PRICE HILL STEPS UP SUMMER CELEBRATIONS

After a year of staying inside, the hill is coming alive with events to celebrate being together again safely. Price Hill Will is joining in the celebrations with events in St. Lawrence Square, collaborations with Artworks, progress on some BIG upcoming projects, and the long-awaited Grand Opening of our ARCO, arts and community events space on July 23rd. 

Keep reading to see exciting news about Warsaw Avenue Creative Campus progress, ways to get involved in groups outside instead of behind a screen, and your guide to a variety of events around the Hill. 

GENERAL UPDATES

Warsaw Avenue Creative Campus Funded for Phase 1!

Price Hill Will is thrilled to announce that yesterday we were awarded $1.7 million in State Historic Tax Credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency for the first phase of our Warsaw Avenue Creative Campus! Combined with New Markets Tax Credits, a grant from the Finance Fund, and NOFA and NBDIP grants from the City of Cincinnati, this means that our $10 million project is fully funded! Our construction drawings and building permits have already been approved thanks to amazing work by our architects, City Studios. We'll spend the rest of this summer bidding out the project - led by our partners with the Model Group - and preparing for financial closings with the Cincinnati Development Fund and City. Big thanks to LISC for giving us an acquisition loan and believing in this vision early on! 

Here's our vision for the Warsaw Avenue Creative Campus:

The Warsaw Avenue Creative Campus is becoming a vibrant place where youth and families to learn and grow together via arts and creative pursuits in the heart of East Price Hill. The Creative Campus includes the large city block bounded by Warsaw, Purcell, Price, and Hawthorne Avenues - these gateway blocks are the first block of the historic Warsaw NBD as you come up the hill from downtown. Price Hill Will and EPHIA partnered to have the 3100 and 3200 blocks of Warsaw listed as both a local historic district and on the National Register of Historic Places so that we can access historic tax credits. Price Hill Will owns 7 buildings along Warsaw in the heart of the Campus. One such building is 3120 Warsaw, an historic firehouse that is home to PHW's award-winning MYCincinnati youth orchestra, which uses ensemble-based instrumental music as a tool for youth development and community engagement by providing youth from Price Hill with access to free, daily, intense, high-quality music education (www.mycincinnati.org). We see the Creative Campus as a way to connect the momentum in the Incline District and Price Avenue, including ARCO, Price Hill Will's recent $10 million renovation of the former Price Hill Masonic Lodge into a center for arts and community (www.arcocincinnati.org), with the Warsaw corridor. The Creative Campus also contains the newly reopened Price Hill Library, which is undergoing a $6 million renovation and expansion; the Price Hill Recreation Center; and Dempsey Park and Pool. WACC buildings will feature renovated first floor commercial spaces for family-centered activities and resident-serving retail and upper floor market-affordable apartments. 

REAL ESTATE

Casa Colina Gives Migration Perspective Wings

Price Hill Will purchased 821 Purcell Avenue because it was blighted and is located adjacent to what is now ARCO. 821 Purcell is located extremely close to ARCO – literally in the shadow of ARCO - and our plan is to incorporate it into the ARCO campus. 821 Purcell was built in 1961, and its character does not match that of nearby properties, most of which were built in the 1920s after the Masonic was built. Pending zoning approval from the City of Cincinnati, our goal for 821 Purcell is to transform it into a creative live/workspace for artists that complements the ARCO campus. We often partner with visual and performing artists for our MYCincinnati, the Price Hillharmonic, Price Hill Creative Community Festival, and other community building events, and we would like to offer 821 as a space for them to stay and work while they are in town. When we are not hosting an artist in residence, we hope to allow local artists to use the building for studio workspace.

And since receiving zoning approval, we intend to wrap 821 Purcell with a colorful mural that will transform this noncontributing, unattractive residential building into an arts and cultural asset for the neighborhood. The mural by local artists Batres Gilvin, in partnership with ArtWorks, will celebrate the cultural heritage of both legacy Price Hillians and newer migrants. We’ll rename 821 Purcell, Casa Colina (“House on the Hill”) to honor our diverse neighborhood. The vibrant mural will serve as a welcome to the ARCO campus and send a clear message that everyone is welcome here! The mural will include monarch butterflies, which travel over 3000 miles each year, to reflect our residents’ migration stories. We plan to plant a butterfly garden in the vacant lot at 819 Purcell to complement the mural. ArtWorks apprentices will begin painting the mural in late June. Stop by to check in on our progress!

Meiser's Progress Heats Up By Getting Cool

Your Store of the Queen City now has all of the refrigeration installed for Meiser's Fresh Grocery & Deli on State Avenue in Lower Price Hill and will be assembling shelving this week! City inspections will take place during the month of July and then their Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening are being scheduled for early August! In the meantime, the Lower Price Hill Farmers + Makers Market continues every Tuesday 3:30-5:30pm with Meiser's Green Giveaways of FREE fruits and vegetables with reusable bags, alongside food and arts vendors from the Lower Price Hill Collective of Artists + Makers and special guests. Sign up here for more exciting updates from our very special neighborhood-led grocery store, or follow @meisersfresh on Facebook Groups and Instagram today.

