By John Eckberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer

An event like the implosion of Cinergy Field, now just four days away, comes around about once a generation. But when it does, it makes a welcome impression on the balance sheet of large and small Tristate companies.

In fact, many in the local hospitality industry say somewhat tongue-in-cheek that they wish there was something like it more often, say, once a month.

"We are booked up," says John Gureen, general manager of Embassy Suites Rivercenter in Covington. "The only rooms we have available are rooms that do not have a view. When people first started thinking about blowing up Cinergy, people started calling even though there was no timetable set.

"I think anybody with a view of the city skyline (has experienced) ... the same demand."

Many Greater Cincinnati entrepreneurs, hotel owners, restaurant managers and photographers are scrambling to mine some gold from the dust of departing Cinergy Field, formerly known as Riverfront Stadium.

One photographer circled the stadium taking pictures of every sign in the place for a poster that is already on sale. Others are lining spots on the Kentucky riverbank for that perfect position to catch the controlled chaos of the collapse.

Cinergy will be imploded at 8 a.m. Sunday, to the delight of people looking to make a little money on the event.

Photographer Miles Wolf says he plans to shoot the implosion with a wide-format camera from a nearby office building to ensure detailed photographs for collectors. He will sell prints at his Wolf Photo galleries.

Earlier this year, entrepreneur Edward Evers got the bright idea that people buying salvaged Cinergy seats might also want buy a custom steel bracket to anchor the seats in hundreds if not thousands of family rooms in the Tristate and - perhaps - across the nation. With some modifications, the brackets will also fit seats from Cleveland Municipal, Milwaukee County Stadium and Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. (Call 385-7352 for more information.)

"I happened to be in the right trade at the right time," said Mr. Evers, a Rose-Hulman University engineering graduate who realized a good thing when he saw it.

He has a family room in his Colerain Township house and bought a few seats from Cinergy to put in the room of sports memorabilia. When he saw that the seats needed brackets before they could be used, Mr. Evers went to work.

He designed a couple of brackets, showed them to Michael O'Rourke, whose company is in charge of the Cinergy Field demolition and soon was hunting a subcontractor to create a couple thousand brackets for those who were buying the treasured seats.

"I saw it as something I could make a little money with," he said. "It's pretty tough for somebody without my background to come up with something fast to make the seats usable. So we fabricated a bunch of red and blue brackets and have been selling them for $30 each.

"I guess we've sold about 6,000."

There was no need for an advanced engineering degree for many to see an opportunity to make some extra holiday jingle. Ted Jackson, general manager of the InBetween Tavern and Restaurant at Sycamore and Third streets, plans to open at 6 a.m.

"They're saying the crowds will rival the fireworks," he said. "Already we've gotten a lot of calls - people want to put in reservations - but it's going to be first-come, first-served."

John Davis, vice president of sales and marketing for BB, based at the wharf on Covington Landing, could see early on that the best seats in the house for the implosion are on the Kentucky side of the river.

"We've pretty much packed the house, sold out everything we have," he said. Catering at One Riverboat Row, a BB banquet facility in Newport, has 325 reservations for a breakfast that morning.

The company's fleet of three riverboats will be on the water that morning. People looking for a spot on the rail of the Belle of Cincinnati have waited too long, he said. It is already sold out with reservations capped at 650. The other two boats are sold out, as well.

"This level of interest is like a Tall Stacks," he said. "We have booked everything we own. With economy the way it is, the first thing to take a cut at a company is usually an outing.

"Because of that, business this year has been down. As far as we're concerned, we would hope that they'd blow up a building every day."

The implosion was not the why Shawn Somers and Mike Shirley bought the Lady Dean II yacht in October - which has been renamed Destiny Yacht and is a party boat.

Two realized when the implosion was announced their party boat would be a perfect floating grandstand. "I can't imagine a better seat," said Mr. Somers.

The boat is filling up fast, he said, but some slots were still open at $45 for a seat and a huge breakfast buffet. They plan on motoring to the mouth of the Licking River on implosion morning to give up to 149 passengers a front row memory of dust, debris and the demise of Cinergy.

Call 921-3210 at Destiny Yacht Charters for more information.

Dave Eisenacher, director of sales at River Metals Recycling, a Newport metal division of David J. Joseph Co., said his company has focused so far on recycling the steel from the parking garage.

The material has been cleaned of concrete debris and cut into smaller pieces to be loaded into barges and shipped to steel mills in the Midwest. There, it will be turned into coil steel for autos or beams for buildings or other uses.

"We're really working our way to the big portion of the stadium but it's coming along well. Once the implosion comes, we'll be extremely busy in January and February," Mr. Eisenacher said.

While the quest for revenues have led some to focus their business on the residue from Cinergy's last moments, capturing memories will surely bring others to the Ohio River shore that morning.

In fact, the implosion is already a big topic among some amateur photographers.

At Provident Camera, 18 W. Seventh St., customers stop in just about every day to ask about the event.

"We've told them that it can be dangerous because of the dust," said Provident Camera's Ben Lefton.

"You don't want to be too close and ruin your equipment. I think people are looking at alternative sites - maybe Devou Park or someplace where you don't have to worry about the crowd."

Of course professional photographers are planning to shoot the implosion, and, perhaps, make a little money on the side.

Chris Shenton of Chris Shenton Photography, based in Fairfax, plans to set up down river from the stadium on Sunday. He hopes that it's not going to rain or snow that morning and is not terribly worried about dust.

"I'll put a bag over the front and get the motor drive going," he said. What's this memory going to be worth for those who don't have the time or inclination to actually see the implosion in person? "I'll have stock available and hope to sell them for $50 for an 8-by-10," he said.

E-mail jeckberg@enquirer.com

Recent stories:
Home is best place to watch Cinergy go down
Demolition goal: A gentle explosion
Info, maps
Police working to keep public out of danger
Implosion wheres, whens, and don'ts
Camera to give its life capturing inside look