City has high hopes for revitalization projects

Art center and Cincinnati State branch campus take more feasible approach, says mayor.

Tim Goldrainer of the Menus performed in 2009 at Governor's Square in Middletown. City officials say events like the Broad Street Bash show downtown is coming back to life.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Tim Goldrainer of the Menus performed in 2009 at Governor's Square in Middletown. City officials say events like the Broad Street Bash show downtown is coming back to life.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Central Avenue in Middletown, Ohio is adorned with several vacant buildings.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 1:22 AM Sunday, November 28, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — Walking the main drag of Central Avenue through the center of downtown, counting the 37 vacant storefronts that line the street, it’s hard to imagine Middletown is on its way up.

Many can still remember when you couldn’t drive down that main drag because city officials had spent $2.6 million to create a walkway and canopy for the City Centre Mall. Resident Hugh Kindwell, 70, while strolling the sidewalks in front of the now-defunct mall stores, said he doesn’t remember a lot of people being negative about the mall in 1973 when it broke ground.

“I think people thought it would help bring people down here,” he said. “And it did bring some — just not enough.”

So when Kindwell said he heard about plans for the city to open a new art center and possibly a new college branch campus, his interest was tainted with skepticism of the past.

“I hope they can do it. I hope it’s not another City Centre Mall,” he said.

Despite ongoing economic problems, downtown has seen its share of action in 2010 with the city spending roughly $1.9 million on various renovation and revitalization projects. Some of those projects include razing several old buildings in hopes of future development, the signing of the final contract for Pendleton Art Center to open a new studio on Broad Street and negotiations with Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to open a new branch campus.

“I think the biggest difference this go-round is we have partners coming to the table,” Mayor Larry Mulligan said. “It was strictly the city’s idea for a mall. This time we aren’t the only party.”

And while he said the city could have opened its own art or education center, it is instead partnering with institutions that have a track record of success and can operate the programs.

“We are encouraging and doing some planning to shake things up,” Mulligan said. “That is the role the government should play. It is not a developer.”

Local historian Sam Ashworth said he feels the new projects coming to downtown are not so much trying to change the city’s identity as actually creating one for its downtown.

“This is different than the past because we aren’t really turning it into anything else. For many years, it hasn’t been anything,” he said.

Is the city turning a corner?

City officials have plans in the works to turn things around downtown. But are the plans enough to revitalize an area that has struggled for more than 30 years? That’s the question on everybody’s minds.

Ann Mort said she moved to Middletown 40 years ago because of its schools and the promise it held for her family. Since then, she has lived through some of its low points, such as Lake Middletown and the end of the City Centre Mall. All through that time she said she has never given up hope on the city she calls home, but she has also never felt so optimistic.

“I am very encouraged by all the action. There are a lot of little things happening and a lot of big things,” she said. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way we intend, but you pick up and go in another direction.”

Projects that have especially piqued her interest are the new $7.4 million Greentree Health Science Academy and preliminary plans by Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to move a new branch campus downtown. Mort said she thinks the city is finally taking advantage of its strategic position between Dayton and Cincinnati to bring in new business.

“It’s a new world,” she said. “Lots of things are different and it’s a bigger world out there than we saw in the past,” Mort said.

Why save downtown?

Since the 1970s, city officials have chased project after project in an attempt to revitalize downtown. Much focus and development recently has centered on Middletown’s East End near Interstate 75, but Economic Development Director Mike Robinette said downtown is also very marketable and worth saving.

“I think the perception is it is dead and that some people even question why we are trying to save it, but if you look objectively at the assets of our downtown and compare those to (other) downtowns, I would say the opposite is true,” Robinette said.

The historic significance tied to downtown coupled by the nearby South Main Street Historic District is a draw for many residents. It has buildings that can be renovated — which Robinette said can equate to cost-savings when compared to constructing new in the East End. Those businesses that are drawn to downtown are not as dependent on highway access, either, and would not have as much franchise, big box competition.

“I don’t see (downtown and the East End) competing against each other... and we’re lucky to be able to supply such two distinct opportunities for business.”

Money vs. risk

Kris Allen, 28, said she was born in Middletown and can only remember its downtown with the City Centre Mall and watching the roof come down in the new millennium. It’s a place she only comes to now to pay the occasional late water bill.

“I don’t care what they do, really, but I think the city should stop spending money,” Allen said. “If people want to come here, great. But they should use their own money at least for projects, not taxpayers’ money.”

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