BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Reading Road looking south from Ronald Reagan Highway.
(Tony Jones photo)
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Tom Nadler peers from the new-car showroom at Stillpass Lincoln Mercury Volvo across Reading Road and sees the shell of the old Carousel Motel -- heavily damaged by fire in 1994.
"That place used to be the primo place to stay in Cincinnati. P&G used to put people up there. Down the street (in Bond Hill), Swifton Shopping Center was the first shopping center anywhere in Cincinnati," said Mr. Nadler, general manager of the automobile dealership just south of Galbraith Road.
Today, the shopping center is all but empty -- a retail mecca of the 1950s; a dinosaur of the 1990s.
The Reading Road corridor from Swifton Commons north through the city of Reading is in dire need of an economic and development face lift, local officials say. Empty storefronts here and there dot the stretch. Blight is beginning to show through facades.
To halt this ominous trend, Reading, Cincinnati and Sycamore Township have teamed up to hire Pflum, Klausmeier & Gehrum (PKG) Consultants of Fairfax to develop a master plan for revitalizing the corridor. The Hamilton County Office of Economic Development has agreed to act as the coordinating agency.
"What we want to accomplish is revitalizing this road," said Greg Dale of PKG. "From a marketing standpoint, jurisdictional boundaries do not mean that much. If we're going to revitalize it, we need a collaborative effort from all of these areas," Mr. Dale said. "What is exciting -- what is unusual -- is that we have three communities -- Cincinnati, Reading, Sycamore Township -- plus several neighborhood groups at the table."
Because the study has just been launched, Mr. Dale said it is important not to predict solutions or jump to conclusions, but to wait until the entire area is reviewed and comments received from all involved.
"It's obvious this area is not living up to its potential," Sycamore Township Administrator Lori A. Thompson said. "We want to find out why . . . what needs to be done to make it economically strong again."
Reading Mayor Earl Schmidt said joint concerns involving the three communities are primarily south of Galbraith Road, and that his city also authorized a separate urban renewal study for all of Reading Road within its boundaries.
"There is blight happening and we need to do something. You can see it by the number of vacant operations -- the Carousel Theaters, the Carousel Inn, the Pizza Hut, Perkins Restaurant are vacant. When you have vacant buildings, blight follows."
Harry Blanton of the Hamilton County Economic Development Office said he will coordinate the development of the revitalization plan for the corridor. Public hearings will be held. The plan will identify blighted areas, target buildings for renewal or demolition, identify successful businesses and why they flourish, and develop a successful business and economic strategy.
Up and down road, business people welcomed the news Friday, and some suggested remedies.
Diane Dexter, 32, lives at the Drake Motel, where she cleans rooms.
"That Carousel (Inn) would be better off (razed) with offices in its place," she said. "This place, it's OK. Business is great."
Robert Keely, a furrier at Stanley Rich Furs in Roselawn, said the corridor could become a haven for niche businesses.
"How about developing a garment district here?" he asked. "We have a lot of Asian (speciality) restaurants that do well, too."
Kirby Brakvill, co-owner of Sweeney's Seafood House, said the area could support more upscale restaurants.
"There's really no good (upscale) restaurant here but us and, going it alone, we are successful."
Mr. Nadler noted the success of the Stillpass auto dealership and nearby McCluskey Chevrolet and said other new-car sales operations might find a place here. With the proximity of the Ronald Reagan Highway and Interstate 75, "we advertise we're 10 minutes from anywhere in the area."
