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Union Terminal Success Shows Hamilton County Can "Do Big Things"

Tana Weingartner
/
WVXU
Construction crews work on reinstalling the fountain in front of Cincinnati's Union Terminal on Aug. 24, 2018.

The Union Terminal Restoration Advisory Committee reports to Hamilton County Commissioners Monday morning. The message will be the $228 million project is on time and on budget, and taxpayers haven't been asked for more money.Committee Chair John Silverman says the success of this project shows this region can do big things.

"We should be able to do as a community big, great capital projects that really move the needle forward for our community," he says. "Every five or seven years we should be able to do a big project like this. We should be able to build new arenas, we should be able to build new bridges and do new infrastructure things."

Communities outside the region are already looking to learn from the Union Terminal model.

As WVXUreported last week, museums and preservationists in places like Milwaukee, Toledo and Detroit are calling the Cincinnati Museum Center for advice.

"People are looking here because as a public-private partnership, we've been able to utilize tax credits and state dollars and county dollars in a unique way," says Cincinnati Museum Center CEO Elizabeth Pierce. "They're all asking themselves in other markets 'How could we apply that idea in our hometown as well?' "

The Cincinnati Museum Centerwill close October 22 through November 1to allow for final inspections and systems tests. A grand reopening is set for November 17.

The historic Verdin clock on the Union Terminal facade has been refurbished and will be reinstalled starting August 31. The hands are slated to once-again grace the Art Deco dial on September 4.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq4bJ0KXlY8

Senior Editor and reporter at WVXU with more than 20 years experience in public radio; formerly news and public affairs producer with WMUB. Would really like to meet your dog.