The rebirth of College Hill began Wednesday.
A demolition crew began wrecking the former Masonic Eastern Star Community building at Hamilton Avenue and North Bend Road.
It was the symbolic kickoff for the newest chapter of Cincinnati's Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP).
City workers will descend on the community for the next 90 days to clean up crime hot spots, vigorously enforce building codes, fix and clean streets, beautify landscapes and construct streetscapes.
Other neighborhoods that have already completed similar programs are Price Hill, Avondale, Northside, Clifton Heights, University Heights, Fairview Heights, Westwood and Evanston.
"This program is going to serve as a long-term enhancement in College Hill," said Mayor Mark Mallory during opening ceremonies.
NEP works by establishing partnerships involving the city, neighborhood organizations, businesses and citizens.
"It is not simply about the delivery of city services and government going its thing on its own," City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr., stated.
Tina Stoeberl runs the College Hill Coffee Company and Casual Gourmet at the north end of the College Hill Business District on Hamilton Avenue.
She said she's thrilled to be partnering in the ambitious project.
"We have a great base of community volunteers already, but we feel with city resources we can get so much more done," she said.
Many storefronts in the business district are boarded up and vacant right now, but community leaders hope the blitz helps clean things up so new businesses will want to move in.
Stoeberl added College Hill has to change the perception that it's not a good place to shop or enjoy themselves.
She said customers who visit her shop leave impressed with their experience.
"My best marketing and advertising about the community and the business is simply asking them to tell five people what's happening," she said. "That works."
Cincinnati Police Captain Dave Bailey says law enforcement efforts will focus on the business district -- particularly the corner of Hamilton and Marlowe Avenues.
He says loitering there sometimes turns into more serious problems.
"We have assaults and then you know every once in a while we see street level type robberies," he said. "That concerns us because that's the one thing that has the potential to get people hurt."
One of those instances occurred Tuesday night when Dia Mamadou, owner of NYLA Sportswear on Hamilton Avenue, was shot twice in the chest. He remains hospitalized.
A customer, Ashan Moore, was also wounded. Three suspects remain at large in what police are calling a robbery attempt.
"That is something we will not tolerate in College Hill," Stoeberl.
Jim Bodmer coordinates the College Hill Citizens On Patrol and says that once the blitz begins he believes it will snowball and people will take more pride in the community.
"We have a broken windows effect with now with too many empty buildings and too vacant houses," he said. "They just draw blight and the element that we don't want."
What sort of neighborhood would residents and businesses like to see in 90 days?
Sheena Parton, president of the College Hill Business Association, wants it to put College Hill on the map.
"We hope to see a neighborhood that has more vitality -- gets us known to developers or small entrepreneurs that are interested in locating a business up in College Hill," she said. "We have great storefronts. We have great prices per square-foot and a great community that supports new businesses."
The NEP effort is drawing considerable attention.
After Wednesday's ceremonies, officials from Dayton, Ohio, met with Dohoney and other community leaders to see if a similar program could be implemented there.
Community development analyst Jessica Jenkins says she admires the relation-building aspect of the program.
"We face a lot of issues like Cincinnati with lack of neighborhood involvement, blighted structures, vacant property, other crimes and quality-of-life issues," Jenkins said. "There's a tremendous application for this project in Dayton, Ohio."
