By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WALNUT HILLS - What was once the most exclusive hotel in Cincinnati will be the topic tonight of a meeting about neighborhood crime problems.

Opened in 1891, The Alms Hotel on Victory Parkway was a place to see and be seen for decades. Big acts played in the Marie Antoinette Ballroom. The arcade had shops, a dance studio and doctor's offices.

The hotel's one remaining building, built in 1925, is the Alms Hill Apartments, with subsidized rents for more than 200 tenants. Police complain that the place is a haven for criminals.

The hotel and surrounding crime will be discussed tonight at a neighborhood safety meeting, the second in Councilman David Pepper's series of talks with residents in high-crime areas.

"We've had several concerns with the building,'' said District 4 Commander Capt. Richard Schmalz. "It's been a real problem for us.''

Pepper toured the building Tuesday with Walnut Hills neighborhood Officer Tara Newberry. They saw problems from aging wiring and holes in ceilings, he said, to locks rendered useless with tissues stuffed in them.

"They said the drug dealers do that so they have an escape route,'' Pepper said. Newberry made a trespassing arrest while they were there, he said.

A new property manager took over in November, Pepper said, and has made some improvements in tenant screening and has increased evictions.

Email jprendergast@enquirer.com