Friday, May 05, 2000
A monument to steamboats
Ground breaks today for $2.8M project
By John Johnston
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tall Stacks celebrations aside, there's little along the Cincinnati riverfront to reflect the region's ties to steamboat history. But that's about to change.
At 9:30 this morning, with the historic Delta Queen riverboat here for its annual homecoming, ground will be broken for the National Steamboat Monument at the foot of Broadway Street on the Public Landing.
The $2.8 million monument is a joint project of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission and the Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Com mission. It's being funded with $2.4 million in state money; the remainder was raised by the Tall Stacks Commission.
“Our vision was ... the importance of putting something on the riverfront that identifies the heritage of Cincinnati and the steamboat age,” said Wayne Bain, recreation commission di rector.
The project should be complete by January 2001, officials say. Key parts of the monument:
• The paddle wheel. It's the original 30-foot-diameter, 60-ton, bright red paddle wheel from the American Queen. The steamboat, the largest overnight passenger vessel built by a U.S. shipyard since the 1950s, began operations in 1995.
“We were damaging (the paddle wheel) as we were running it, because it wasn't quite the size we needed,” said Russ Varvel, vice president of marketing for the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., which owns the vessel. The company replaced the paddle wheel with a slightly smaller one, and donated the original to Cincinnati.
During Tall Stacks 1999, the paddle wheel was dis played on a barge anchored along the Serpentine Wall. It's being stored in Wilder.
• Whistle Grove. It's described as a “multisensory, interactive instrument” by its creator, Christopher Janney of Lexington, Mass. The 50-year-old artist/composer works out of his PhenomenArts Inc. studio and is known for using technology to blend sound and architecture.
Two dozen 10-foot, stainless steel columns, or torchiers, that resemble smokestacks will surround the paddle wheel. As visitors walk past the columns, photo sensors will trigger sounds such as a calliope, voices of river men or steamboat whistles.
“It'll be a collage of sounds, never the same way twice,” Mr. Janney said. “Every column has its own speaker, so it's a natural mix of sound.”
Whistle Grove could be played as an instrument, with its computer-controlled sounds linked to a musical keyboard, Mr. Janney said. “I would like to score a piece with the Cincinnati Pops, where you could play this thing with a keyboard. We could do a concert out there.”
The photo sensors also will set off steam jets at the top of each torchier, Mr. Janney said. Like the sounds, the steam can be programmed to go off at certain intervals, such as on the hour. And when the new baseball stadium opens, it might be possible to trigger the steam jets when a Reds player hits a home run, Mr. Janney said.
“When the 24 torchiers all go off at once ... there will be some serious smoke signals,” he said. “It'll be fun.”
• The Riddle. A plaque some where in the grove will be inscribed with text and images based on steamboat lore. A visitor who deciphers the riddle will be rewarded with a brief performance by the columns.
In addition, the grove will include a series of plaques that explain riverboat history, and the Queen City's role.
“The heyday of (Cincinnati's) growth and development really was fueled by the steamboat age,” said Rick Greiwe, president of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. and a member of the Tall Stacks Commission.
In 1852, with the steamboat trade peaking, some 8,000 riverboat landings were recorded here. The river was the primary means of shipping manufactured goods to the south and west.
Tall Stacks celebrates that heritage, but the event has been held only four times — 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1999. “This (monument) will be a daily reminder of our ties with the river and the steamboat age,” Mr. Greiwe said.
The state of Ohio's $2.4 million contribution to the project is part of $4.3 million granted in 1997 for riverfront improvements.
“I don't think there's any doubt this is going to be a draw,” said Mr. Bain, noting that Bicentennial Commons at Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove already attract about 2 million visitors a year.
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