Cincinnati Magazine
March 12, 2021
Bob Castellini called it a “mud pit” and “dust bin.” Mark Mallory called it a “bunch of nothingness” and “pile of dirt.” The Cincinnati Reds owner and the former mayor were describing what downtown Cincinnati’s riverfront was like about 15 years ago. Two expensive new stadiums had been erected, with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center situated between, but surrounding them was a lot of dirt and acres of parking lots.
In the 1990s, what we know as The Banks was mostly home to parking lots and warehouses.
Photograph courtesy of Kenton County Public Library
Today, of course, nothing less than an utter transformation of the riverfront has taken place, as the mud pit became The Banks a $2 billion-plus 200-acre playground of pro sports, restaurants, bars, green space, walking paths, a carousel, and (sometimes) a giant Ferris wheel. It’s the most ambitious civic project ever undertaken here, requiring unprecedented tea