Saturday, December 24, 2005
Planners say the neighborhood council's vote has no effect on their plans.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- An unusual proposal for a mall for the city's West End neighborhood has stirred up a lot of opposition.
The CityLink center would cater to ex-convicts, drug addicts and the homeless. There, say the churches and social service groups behind the plans, such people could receive job counseling, drug treatment, dental work; even a cup of coffee and a haircut.
Backers say their plan was inspired by PathMall in Los Angeles. A delegation visited PathMall in September and came home determined to create CityLink.
"We believe that we can build better relationships with our clients if everything is handled under one roof," said Rodger Howell, executive director of an inner city ministry called CityCURE.
"We deal with people who have many needs. It is better for them if we can refer them across the hall for counseling or upstairs for job training, rather than having them walk three or four blocks away to another agency," he said.
Opposition
But many residents fear the center would undermine their neighborhood's revitalization efforts.
"If I had known something like this would happen, I would never have bought a house in this area," said Jemelle Howard, 28. "I moved from a suburban community to be in a predominantly black community. I am young and I consider myself part of the future of the young blacks, but I don't want to be in a community where more drug addicts are coming in."
The Rev. Gerald Bates, a resident, spoke out at one of two recent community meetings on the project.
"It is a good idea," he said. "But not for our community."
The West End Community Council expressed its opposition Tuesday night, although planners say the neighborhood council's vote against the mall has no effect on their plans. Howell said city zoning permits the proposed five-acre, privately financed mall.
Leading the project's development is Mark Stecher, a former Procter & amp; Gamble Co. executive and entrepreneur turned minister. He is the founder and executive director of the OneCity Foundation, a faith-based social-service group coordinating the project for five churches and five social-service agencies.
He said his group expects to pay between $1 million and $2 million for the five-acre site, where there was once a slaughterhouse and then a business called Club Chef Salads. He estimates it will cost another $8 million to convert it into a well-lit, airy mall. It should be finished by late 2007, he said.
Beneficial
Michael Armand of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, who is in a drug treatment program now, said he believes the one-stop center would be good for both people like him and the West End.
"When you drive through the West End you see a lot of bad elements now," Armand said. "A substantial one-stop service center could only help the image of the community."
Public outcry has been loud in the neighborhood meetings.
But community activist Nate Livingston, who lives in the Northside neighborhood, offered a different perspective at one meeting.
"I travel through the West End a lot and I see boarded-up buildings and nobody is doing anything about them," Livingston said. "Why are the people so against somebody trying to do something for this community?"