Streetlight Manifesto, Robinson Flats preview.

One of the main reasons I love rooftops is the lights at night. There's something captivating about the noble streetlight. In my second segment of random tributes, Tonight I am posting a tribute to 4 night time street Scenes and the lamps that light them.

Central Parkway Near Hopple Street

Northbend and Sprucewood

Colerain and Galbraith

8th and Elberon

That last shot is the exterior of Robinson flats. Alexi and I managed to sneak inside the other day. I feel I was off my game shooting, so I am taking a return trip to get some stronger material before I post. In the mean time here's some teaser pics from inside.

The Glencoe Hole

The Glencoe Hole

Many Cincinnati residents, especially those of Clifton and Mt. Auburn know of the infamous Glencoe neighborhood. Built around 1890 and known as Cincinnati's first neighborhood, and even "Little Bethlehem," Glencoe Place started life off as an upscale neighborhood, but fell from status as Mt. Auburn financially declined over the years, until it eventually became known as the Glencoe Hole. This name stems from the steep hill it's sitting on, and the very high amount of crime that has plagued the area.

The place has served as a dumping ground for local residents for the last 15 years. Among furniture there's a surprisingly large amount of tires littered about

Outside view of the historic Glencoe Hotel

The painted doors and windows really add to the eeriness of the place.

Second Story street view.

I can only guess why the corner is missing. Looks like selective demolition.

This place is vaguely reminiscent of "Hey Arnold"

The area consists of the abandoned Glencoe Auburn Hotel, and 5 sets of row houses. Since being abandoned in the 1990s, years of rain leaking in has brought most of the houses to a state of severe dilapidation. Much of the flooring is very soft, and many of the ceilings have collapsed. Sometime since my last trip here in June 2009, one of the houses was badly damaged in a fire, and strangely one of the buildings has had a large chunk taken out of it that workers are repairing.

Second story bedroom in a red house.

Main hallway 1st story apartment, same house.

1st bedroom, same house.

2nd bedroom, same house.

Basement, Hotel.

This room was the most badly damaged I saw.

View north from third floor hotel.

View east from hotel.

There is currently a development plan to restore the hole to it's former glory and convert it to mid level condos. Work has already started. As I took my first trip there this week, there were a couple teams of workers finishing up for the day. I asked one of the workers what they were doing with it right now. I was told they're just stabilizing it, and that it's really falling apart. They've only been there a couple weeks but they're making strides. The entire roof has been tarped, and already there is complete new flooring in one of the buildings, and the chunk missing from the one house is mostly repaired. As the pictures show, they have a lot of work ahead of them.

I can easily step through this.

I'll be paying attention to this project. It is said it should be finished by next year.

Conquering Mt. Crosley

It's a great thing when you can get the whole gang together for some urban exploring. Different work schedules has already brought about 3 trips to the Crosley building, and today I made another.

With the break from the cold into some nice mid 40 temperatures we decided it'd be a great day to do some recon work on a couple of sites that we've spotted. Heather, having not been to the site yet suggested a trip to the Crosley Building. We all agreed and were soon enough driving there. Entry went smoothly as planned and we proceeded to look around.
















I had already seen all there was to see except for one thing. I hadn't made it up the radio tower. So after a journey through the offices and shop floors we made it to the roof on which the tower stands.

At the base of the tower there is a very dark room full of satanic graffiti. Ryan and I marched through and ventured up the first set of stairs to a room with large windows and a massive metal cylinder in the middle.

The Satan room. Stairs through the door on the right.

Looking down at Heather and Shawna from inside the tower

Last was a steep flight of stairs with a 90 degree bend that takes you up against a very large busted out window 40 feet to the roof.

These stairs scare the hell out of me.

I inched my way up to the top, the fear of death by ladder failure weighing heavily on my mind. My mind finally was at ease as I breached the hole and climbed up onto the roof.

A Tribute To Rooftops

Sometimes what you can see from the building is more interesting than what you can see inside. He's a tribute to 3 of of Cincinnati's better vantage points.

The Crosley building

This heavily tagged structure towers proudly over the buildings of Camp Washington. It once housed production of Crosley brand radios and automobiles, Queen City Printing, and interestingly enough 700 WLW. Now all that remains are some office supplies, dollies, and a breathtaking view of Camp Washington.

looking south

looking east to Consolidated Grain

Looking north

Carew Tower

A fine example of 1930's art deco style architecture, The Carew tower is the soon to be second tallest building in Cincinnati and is home to a hotel, mall, and an observation deck that only costs $2. Definitely an attraction worth seeing if you're passing through.

Looking Northwest

Paul Brown Stadium

One of the more frustrating networks of offramps

Hudepohl Brewery

Last but certainly not least is the valiant yet troubled Hudepohl brewery. This old building has been resting peacefully in total dereliction until a 2004 plan to convert the building into condos called for the selective demolition of the center of the building. The building remained in a state of permanent hiatus, until finally being condemned in 2008 as a public nuisance. While it is unlikely Hudepohl Brewery will ever see use again, it still offers possibly the most scenic view of Cincinnati available.

Looking West toward Price Hill
Looking northwest.

Looking Southeast toward Longworth Hall

An epic view of Downtown looking east