The $3 million project would convert the 32,676-square-foot former Kroger and Furniture Fair into space for three partners:
- Kennedy Heights Arts Center: A large, multi-purpose event space, ten artist studio workspaces, gallery and exhibit space, a kitchen and storage, and a lobby and restroom;
- Cincinnati Art Museum: Off-site storage, gallery and educational programming space; and
- Kennedy Heights Montessori Center: Relocation from its current location in Pleasant Ridge.
The use as a neighborhood cultural center was recommended in the 2007 Kennedy Heights NBD Urban Design Plan as a way to transform a failing commercial corridor into a thriving center of neighborhood-serving business, arts, and cultural activity.
The City purchased the property from Cincinnati Public Schools last year for $720,000, using $670,000 awarded through the Neighborhood Business District Improvement Program process and $50,000 in City capital funds. The district had purchased the property in 2002 for a new Pleasant Ridge Elementary School, but ended up rebuilding that school on the former school's site.
Previous reading on BC:
Tomorrow a big step for Kennedy Heights cultural anchor (3/15/12)
Kennedy Heights overlay added to Municipal Code (4/2/08)
EDC to consider Kennedy Heights overlay district (3/21/08)
Kennedy Heights Urban Design Plan approved (12/24/07)
EDC to hear on Kennedy Heights NBD (12/18/07)
