“We need to do a stand-up job of recognizing our history, but also moving forward into the future,” said Smith, who was participating in his fifth State of the City since being hired in 2010.
Smith referenced during his presentation the more than $130 million in public and private investment that has been made in Hamilton since 2010. “Without capital investment, Hamilton would never move forward,” the city manager said.
Several large announcements were made about future projects that contribute to making Hamilton a more appealing place to live, work and play for young workers, families, and businesses.
City’s green space highlighted
Smith’s suggestions to improve the quality of living in Hamilton included its parks and recreation areas. He announced the creation of a parks conservancy district that will be in charge of raising revenues to maintain the city’s green space. Citing Pittsburgh, Pa., as a model, the idea is to shift the city-run Parks and Recreation Department to a community-run group, though the players and timeline for the shift have yet to be determined.
“We need to do a much better job of focusing on parks,” Smith said.
Riding on the success of three spraygrounds open in 2014, a fourth sprayground will be built in 2015 in the East End neighborhood of Hamilton in Crawford Woods, with the possibility of a fifth being built in Millikin Woods.
Street improvements to enhance business corridors
Smith placed an emphasis on defining and improving Hamilton’s business areas and thoroughfares to draw traffic and companies to the city.
“Council made it very clear (when Smith first became city manager) that we have to rebuild Hamilton,” he said.
A small but significant change to downtown parking will be the addition of 36 wireless, solar-powered parking meters that can be paid for via credit cards and smartphones. The new meters will be installed along South Third Street from Ludlow Street to High Street, along Court Street from Front Street to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, and in the Journal Square alley.
2015 will see aesthetic improvements to the Knightsbridge Drive-Central Avenue intersection, with new left-turn lanes, traffic signals and crosswalks introduced to the Millville Avenue, Wasserman Road and Smalley Boulevard intersection. The Main Street, Millville Avenue, and Eaton Avenue intersection is in the planning stages of a $3.7 million improvement project slated for construction in 2016, with the Ohio Department of Transportation funding 90 percent of the budget.
Smith also cited the East High Gateway project currently underway, and forthcoming improvements to the High Street-Martin Luther King Jr. intersection, but highlighted the need to connect the southeast part of Hamilton to the downtown area, possibly via Tylersville Road, which turns into Hancock Avenue before ending at Route 4 and High Street.
“When you think about a lot of the growth we have in Enterprise Park and down Symmes Road, how can we move people into the downtown area,” Smith said. “This truly is going to be a challenge that we need to face in the next 12 months…to entice the new employees that are coming out to the southeast part of Hamilton to come into Hamilton.”
New brewery to open downtown
Smith’s final splash item credited business incubator the Hamilton Mill for its rebranding from BizTech in 2014, and announced that Hamilton’s first brewery in more than 80 years will open in 2015 in the former Municipal Building at 20 High St.
Three of Municipal Brew Works’ six founders are Hamilton residents, and each brings key experience and passion for brewing to the start-up. They are in the process of securing nearly half a million dollars in initial investment and are still open to investors.
Factors in the Mill’s decision to foster the brewery included combining an appreciation for Hamilton’s brewing and manufacturing history, reviving a historic building that housed Fire Station Number 2 and most recently, Hamilton Police Department’s SWAT equipment, and having Hamilton residents come together to create a gathering place for residents, employees, and visitors, representatives said.
“This is one more arrow in the quiver that we did not have last year for recruiting young professionals into downtown,” Smith said.
Smith’s announcements were met with appreciation and applause. Southeast Civic Association President and community member Bob Harris said he needed some time to mull over the city manager’s speech, but overall, “it’s all positive.”
“Inch by inch, things are getting done,” he said, though he wanted to see more development in the Second and Fourth Wards.
Hamilton community member and former Beckett Paper Company president Dave Belew called the program “uplifting.”
“I think both Pat and Joshua emphasized where we had been, where we are now, and how we’re moving forward, and underscored that our city is in good hands,” he said. “I think you could feel in the room, it was a lot of enthusiasm.”
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