Location
Sawyer Point Office Building Atrium
CEUs Cost
1 LU/HSW Free
Program Overview
Civic advocates propose a new sports arena for the city to replace the aging Heritage Bank Center on the riverfront. The proposal promises expanded programming, enhanced entertainment value, and additional economic impact. A recent study sponsored by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber identifies and evaluates three potential sites for this program outside of its current location. This presentation and panel discussion will highlight the urban design implications of arena development at each of these potential sites. Gain insight into the urban design impact of a massive new building program for the city center and allows members to contribute their expertise in dialogue about how best to integrate the outcome into the urban context. Pete Metz will present the site study with commentary from a panel of urban design experts.
Presented by AIA Cincinnati’s Urban Design Committee. Hospitality provided by Judith Lewis, LEED AP, City Lands Development.
Read more about the arena site proposals:
Cincinnati Enquirer 9.19.2024 (may be paywall protected)
Cincinnati Enquirer 11.18.2024 (may be paywall protected)
Cincinnati Business Courier 11.18.2024 (may be paywall protected)
Cincinnati Business Courier 3.20.2025 (may be paywall protected)
Speakers
Pete Metz, Vice President, Civic & Regional Partnerships, Cincinnati Regional Chamber
Pete is responsible for connecting the Cincinnati Chamber and its members to the region’s most pressing civic and regional initiatives. Pete leads the team working on existing Chamber initiatives such as the Connected Region, work focused on Embracing Growth and housing, the Cincinnati Futures Commission, and the Center for Research & Data.
As part of this work, Pete led the business community’s efforts to expand investments in transportation that connects people to jobs, education, healthcare and all that the Cincinnati region has to offer. Pete has successfully advocated for local, state, and federal policies that have driven hundreds of millions of dollars into transportation projects across the Cincinnati region, including dedicated funding for Cincinnati Metro, the Brent Spence Bridge, Western Hills Viaduct, record state funding for public transit, investments in the CROWN trail network, and more.
In the community, Pete serves on the board of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), the Corporation for Findlay Market, OKI Regional Council of Governments and as the Board President for NEST, Northside’s community development corporation. He lives in Clifton with his wife, Becca, and two daughters.
Vikas Mehta, Professor of Urbanism, Fruth/Gemini Chair, Ohio Eminent Scholar of Urban/Environmental Design and Coordinator for the Urban Design Certificate at the University of Cincinnati
Dr. Mehta’s work focuses on the role of design and planning in creating a more responsive, equitable, stimulating and communicative environment. He is interested in various dimensions of urbanity through the exploration of place as a social and ecological setting and as a sensorial art. This work emphasizes the sense of place and place distinctiveness, design and visualization of urban places and activities, and cities and regions as just, equitable and sustainable living systems. Dr. Mehta’s work on the urban street emphasizes the street as a heterogeneous, multicultural, multigenerational and multiuse public space. He has developed new measures of sociability that have advanced existing methods to study human behavior in public spaces. Dr. Mehta is the co-editor of Public Space Reader (Routledge, forthcoming 2021); co-editor of Companion to Public Space (Routledge, 2020); editor of Public Space, a 4-volume anthology (Routledge, 2015); and author of 101 Things I Learned in Urban Design School (with Matthew Frederick, Three Rivers Press/Penguin, 2018) and The Street: a quintessential social public space (Routledge, 2013 and 2014) that received the 2014 Book Award from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) and was also a finalist for the 2014 Francis Tibbalds Award for Best Book of the Year.
Frank Russell, AIA
Frank Russell, AIA, is an Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati where beginning in 1990 he provided instruction in Urban Design and Multi-Disciplinary Innovation. He served in executive roles for multiple research and design units including the DAAP Center for Urban Design, the DAAP Community Design Center, the Provost’s Niehoff Urban Studio, and the University-wide UC Forward program. In this capacity, he has promoted collaborative innovation among the university’s diverse disciplines and external partners through cross-disciplinary experiential learning centered around urbanism. Russell’s research has been published in Cities: the International Journal of Policy and Planning, Design Review: The Role of Aesthetic Environmental Quality in Planning, Activist Architecture: Philosophy and Practice of the Community Design Center, and he co-edited New Directions in Urban Public Housing. He has been the recipient of major grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the American Architectural Foundation/National Endowment for the Arts, and has directed the Midwest Regional Mayor’s Institute on City Design sponsored by the US Conference of Mayors. Russell has been recognized with honors from the University of Cincinnati, the AIA Cincinnati Design Awards, the Cincinnati Preservation Association, and the Community Development Corporations Association of Greater Cincinnati. He is a registered practicing architect and principal of Russell Compton Architects. In private and public practice for more than thirty years, he has carried out numerous architecture projects (50+), urban design plans, and planning studies (20+). Russell has served on the Cincinnati Park Board and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, the Cincinnati Zoo, the Mercantile Library, the Mill Creek Restoration Project, Gabriel’s Place, the Center for Closing the Health Gap, and the Over-the-Rhine Foundation. Russell received an A.B. Art from Vassar College (1983), a post-bacc position at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, New York City (1985) and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design (1989).
Learning Objectives
Describe a major civic building typology and its impact on the well-being of occupants and communities.
Appreciate the broad criteria used for site selection including social, economic, and environment considerations
Comprehend progressive and safe construction logistics for large scale building programs on constrained urban sites
Explain the potential impact of large scale building programs on the physical urban context and the people who experience them.
Continuing Education Details
Course Number: G2025.f
Instructional Delivery Method: live
AIA CES Program Approval Expiration Date: 5.20.28
Prerequisites: none
Program Level: beginner
Advance Learner Preparation: none
AIA CES Provider Statement
AIA Cincinnati is a registered provider of AIA-approved continuing education under Provider Number 088. All registered AIA CES Providers must comply with the AIA Standards for Continuing Education Programs. Any questions or concerns about this provider or this learning program may be sent to AIA CES (cessupport@aia.org or (800) AIA 3837, Option 3).
This learning program is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product.
AIA continuing education credit has been reviewed and approved by AIA CES. Learners must complete the entire learning program to receive continuing education credit. AIA continuing education Learning Units earned upon completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-AIA members are available upon request.
During this program, photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By attending this program, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web casts, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on websites, social media, or any other purpose by AIA Cincinnati and its affiliates and representatives. Images, photos and/or videos may be used to promote similar AIA Cincinnati in the future, highlight the program, and exhibit the capabilities of AIA Cincinnati.