Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

The Cincinnati Gardens has played an important part in the region's collective sports and entertainment memory since it was built in 1949.

Fans of Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals, Xavier University basketball, The Beatles, and minor-league hockey all have memories of spending time near Langdon Farm Road and Seymour Avenue.

But now, the Roselawn venue sits underused, in need of repair and at the center of what could be an opportunity to add new jobs in the northern Cincinnati neighborhood.

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has entered a contract to buy the Cincinnati Gardens at 2250 Seymour Ave. The venue's current owner, Cincinnati Gardens LLC, would sell a nearly 20-acre property that includes the main arena, an adjacent skating center, and three parking lots.

Gardens sale could have far-reaching affect

But the prize in the deal is the nearly 20 acres of land. The site is surrounded by existing light industrial and manufacturing businesses in addition to being located near existing rail lines and within a few miles of Interstates 71, 75 and the Norwood Lateral.

The Port Authority's board approved a resolution Wednesday to move forward with a $1.75 million purchase. However, the deal isn't expected to close until July or August at the earliest, authority spokeswoman Gail Paul said.

The Gardens has been on the market for three years and the port was interested in buying the property in 2013, said Laura Brunner, the port's president and CEO. However, she said the board recommended waiting until the private sector became a larger force in neighborhood development efforts. The port is marketing MidPointe Crossing, formerly the site of the Swifton Commons shopping center, working to expand the TechSolve business park and acquiring properties throughout the Bond Hill Business District.

In the last few weeks, the port has been conducting inspections at the Cincinnati Gardens as part of its due diligence process.

Port officials believe clearing the buildings from the site would enhance the quasi-public agency's ability to market it to a new user. Demolition could cost the agency about $4.5 million, a price tag that also includes infrastructure upgrades such as utility relocation and grading the site.

"If there were somebody who could make it work as an event center, they'd purchase it," Brunner said. "Our interest is coming in where the private sector isn't. The building (is) past its useful life and purchase by the public sector is the most logical option."

Once the site is cleared and receives infrastructure upgrades, the port said the arena site has the capacity to house 300 new jobs.

Obtaining the Cincinnati Gardens property is part of a larger Port Authority initiative to invest $200 million and help create 12,000 new jobs in the region by 2022. The investments would allow the port to buy and clean up 500 acres of industrial land and jump-start construction on 8 million square feet of manufacturing facilities.

Earlier this year, the port's board approved issuing up to $20 million of bonds to fund industrial site acquisitions. Money could also come from private investors, government entities and other sources for site assembly and pre-development work. Buying a 54-acre industrial property in Amberley Village is the first step announced as part of the jobs-production effort.

When the Gardens opened in February 1949, it was the nation's seventh-largest indoor stadium and was modeled after Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

"There was no other sports and entertainment arena in Cincinnati at that time," said Don Schumacher, a sports business and tourism consultant based in Blue Ash.

But Schumacher, executive director of the National Association of Sports Commissions, said the construction of Riverfront Coliseum (now U.S. Bank Arena) and venues for the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and Northern Kentucky University helped eliminate the need for the Gardens. Bringing the Gardens up to modern arena standards – such as installing air conditioning and luxury suites – would not come cheap, Schumacher said.

"Part of it is the kind of pressure a privately owned building finds itself under when public buildings are built," he said. "UC and NKU have nice arenas paid for with tax dollars.

"There isn't any market for it anymore. To modify that building, it'd still be in an industrial location. Seating arrangements are good for hockey but not for some other types of sports and entertainment. The highest and best use is for industrial use now."

The Gardens has been up for sale for three years. Gerald Robinson, a local real estate investor whose family founded Spring Valley Bank, bought the property in 1979 for $812,000. Robinson told The Enquirer in 1982 that after buying the facility, he planned to renovate it to serve as a warehouse. But when plans stalled, he continued to operate it as an arena.

The Gardens' current owner declined to comment outside of confirming a sale contract was in place.

The venue now serves as home for the Cincinnati Rollergirls, a women's roller derby team that had its home season finale on Saturday, and high school hockey teams. Demolition would require finding new homes for those teams.

The Gardens also emerged as an option among venues the University of Cincinnati would consider while its Fifth Third Arena undergoes a $70 million renovation.

Roselawn resident Ron Mosley watched his first basketball game at the Gardens. But it has been 10 years since he's stepped foot in the building and he believes the venue is obsolete. Mosley, who is also Roselawn Community Council president, said he has confidence in the port's strategy, consider what it's done with supporting jobs at projects around the Bond Hill and Roselawn neighborhoods.

"It's time to think progressively," said Mosley, who added that he wasn't speaking on behalf of the community council because the proposal hadn't been formally introduced to the body. "There's a lot of land that can be redeveloped. There's parking, open acreage. The port has put its best foot forward.

"People who want it to stay, they need to ask themselves, when was the last time they've been there?"

The project also moves the Port Authority deeper into direct real estate involvement in Bond Hill and Roselawn. On Wednesday, the board committed to spending $3 million to redevelop properties in those two neighborhoods.

New investments from the city could also supercharge development efforts. In the proposed 2017 fiscal year budget from Mayor John Cranley, $2 million has been set aside for the port and an additional $3 million would support projects specifically in Bond Hill and Roselawn.

But that money comes with a directive – half of the money would go to the Community Economic Advancement Initiative, which is led by Rev. Damon Lynch III. The nonprofit community development, finance and engagement group was created in 2015 to revitalize Cincinnati neighborhoods with a focus on city's predominantly black neighborhoods.

The mayor's office also committed $1 million over five years to provide operations support for the Community Economic Advancement Initiative.

Brunner said one of the port's biggest jobs is ensuring improvements are being made to benefit communities in the long run. She said it's important for residents and business owners to be part of development opportunities and to add amenities and jobs that don't currently exist in neighborhoods that need both.

​Staff writer Jason Williams contributed.