EPHIA to City: Buy Whittier site ASAP

Citing the need for an updated building and additional parking, East Price Hill Improvement Association (EPHIA) President Michael Wigle has again pitched the site of the former Whittier Elementary School at 945 Hawthorne Avenue.

In a letter to Mayor Mark Mallory and copied to City Council, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr., Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) Chief Tom Streicher and Lt. Col. Michael Cureton, Wigle says that "EPHIA believes that a unique opportunity is unfolding for the City and our community".

CPD's District 3 campus, which is adjacent to the Whittier site, is small, outdated and lacks adequate parking.

According to Wigle, EPHIA has two requests:

* That the City explore the feasibility of acquiring the Whittier site from Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), and
* That the City work with EPHIA to develop short-term parking on the site and a long-term plan to build a new state-of-the-art police station.

Whittier was closed following the 2005-2006 school year, and CPS has announced that no new school will be built on the site.

The school building was razed earlier this year.

In a November report to council, Dohoney stated that the City would be involved in helping EPHIA acquire the site, recommending that representatives of the CPD meet with CPS to determine the site's availability.

He also urged EPHIA to meet with city planners, CPS and the CPD to discuss other possible uses for the land.

Wigle just wants something to be decided soon.

"This property is too important to be left vacant for an extended period of time," Wigle says. "It is important for steps to begin as soon as possible for the planning of a new District 3 building as soon as possible."

A report from Dohoney is due before council in early August.

Previous reading on BC:
CRC: Quebec Heights not suitable for rec center (6/10/08)
EPH resident proposed swaps involving Whittier, Quebec Heights sites (4/24/08)
City will not help purchase Whittier site (11/21/07)
East Price Hill wants Whittier, new police station (10/18/07)