Art project to beautify dunnhumby Centre construction site

DOWNTOWN - By Saturday evening, the construction fencing at Fifth and Race streets downtown should look a whole lot nicer.

That’s because a team of more than 100 volunteers will spend the day Saturday weaving strips of recycled industrial bags into a colorful pattern on the chain link fence that surrounds the dunnhumby Centre construction site.

The material will be provided by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, which led a similar public art project for the fence near a slaughterhouse by the City Link social services mall in Cincinnati's West End.

About 60 dunnhumby USA employees and family members will be among the volunteers along with volunteers from University of Cincinnati and people from Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, said Dave Palm, the market research firm’s senior vice president of operations.

“We know that we have a contribution to give back to the city while we’re tearing up one of the prime real estate locations,” Palm said. “So we just thought it was a great idea.”

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, asked Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to design a pattern for the fence after seeing what the group had done for City Link, said Anastasia Mileham, 3CDC’s vice president of communications.

“We wanted to make it more aesthetically pleasing,” she said.

The work will start around 10 a.m. Saturday and continue until 4 p.m. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Executive Director Linda Holterhoff said it will probably take three sessions in all to complete the entire fence.

"We need more volunteers," she said.

Anyone who wants to help should call (513) 352-4380, she said.