OKI Wanna Know is a chance for you to get an answer about the area that isn't easily googled. This time, WVXU's Bill Rinehart looks into the past and the
Our feature OKI Wanna Know is a chance for you to ask a question that may not be easily answered. There's one question we've received three times now in
4:13
Elizabeth Fugate of Mount Washington noticed a little building on Rockdale near Victory Parkway on her way to work. It s a stone building with wooden shingles, a boarded up front door, two little doors off to either side of that, and a garage door in the back. It reminds me of the architecture from Eden Park or the Cincinnati Zoo, and so I was wondering if it came about during that time and stuff has been lost as the city has been built up around it.
It s the Victory Parkway Shelter and it belongs to Cincinnati Parks, according to spokesman Rocky Merz. He says it was built as a comfort station. Which nowadays we call restrooms, he says. The architect s name was Charles Cellarius. He was the supervising architect for the community of Mariemont and also designed Woodward High School, and has a lot of other buildings in the area. We were happy to have his imprint put on the building.
4:18
Who plays the organ at Great American Ball Park? Well, the short answer is John Schutte. You may know him as a member of the local band The Rusty Griswolds. Schutte says about 10 years ago, the band was meeting with the Reds to talk about a post-game concert. During that meeting a conversation came up about if they still had the organ from the old ballpark, from Riverfront. We got talking about that and found out the Reds didn t have an organist, he says. I just threw it out there. I said if you want somebody to play, let me know. They said, Well, if you re not doing anything on Sunday, come on by.
4:52
Eileen Crowe of Finneytown was a University of Cincinnati student about 10 years ago. At the time, she noticed how Vine Street becomes Jefferson Avenue before switching back to Vine. You kind of expect Vine Street to continue where there s Jefferson, but it s offset, she says.
Vine Street used to be unbroken, according to former Cincinnati councilman and local historical Jim Tarbell. He points out Vine started at the Ohio River and ran north, up the hill, to Cincinnati s other neighborhoods and into other communities. It was a seamless transition. You came up, you crossed McMillan, and then William Howard Taft, and then you just kept going straight, he says. You didn t veer off to the left on Jefferson. You went straight through the heart of Corryville.