Raise the Rutherford!

Part IV: Location Option B – Presidential Plaza

A six-part, slightly humorous series to erect a statue of Rutherford B. Hayes in Cincinnati.

While there are a few parks and locations downtown (or close by) that could be considered as possible locations for the Rutherford B. Hayes Statue, I am going to focus on three new parks identified in the Cincinnati Parks Master Plan. I like Piatt Park as a setting for both the Garfield and the William Henry Harrison statues. (The Harrison was designed by Louis T. Rebisso in 1896.) But space there is limited and I would not want to change anything. However Piatt Park is identified in the Master Plan as the model for new parks in the West 4th Street area and the St. Xavier Church area. These two locations are the focus of Option A & B.

Presidential Plaza

This option locates Hayes at the center of a plaza developed at the southwest corner of 8th and Sycamore Streets. While not based on the exact precedent of Piatt Park, the nature of a small pocket park with clear focus and identity is retained. By locating the plaza here, focus is shifted from the St. Xavier Church parking lot which may or may not ever be developed. Here a contained park with a better sense of place can be developed and more easily achieved. Here too the park would contrast with Piatt Park with a "softscaped" lawn for the residents (and their pets) in the neighborhood. As stated with Option A, no Central Business District park currently includes a lawn and I think this is important for any new park. Presidential Plaza becomes the catalyst for enhanced development in the Cincinnati East Manufacturing & Warehouse National Register Historic District and greatly improves the setting of the Power Building and the Sachs Shoe Manufacturing Company Building.

Friday: Part V - Location Option C