Scott Wartman

swartman@enquirer.com

One of the largest free-swinging bells in the world caught Kaitlin Sherman's eye as she strolled past the courthouse in Newport Friday afternoon.

Sherman traveled to the area from her home in Norfolk, Va. to attend a wedding. She wondered why such a large bell would be right across from a White Castle and adjacent to a large blacktop parking lot.

"I noticed how random it was," Sherman said. "I wasn't expecting to see a giant bell."

Not being from here, Sherman wasn't aware of the 1,200-foot Freedom Tower that the World Peace Bell was supposed to crown 15 years ago on the site.

While the tower never happened, the World Peace Bell site might finally see something built soon - after almost two decades of dormancy. The extension of Ky. 9, aka AA Highway, into Newport has rekindled interest among developers in the peace bell, leaders said.

Southbank Partners, an economic development agency that runs the World Peace Bell, has talked to four developers in the past three months, said Jack Moreland, the organization's president.

"The reason why it's important today and not yesterday or two years ago or five years ago is because people see Route 9 being constructed as we speak," Moreland said. "The area around Route 9, not only here but up to 12th Street is going to be really good for development. It's the game changer. It's the 800-pound gorilla in the room."

What could be developed on the site remains undetermined, Moreland said. The lot's owner, developer Wayne Carlisle, told the Enquirer on Friday he would like an office building. Carlisle commissioned the peace bell in the 1990s and envisioned the Freedom Tower.

"We're open for business," Carlisle told The Enquirer. "I'd love to see an office building there. We've looked at a lot of things."

The central location makes the land very valuable, he said. More residents are set to move into the area. Across the street sits Monmouth Row apartments. Next to Monmouth Row, the former Newport Intermediate School will get rehabbed into apartments. Not far from there Newport on the Levee is adding an $80 million hotel and apartment complex known as Aqua on the Levee.

Many residents want to see the area become a central park, but the value of the land most likely will make that unfeasible.

A central park for Newport topped the wish list of dozens of residents who provided input for a plan to improve the quality of life in the city, said resident and community organizer Josh Tunning. The plan, called ReNewport, will be unveiled March 10.

Newport residents in 2014 created renderings of a central park by the peace bell and started a Change.org petition with 150 signatures.

"Look at Washington Park in downtown Cincinnati," Tunning said. "If you have a central park, think of all the people that would come to Monmouth Street, come to Newport on the Levee and the new high-end apartments. Could you imagine what it would do to the value of those places?"

A park is not likely, Moreland said. Whatever is there, it will require an underground garage, Moreland said. The loss of nearby parking lots to the Ky. 9 extension and other developments have increased the need for parking, he said.

Moreland said they are looking at how to finance an underground garage. Some work has already been done at the site. Steel pylons meant for the Freedom Tower remain underneath the parking lot.

The city of Newport has talked with Carlisle for the past year about what could be done with the site. In his state of the city address on Monday, Newport City Manager Tom Fromme mentioned the talks as one of the many positive signs of development in the city.

"It's really a unique site," Fromme said. "It's a great view of downtown Cincinnati. It's in an easily accessible area and has the added attraction of being home to the the peace bell...It's kinda of a site that sells itself."

Carlisle couldn't say what would go on the site but said it won't be "the wrong thing."

Meanwhile, Sherman, bundled up in a black coat against the wind tearing through the parking lot, looked at the World Peace Bell and 9/11 memorial for firefighters in front. She said it could use some more greenery.

"If the city were to plant more trees and do something with this parking lot over here," Sherman said. "If you could turn it into a park, that would be awesome."