In the late 1970’s I would often go on photo outings on the weekend with a good friend and fellow photographer. A favored location for our “weekendwalkabouts” was downtown Cincinnati during the early morning hours.

It was a time of great transition in Cincinnati. The big department stores, with their highly decorated display windows, that had captured my imagination as a young child, were closing, or had closed, shifting their focus to the shopping malls of the suburbs. The many movie theaters that once dotted the downtown streets were gone.

Cincinnati was very much a palimpsest of urban renewal. The downtown infrastructure and businesses were crumbling, even while active development on the riverfront was booming.

The historic “Crosley Field” was torn down in 1972 - having given way to the recently completed Riverfront Stadium which opened in June,1970. The Riverfront Coliseum (known now as Heritage Bank Center), located next to Riverfront Stadium, finished construction in September, 1975. The Coliseum’s grand opening occurred on September 9, 1975, with a concert by the Allman Brothers Band.

Yeatman’s Cove (originally located a few blocks west at the base of Sycamore St. where Cincinnati’s first settlers landed in 1788) and the Serpentine Wall were completed in 1976. Fountain Square was redesigned in 1970 for better traffic flow. The Genius of Water fountain was moved to the south end of the plaza and turned to face west (it originally faced east toward Europe where many of Cincinnati’s inhabitants came from). Fountain Square then, as now, served as a primary hub of pedestrian activity.

It should be noted that the Arts in 1970’s Cincinnati was undergoing a renaissance. There were public events like "D'aug Days", held in August at Fountain Square, featuring performance Art and music. The long running Summerfair Arts Festival moved to Eden Park in 1970 catapulting it to a large regional Arts event.

During this time, the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) played a pivotal role in promoting the Arts in the city. In addition to creating the Queen City Concert Band, an adult amateur music group, CRC created several community centers (Hirsch Community Center, Dunham Arts Center, and Fairview Arts Center) dedicated to promoting the Arts by offering after school and evening adult arts classes. One of CRC’s most notable Arts locations was The Fairview Arts Center, located near the University of Cincinnati in Clifton. In addition to providing evening classes in pottery, visual and literary arts, Fairview was integral in attaining Arts Grants for emerging local artists. It was also the birthplace of the acting group, The Stable Players, a local theater troupe who performed at the Fairview Arts Center housed in a renovated police stable.