Sunday, August 29, 1999
Opponents cheer bus center's standstill
TANK's funding, proposal a mystery
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Plans for a TANK bus transfer center across from the Campbell County Courthouse appear to be in limbo, and that's just fine with some East End residents who oppose the project.
TANK (Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky), with Southbank Partners, has proposed acquiring much of the block bounded by Fourth, Third, York and Monmouth streets for construction of a much-needed transfer center.
“The location fits into our operations perfectly,” said TANK communications manager Gina Shipley-Douthat. “It's just off the Taylor-Southgate Bridge which is used by our buses, and it's close to the aquarium and Newport on the Levee.”
Nick Rechtin, a neighborhood activist whose brother is Newport City Commissioner Ken Rechtin, said the idea of putting the center in that block “needs some more thought.”
$1 million needed
“The city's track record on development in the past has led to some vacant property and no development,” he said. “I don't want to see that happen to this block.”
Mr. Rechtin said he was under the impression that TANK already had the necessary funding to purchase the property and construct the center, but TANK officials say that is not the case and the project is at a standstill.
“The proposed budget is a little over $2 million,” Ms. Shipley-Douthat said. “We have $1 million pledged by the county from the TANK fund, and we had planned on getting a matching $1 million from the federal government. But that would require jumping through the hoops we might not be ready to do, so we are looking at other state and local funding options.”
The proposed center would be a transfer point where people could get on and off the buses after visiting entertainment venues on and around Third Street. The proposal calls for three to five bus lanes and the capacity to handle 180-220 bus trips a day.
Another Newport activist, Margo Warminski, said she was surprised at the amount of opposition that developed when TANK started talking about the transfer center several months ago.
“It really touched a vein with a lot of people, especially in the East End,” she said. “Petitions opposing the center have been circulated in the neighborhoods, and a great many people have signed. The Mansion Hill and Gateway (neighborhood) groups have signed on as organizations.”
Rendering wanted
Among the businesses that would be affected by the land acquisition for the center are a Goodyear tire store; an auto detailing business; and Challenger Piping, a company owned by the family of City Commissioner Beth Fennell, which has been on the same block since 1896.
“I had heard that the bus center project was in limbo,” Ms. Fennell said. “I also haven't heard anything lately on the Peace Park, which is supposed to be in the same block.”
The block immediately south of the proposed transit center is vacant except for the construction of a steel-and-glass tower at Fourth and York that will display the 33-ton World Peace Bell.
Mr. Rechtin said he and other East End residents would like to see an artist's rendering “so we have some idea of what TANK is proposing. So far, we haven't seen anything.”
Ms. Shipley-Douthat said the tentative plans for a transit center would include only the area from Fourth Street north to Southgate Alley behind the Southgate House, and not all the way to Third Street.
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