CINCINNATI — Seven decades after residents were kicked out of their neighborhood for the construction of I-75, Cincinnati city leaders are apologizing to the West End community.
Mayor Aftab Pureval and council member Scotty Johnson led a press conference Tuesday afternoon during which they and other members of the city council apologized for the then-called "urban renewal" plan that saw about 25,000 people kicked out of their homes, businesses and churches for interstate construction.
Oscar Wright, who is now 87, said he remembers getting kicked out of his home on 7th Street, which is now part of I-75.
"We didn't have the money to move. We had to piece-by-piece ... do it in 30 days, and they had police and guards walking around the neighborhoods, 'If you weren't out in 30 days, we're going to take you out, take your stuff put it on the sidewalk,'" said Wright. "They only told us lies — 'We're going to build it up, you know, we're going to make things happen.' They never did that."
Wright said his family and many other residents had nowhere to go. On Tuesday, he was at City Hall listening to city leaders acknowledge that what they did was wrong. The city admitted to destroying the neighborhood and never fulfilling its promise of finding families a place to go, but for many, sorry does not cut it.
"The 'I'm sorry' means nothing without some funding to make up for it, and they can even ask the people what can we do to make up for what we've done to you," said Brian Garry, executive director of Neighborhoods United. "If they really, really cared, they would fund something — where is the city development? Where is the affordable housing? When this stadium got put here, they promised to make 56 affordable housing units right here."
Beginning in 2019, displacement came to the West End again in the form of a stadium deal, as FC Cincinnati purchased multiple blocks in the neighborhood, including apartment buildings housing long-term residents.
Several of the buildings demolished to make way for TQL Stadium and its parking garages were low-income apartments, the last of which were vacated in January 2020 to make way for the stadium's construction. FC Cincinnati made several deals to assuage displaced West End residents, including paying them undisclosed sums for relocation expenses, though many who spoke about being forced to move said they didn't do so happily.
"They are actively participating in the destruction of the West End of the people whose lives have been here for generations and they are being gentrified out," added Garry.
However, Johnson disagrees with some critics' comparison of what happened decades ago to what happened with the construction of TQL Stadium.
"What took place in 1948 and what took place with TQL, I don't think it's close," said Johnson. "I understand the historical perspective to where citizens mainly black citizens don't trust anything that come out of 801 Plum Street. I get that but you have my commitment, you have this council's commitment, you have this mayor's commitment, you have this administration's commitment to never revisit anything like that ever again."
When asked whether or not his family and some of the other families who were displaced deserve some kind of compensation, Wright said it makes sense.
"We've been fighting for that. I've been around in Cincinnati fighting for that for a long time, yes," said Wright.
City leaders said the next step to try and make things right will come in the form of federal grants to support local businesses and affordable housing in the West End.
In April, as city, county and state leaders also began considering designs for the upcoming project that will reimagine the Brent Spence Bridge corridor, a group stepped forward to advocate on the West End's behalf. Bridge Forward presented an alternative design for the project that aimed to focus on improved walkability and enhanced public safety.
Project leaders also said they hoped the alternate design could help reconnect neighborhoods on the Cincinnati side of the bridge. The West End Community Council voted in support of Bridge Forward's design.
In May, Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jack Marchbanks met with Pureval to tour neighborhoods near the I-75 corridor where the Brent Spence Bridge impact would be felt.
"This project will help reconnect the West End to downtown by creating new connections and strengthening existing ones across the interstate," said Marchbanks in a press release about his tour with Pureval. "As an avid cyclist myself, I am thrilled to see that we're focused not just on moving vehicles but moving people with all modes of transportation.”
The press release says ODOT's plan frees up 10 acres for the city, though the department is looking at ways to expand that amount. Bridge Forward said its project design could possibly free up 30 acres.
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