.”
The memorandum reflects a preliminary understanding between the city and the Postal Service. Final agreements still need to be approved. by both parties.
Cincinnati was competing with a number of suburban communi ties for the distribution center. According to a copy of the memorandum, a 60-acre site, most of it part of the Pauline Warfield Lewis Center in Bond Hill, is the preferred location.
The project calls for building an 800,000-square-foot distribution center, according to a letter sent to city leaders by Andi Udris, the city's director of economic development. Because of the large space needed, city leaders struggled to find a location suitable for the Postal Service.
With the Bond Hill location, several properties would have to be bought and somebuildings demolished. But keeping the distribution center in Cincinnati was a priority for the city, said Councilman Charlie Winburn, who had pushed the Bond Hill site.
“The Bond Hill community could really thrive with this development,” Mr. Winburn said. The jobs at the Postal Service mean there would be 2,300 future diners at nearby restaurants and as many customers at stores, in cluding the underused Swifton Commons shopping center.
And keeping those jobs in the city protects Cincinnati's tax base, he said. He expects council to pass the proposed ordinance.
The Pauline Warfield Lewis Center is a psychiatric hospital owned by the Ohio Department of Mental Health. The state plans to consolidate its operations on the northern fringe of the 100-acre site. That leaves space for a new, one-story building for the Postal Service.
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