The Cincinnati Beacon - Fountain Square, Incomplete: Beyond the Hype

When I first read this article in the Cincinnati Business Courier, I actually fell for it: I thought maybe something was starting to happen at Fountain Square, just like 3CDC told us it would. So, since this past Sunday afternoon was rather temperate, I decided to take my son to Fountain Square during the Bengals game. I didn’t really think the plan through, but I figured he could run around, feed some pigeons, and just enjoy the energy of people in the Square. What an impossible fantasy that turned out to be!

A half-dozen guys dressed in Bengals gear carried their coolers to Fountain Square, set up lawn chairs and waited.

A few blocks north, Bill Donabedian flipped a switch, and the Bengals game filled the giant video LED board atop Macy’s. The crowd grew. A few people tossed a football. A cyclist stopped to chat about the game.

That impromptu gathering was the start of what the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. hopes to achieve with the $43 million renovation of downtown’s most prominent public space, said Donabedian, 3CDC’s managing director of Fountain Square.

“That’s the whole idea,” he said. “If we can create one-of-a-kind experiences because we have a one-of-a-kind city center, people will come downtown.”

Look at the line I placed in bold: “The crowd grew.” I admit that I fell for this image. I thought something was happening at the Square, so I decided to go downtown for the “one-of-a-kind experience.” I thought there would be some people there.

Walking South on Vine Street, the first inconvenience came when I saw that the sidewalk was still closed due to construction. Rather than being able to walk right into the Square, I had to cross the street, and then cross back at Fifth and Vine. No big deal, but I was reminded that 3CDC started all this hype, and they still haven’t managed to finish the construction.

As I walked up the steps in front of the big screen, there were about six people sitting to watch the game. Noteworthy was the eerie silence. The screen did not have any sound to accompany it. That might very well be a good idea, but there was no noise save that from passing vehicles: no music, nothing. Just deadening quiet.

When I got onto the Square itself, I saw the thing was almost totally barren. Just quickly laid plaza blocks, most of which still have gaping spaces between them since they haven’t quite finished the open section, either.

No tables, like at the old Square. No chairs. Hardly a place to sit. And that’s when I really noticed the first change: all the walls are gone.

The old Square was surround by walls. These walls made a perfect place to sit, all around the square. Save the handful of people on the steps, there were a few people sitting on the waterless fountain, and then two guys across the square sitting on a big concrete block that served as a base for a light pole.

At the old square, there was a little stand that sold popcorn, hot chocolate, coffee, and so forth. No such thing this weekend. Just a few people, a quiet television screen, no music, and nothing to eat. No hot dog cart. No soda pop. Nothing.

Then, as my son started to run around the Fountain, I noticed again the missing walls, and got an uneasy feeling.

At the old square, there were only a few easy points of access. Not that it was hard to enter, or anything. But there were only a few places to do that. Once inside, you were, well, inside. You could let your kids run around, and get some distance—especially on a day when absolutely nothing was happening at the square, like during a Bengals game on the jumbotron.

Not anymore. I realized how much easier it would be for kids to run right into the street. Not that it’s hard to keep an eye on one’s kids, but I did experience a new apprehensiveness about safety unknown at the old square.

Bill Donabedian and 3CDC need to get their acts together unless they plan to ruin even further a good thing. First impressions are important. If the supposedly “great new square” provides lame and boring experiences, people will abandon it for good. Flipping a switch on a big television screen is not responsible programming for our supposedly premier center-city space.

If you want to have Bengals games on the square, 3CDC, then you better make sure you have some stuff there for the people who actually show up—even if there are only three of them. They want something to drink, particularly warm things on cold days. They want some snacks. And hell, maybe some kids would like a bag of popcorn to feed the pigeons (which, by the way, have also abandoned the new, lifeless square).

Start doing some work, 3CDC. Your own employees could at least come down with their families and friends. Get some tables and chairs for people to rest their bones.

Invite a radio station to do a broadcast from the Square. Play some music, for crying out loud.

Get a camera at the square, with a feed to the screen in the football stadium. Let the ticket holders see the people on the square waving and having a good time. Put something in place so people actually want to come downtown.

But if you think people will show up to watch silent television outside in the cold, well, you really need a reality check.

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