By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Leon Johnson, a history buff ready to retire until the Freedom Center came along, talks to employees about the center's significance. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

For the hundreds of men and women in hard hats who pour concrete, climb scaffolds and weld steel to rebuild Cincinnati's riverfront, the primary reward is a paycheck.

But for many, punching in each day at the Great American Ball Park, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center or the soon-to-be demolished Cinergy Field carries a feeling they don't get when building yet another suburban shopping plaza.

Many say the rebirth of Cincinnati's riverfront is something historic, something special - and they're in on the ground floor.

"I'm excited going to work every day," said Leon Johnson, who works at the Freedom Center as safety coordinator for the construction management team, Megen, Dugan & Meyers, Brown. "This is just not another job."

The concrete-and-steel frame of the $45 million Freedom Center has risen quickly since construction began in June and remains on schedule to open in the summer of 2004, Freedom Center officials say.

Workers pour a concrete pillar at the Second Street Freedom Center site. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

The center that will chronicle the struggle to end slavery has a special meaning to Mr. Johnson, an African-American and history buff who lives in Louisville. He was ready to retire until the Freedom Center project came along.

"My wife and I talked about it a lot. And in the end, I just felt I couldn't miss a chance to be a part of this," said Mr. Johnson. "It's a historic thing."

Once a week, Mr. Johnson walks from the construction management trailer on Second Street and takes an elevator to the top of the 35-story 312 Walnut St. office building to snap a photograph of the Freedom Center. It is his way of documenting the transformation of an empty lot next to Cinergy Field into a 158,000-square-foot learning center.

He has the pictures glued to a large poster board he keeps in the construction trailer and shows them off proudly to visitors.

As on most large construction sites, new employees showing up for work in hard hats and boots at the Freedom Center site are required to go through a short orientation.

Mr. Johnson conducts the sessions. The first topic is safety on the work site. Mr. Johnson is proud of the fact that, as of yet, there have been no on-the-job injuries.

"I don't want to talk about it too much," he said one recent afternoon as he tromped through the Freedom Center site while a crane swiveled overhead, carrying a bucket of concrete. "I don't want to jinx it."

But the second topic is one not often discussed on construction sites. Mr. Johnson talks to the employees about the Freedom Center and what it will mean as a historical and educational attraction.

"We want them to know the significance of what they are working on," Mr. Johnson said. "We want them to have pride in what they are creating. There isn't anybody here who hasn't thought about what this project means."

Ballpark rounds third

About 200 yards east of where construction workers are raising the Freedom Center, a project supervisor for Hunt Construction Group bounded up the stairs of the Sun Deck/Moon Deck section beyond the right field wall of Great American Ball Park, his heavy work boots pounding the concrete.

"This thing has been a job," said Paul Tillar, one of several project superintendents for the $330 million ball park. "I've gone through three pairs of boots already."

Hunt Construction's crews are racing to have the 42,053-seat home for the Cincinnati Reds ready for next spring's opener.

Except for interior work on restaurants, private boxes and concessions and the fact that about half the seats still need to be hoisted in and bolted down, Great American Ball Park looks ready to host a major league baseball game.

The infield grass is lush and green; the view of the Ohio River over the right field wall spectacular. Recently, Reds' head groundskeeper Doug Gallant circled the infield on a tractor, raking the dirt, while Mr. Tillar showed visitors the $175 Scout seats behind home plate, the most expensive seats to be had.

Mr. Tillar said he and most of the construction workers take great pride in what they are doing for Cincinnati's riverfront. After all, many of them have done it before in other cities.

Hunt Construction Co. built Comerica Park in Detroit, Bank One Ball Park in Phoenix, Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, Jacobs Field in Cleveland, and many more.

Mr. Tillar's nerves grate when he hears people call Great American "a stadium."

"This is not a stadium; that's a stadium," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, west in the direction of Paul Brown Stadium. "This is a ballpark."

And, for Mr. Tillar, who grew up in the Cincinnati area as a true-blue Reds fans, it is not just any ballpark. It is something special.

"I've been a Reds fan ever since I could walk," said Mr. Tillar. "I'm doing something here for my team."

From the Sun Deck, he looked west into the hollowed-out interior of Cinergy Field, soon to be imploded.

"I spent a lot of time in the stands over there," Mr. Tillar said. "A lot of good memories. But there's going to be a lot of good memories made in this place, too."

As he took visitors through the yet-to-be-completed Crosley Terrace area outside the main gates of Great American, he pointed out the posts where the statues of four Reds greats who played all of their careers at old Crosley Field - Ted Kluszewski, Frank Robinson, Ernie Lombardi and Joe Nuxhall - will soon stand.

He hunted, too, among the commemorative bricks paid for by fans and laid in Crosley Terrace for the one he and some of his fellow construction workers paid for - a brick in memory of Bill Moskal, a professional consultant for the ballpark project who was killed in the World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001.

"He was a good man, a friend," Mr. Tillar said, spotting the brick. "He'll always be a part of this place."

Mr. Tillar pointed over to the south side of Cinergy Field, at the twisted rebar and concrete chunks of what used to be the stadium plaza.

When Cinergy comes down, he said, the construction team can begin turning part of the Cinergy site into an outside concourse for Great American, including a special monument marking the spot where Pete Rose's record-breaking hit number 4,192 landed.

"That was a great old place," Mr. Tillar said of Cinergy, "but I'll be glad when it is gone."

Farewell to Cinergy

Mike O'Rourke is the man who will make that happen. His demolition company, O'Rourke Wrecking, has the contract to implode the former home of the Reds and Bengals.

It is scheduled to happen at 8 a.m.Dec. 29, clearing the way for further redevelopment of the riverfront.

Someday, the spaces between Great American, the Freedom Center and the Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium may be filled with a residential and commercial development known as The Banks, along with a $70 million park.

But the removal of Cinergy must happen first, even before the building of underground parking garages that planners hope will someday be the foundation of more riverfront development.

Mr. O'Rourke said he and his employees feel a sense of responsibility as they prepare for Dec. 29.

"I've spent a lot of time in that ballpark; it will be kind of sad to see it go," said Mr. O'Rourke.

His employees on the Cinergy Field job are "almost all West Side born and bred, true Reds fans. They take pride in all the jobs they do," he said.

But this job, he said, is special.

"This is not just any job," Mr. O'Rourke said. "We know we are part of the rebirth of the riverfront. It's not just another paycheck for our people."

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com