Jason Williams

jwilliams@enquirer.com

Efforts to preserve the old Hudepohl brewery could bring a portion of the iconic smokestack to Over-the-Rhine.

Cincinnati-based Fenton Rigging and Contracting estimates it would cost $975,000 to move 70 feet of the 170-foot tall Queensgate landmark, which has long been part of Cincinnati's skyline. The company, however, isn't guaranteeing that any part of the red-brick smokestack can be moved.

"You really don't know until you get into it," said Bill Besl, Fenton's chief operating officer.

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has been assessing whether any parts of the brewery can be preserved since purchasing the blighted and abandoned property last month.

Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. owner Greg Hardman, a leader in Cincinnati's brewing renaissance, is helping to lead efforts to relocate the smokestack or preserve it on the current site. He is scheduled to meet with port authority officials on Thursday.

One possible option is making it a landmark for the burgeoning Brewery District in Over-the-Rhine, Besl said.

The port authority, which receives taxpayer money from the city and Hamilton County, isn't certain yet how the relocation costs would be covered. The port purchased the five-building brewery complex at 801 W. Sixth Street for $400,000. Most of the money came from a Duke Energy grant.

"The port authority is looking into every avenue for the site's renewal, because we know this property is historic and means a lot to the community," spokeswoman Gail Paul said. "There's nothing guaranteed because of the site's condition, but we're working on it."

It's not unprecedented for smokestacks or similar vertical brick structures to be moved. In 1999, the iconic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on North Carolina's Atlantic coast was relocated 2,900 feet from its original spot because of shoreline erosion.

The 208-foot lighthouse is the tallest all-brick structure to be moved intact in the U.S. The black-and-white striped structure is the tallest lighthouse in the nation.

Here at home, initial plans are to move the Hudepohl smokestack in 5-foot sections, Besl said. Each section would weigh about 40,000 pounds, and the smokestack is 1-foot-8-inches thick.

The smokestack reads "HUDEPOHL" written in white-glazed bricks, and the idea is to relocate the portion from the "L" to the top of the stack, Besl said.

"We've moved smokestacks before – small, non-significant structures," Besl said.

Fenton specializes in relocating historic structures. The company also relocated the Tyler Davidson Fountain as part of Fountain Square's remaking and the mosaic murals from Union Terminal's now-demolished passenger concourse to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. •