Homesteading Serves 13th Family!

The most recent home in our Homesteading Program is on Akochia Avenue, a quiet, no outlet street located near Resurrection Church and School in East Price Hill. This is a classic 4 bedroom “Cape Cod” style home, was built in 1947 on a large lot with a large wood shop /storage building in the back yard. The 14th family in the program has been identified and they’re excited to move in early in July ! The other Homesteading property that Price Hill Will is working on is located on Ring Place, a unique, hidden gem of a street also in East Price Hill. When complete, this home will have 3-4 bedrooms and 2 full baths. The secluded lot is deep and wooded, a natural refuge, just up the hill from downtown Cincinnati. As always, we’re searching for housing inventory to continue to grow the Homesteading Program. Please keep us in mind if you have any interesting leads !

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Summer Moves with Let’s Get Physical!

Fun fitness opportunities are filling up our July calendar. The LGP team offers 5 free, community yoga classes each week plus a series of pop-up classes through our Passport to Healthy Living program, and weekend hikes!

Here are the pop-up classes happening in July and August!

• 7/10 at 11:30am – Tai Chi with Alfred Caston at Mt. Echo
• 7/10 in the afternoon – Double Dutch Jump Rope Spectacular (location TBD)
• 7/14 at 7:00pm – Classes de Zumba que enseña en Español con Lindsey at Mt. Echo
• 7/17 at 9:00am – Zumba with Veronica Franklin at Mt. Echo
• 7/27 at 7:00pm – Hula Hoop with Merrie at Mt. Echo
• 8/5 at 7:00pm – Line Dancing with Andy at Mt Echo
• 8/7 at 9:00am – Zumba (location TBD)
• 8/14 at 9:00am – Energy Work with Debra Jordan at Mt. Echo Picnic Shelter

The Passport series and several yoga classes are made possible by a generous grant from the Cincinnati Parks Foundation. Thank you!

As always, all classes are free opportunities that are designed to be easy for anyone to join in. Before attending any in-person classes, please be sure to fill out our waiver form found below!

ARTS & CULTURE

Join the MYCincinnati Staff!

MYCincinnati is looking for a skilled, highly motivated percussion candidate for a one-year temporary position during the 21-22 school year! This position is 8-12 hours each week, M-Th, 4-6pm. Please share with your percussion communities, and especially with BIPOC musicians. More information and instructions on how to apply can be found below!

Price Hill Arts Connection

PHAC is busy planning activities through the support of their grant from Artswave! Their first big activity is in partnership with the East Price Hill Improvement Association (EPHIA). Volunteers will be offering face painting and simple animal crafts at the Hullabazoo on Saturday, July 3rd from 6-8:00pm at Olden View Park.

Other events happening this summer:

7/27 at 7:00pm Cincinnati Shakespeare Company will be performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream at St. Lawrence Square (BYO chair/blanket)

8/3 at 7:00pm Cincinnati Shakespeare Company will be performing Macbeth at St. Lawrence Square (BYO chair/blanket)

PHAC is also looking for volunteers to help on an ad hoc basis. If interested, contact Ann Andriacco at aandriacco@fuse.net.

COMMUNITY

Plan and Strategize with Belong, Be Strong

Working Groups focused around the identified Theme Areas of Belong, Be Strong: West Price Hill (Business Engagement/Development; Transportation Infrastructure; Community Engagement & Marketing; Crime + Safety) will hold their third meeting on Thursday, July 22nd, 2021 at the Schaeper Center at Elder High School (4005 Glenway Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45205) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The purpose of this meeting is:

• Continue to validate Vision Statements developed at the first Working Group Meeting (held on January 30th, 2020).
• Refine goals identified for each Theme Area developed at the second Working Group Meeting (held on December 9, 2020).
• Begin to identify strategies and action steps for each Working Group that will help to achieve the identified goals.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend! Please email andy.juengling@cincinnati-oh.gov and indicate which Working Group you are interested in joining. You will then be added to the distribution list and included on correspondences for upcoming meetings and updates.

If you are interested in learning more, or attending upcoming meetings please contact andy.juengling@cincinnati-oh.gov.

Please visit this link to learn more about the Belong, Be Strong: West Price Hill planning process.

COMMUNITY PARTNER UPDATES

Discover the Price Hill Library with Discover Summer

The recently renovated Price Hill Library is in full swing with lots of summer programming! Check out these activities for you and your kiddos. 

• Discover Summer: June 1st – July 31st
  • Discover Summer 2021 Kicks Off! Pick Up a To-Go Kit (and Win Prizes) at The Library | Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (cincinnatilibrary.org)
• Storytime: Every Monday at 10:00 am
• Bath Bombs: Wednesday, July 7th, 2021 at 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Painter’s tape Pictures: Wednesday, July 14th, 2021 at 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Bubble Painting: Wednesday, July 21st, 2021 at 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

COMMUNITY MEETINGS