Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

For 14 years, planners have dreamed of building a four-block park over Fort Washington Way, connecting the city's revitalized Downtown with its remade riverfront.

Now the idea is getting a fresh look.

Nothing concrete has changed – the idea is still only that – but General Electric Co.'s upcoming move to The Banks with up to 2,500 new workers is pumping new excitement into old notions.

"It's something we'd love to do someday," Jeff McElravy, the city's interim director of trade and development, said last week.

GE's decision to build its new $90 million Global Operations Center at The Banks will bring thousands of new workers and potential residents to the river in the next few years. That's the sort of momentum seen in Columbus and Chicago, cities that can provide models for how to add to a piece of transit infrastructure to get maximum impact, city planners say.

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The $314 million project to rebuild Fort Washington Way, completed in 2000, was a key piece of the nearly $2 billion spent to redevelop Cincinnati's riverfront. The dollar amount includes money used to build Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park and raise riverfront land above the flood plain.

Covering the freeway with decks landscaped for pedestrians was always envisioned to help reduce the visual chasm created by Fort Washington Way between The Banks and the rest of Downtown.

"We spent time thinking about that and the overall urban design impacts that we would get," John Deatrick, Cincinnati's former transportation director, told The Enquirer last week. Development of a freeway deck could be as simple as open green space or a mixed-used plaza. About $8 million during construction was spent to bolster foundations to support future development over Fort Washington Way between Elm and Main streets, Deatrick said.

To be clear, Smale Riverfront Park is the high-priority Downtown park right now. McElravy called a freeway cap "a long-term project." He said the city would likely have to provide some project support, but it's possible some money could come from other sources.

Most important, it's not clear how much a Fort Washington Way cap would cost.

Development of the stadiums and The Banks would not have been possible without land opened up by reconfiguring Fort Washington Way, Deatrick said.

The city and Hamilton County tapped the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments in 1995 to develop a plan to rework the mile-long, east-west connector highway as part of a larger riverfront redevelopment. The final project gained approval of the Ohio Department of Transportation, and construction began on the fast-tracked project in 1998. The reconfigured, below-grade highway was completed in August 2000.

The project, which cost about $146 million for road construction, included building new bridges, the Cincinnati Riverfront Transit Center, a new combined sewer overflow system and rebuilding Second and Third streets.

Designers were encouraged to incorporate innovative ideas in the project and included unique features that weren't expensive add-ons. Bushes and flowers already adorn three of the bridges over the highway.

"That kind of points to the direction for what we'd like to create there some day," Deatrick said.

Reimagining space above Fort Washington Way

A 2007 workshop organized by the Cincinnati chapter of the American Institute of Architects tackled the latest ideas on what a deck could include. The "Greening the Gap" event yielded two broad ideas: create an open green space or one with significant development.

Marcie Kinney, now director of GBBN Architects' arts and education market, attended that workshop and recalls there was great interest among community members and architects on the issue. "We looked at pros and cons and wanted to talk about options and how it would contribute to the success and strength on the riverfront," she said.

Discussions started long before there was a park and restaurants and bars at The Banks. Ideas for the freeway cap included a mixed-use commercial and residential building, townhouses, restaurants, public art space, rental space, a Ferris wheel, water slide and community center.

After creating various designs, the group reached no clear consensus. Most, however, found it important to do something to break up the 18 lanes of traffic that exist between the central business district and riverfront. Most people also saw an opportunity for a development to incorporate "green" design features.

Columbus, Chicago show what could be possible

Continental Real Estate Cos. led the development of the Cap at Union Station in Columbus, which opened 10 years ago. The more than 1-acre development was built on top of Interstate 670 and bridges a gap between the city's downtown and Short North area.

This year is also the 10-year anniversary for the development of Millennium Park, built over parking and a transit station in Chicago. The park has had a tremendous impact on development near the city's lakefront, said Peter Skosey, executive vice president at the Chicago-based Metropolitan Planning Council.

Skosey said early conversations about a decking project to be completed near the lakefront started in the 1970s. Financing for Millennium Park was complex, controversial and required significant private and public investment. The 24.5-acre project cost $490 million.

The site now draws about 5 million visitors a year for community festivals, art, tours, concerts and other activities. It's become a critically acclaimed development for its design and what it delivers for the region.

"Quality public spaces are a virtuous investment for any city," Skosey said. "Having said that, cities are now facing a dearth of investment in their infrastructure, and they're challenged to pay for necessities."

Skosey said "triangulation," or having three points of interest to attract visitors, are key to making public spaces successful. These developments and the programming they offer are also important.

"Engaging people upfront in the design of that public space is critical," Skosey said. "Not only does that build ownership of the public space but those people, the ultimate users, will tell you what they need and want." ■