Historic Preservation

Historic Preservation of Over-the-Rhine. Over-the-Rhine is believed to be the largest urban historic district in the United States, and the nation’s largest contiguous collection of Nineteenth Century Italianate architecture. ADD LINK TO “GUIDE TO OTR ARCHITECTURE” It is bigger than New Orleans’ French Quarter and, in fact, the wrought iron that gives the Quarter its unique feel was primarily manufactured in Over-the-Rhine and surrounding neighborhoods. Wrought iron balconies are not as prevalent in OTR as they are in the French Quarter because the architectural styles different, but the neighborhood does have some excellent iron work.

OTR also gave Nineteenth Century New Orleanians much of their beer. Cincinnati was one of the largest producers and the per capita largest consumer of beer during much of the 1800’s. Beer was brewed all over the region, but the highest concentration of breweries was located in OTR and the West End. Nineteenth Century breweries didn’t look like modern breweries. Most were constructed with the same architectural flare and concern for aesthetic appeal as retail or residential properties. Many of these magnificent breweries were razed in the past 80 years, but fortunately the neighborhood still retains a nationally significant collection of pre-prohibition brewery buildings. ADD LINK TO BREWERY DISTRICT’S BREWERY LIST AND MAPS

All of these attributes caused famed travel writer Arthur Frommer to say of Over-the-Rhine: “In all of America, there is no more promising an urban area for revitalization than your own Over-the-Rhine. When I look at that remarkably untouched, expansive section of architecturally uniform structures, unmarred by clashing modern structures, I see in my mind the possibility for a revived district that literally could rival similar prosperous and heavily visited areas.”

Unfortunately, many people still fail to recognize OTR’s potential. While the neighborhood remains one of the most in-tact nineteenth century neighborhoods in the country, it is in very real and very immediate peril. In 2006, Over-the-Rhine was designated as one of America’s 11 most endangered places by the National Historic Trust. Two basic components went into the designation: OTR’s historic value and the rate of demolition in the neighborhood. The attached maps –ADD LINK TO MAPS -- from 1930 and 2006 illustrate how much of the neighborhood has already been destroyed, and a significant amount of the destruction has occurred long after this city should have realized the ramifications of razing so much of its most historically significant neighborhood. Just between 2001 and February 2007, 55 historic buildings were demolished in OTR! Data collected in 2006 shows nearly 300 buildings in OTR currently ordered vacant by Building and Inspections. Thirty of these have been condemned. In an extensive 2006 study of OTR’s historic building stock, planner and OTR Foundation member Danny Klingler reaches dire predictions: “Using past demolition patterns and projecting forward, a reasonable estimate is that 40 historic buildings – many of them key parts of the fabric – stand to be lost over the next 3 years.” Klinger further warns that, “[a] ‘tipping point’ could be surpassed where the district is no longer the tremendous asset to the City of Cincinnati that it is today, and can no longer garner attention as a regional heritage tourism destination.” ADD LINK TO “MOST ENDANGERED LIST”

Some of the ways that the OTR Foundation is working to preserve OTR’s historic architecture include the following:

1. An ongoing Preservation and Development Committee that explores ways to improve Cincinnati’s system of historic conservation. ADD LINK TO “RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGING CINCINNATI’S APPROACH TO HISTORIC CONSERVATION.”
2. Maintaining a “Most Endangered List” to highlight properties in imminent threat of destruction. ADD LINK TO MOST ENDANGERED LIST.
3. Advocating for the preservation of buildings at Historic Conservation Board meetings.
4. Working with Cincinnati Public Schools to prevent the demolition of Rothenberg School, continue to prevent the demolition of 22 historic properties on the Mercer Commons site, and to find proper reuse of the current SCPA building.
5. Searching for a source of funds to establish a receivership program and revolving loan fund that could be used to save endangered buildings and stabilize them for future development.