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Saturday, September 29, 2007
Fountain Square’s New Corporate Logo
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Whenever we offer criticisms about 3CDC’s corporate revision of our City’s central space, status-quo defenders are quick to assert that the new (and still unfinished) Fountain Square is a great success due to the people who attend the programs offered. But the old Square never had this kind of programming, so for all we know the old Square could have been this successful with some programming, too. The issue is not about the popularity of programming, but a look at the corporate backstory that no one wants to talk about. And another chapter in this corporate backstory came this week as 5/3 bank branded the Square with their new logo.
Photo courtesy of here.
We have been predicting this for some time. This is going to look great on 5/3’s corporate brochures. What a deal the revision of Fountain Square brought the bank!
Firstly, 5/3 has a conventional mortgage for millions of dollars on part of the renovation. That is a nice revenue stream secured through that one loan for whoever worked the deal. (Yes, 5/3 had representation on the 3CDC board when that deal got developed.)
Next, 5/3 got to renovate the front of one of their buildings without paying to remove the Skywalk, as the City footed that portion of the bill.
When all this happened, 5/3 coincidentally decided to mount a corporate rebranding scheme with a new logo.
Shortly after the new logo was introduced, their new building facade got finished, and the new Square was ready to have the Genius of Water standing with her arms outstretched, right in front of the building. What a great photo-op!
I continue to maintain that the new placement of the Fountain benefits 5/3 and the private restaurant built on public space than it does the people of Cincinnati.
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30 Sep 2007 at 09:02 am | #
I see benefit to both, Fifth Third and the public and isn’t that really what it’s all about?
30 Sep 2007 at 01:41 pm | #
JFD, what benefit for the public?
We have to pay more for parking in the garage and the entire parking fund has taken a huge hit for the 40 year term of the lease. (Who leases a $100 million revenue stream for $3.5 million?)
You can’t really see the fountain because it’s tucked away in 5/3’s new atrium. We have to pay huge insurance fees to have an event on our public square. You can’t have a hip hop event on our new corporate square. (So much for our free speech zone!)
5/3 got some big fat loans and a new atrium. What’s our benefit?
30 Sep 2007 at 02:41 pm | #
You’re tilting at windmills Jason.
I went took part in the Downtown Hop Around last night, and Downtown was packed with both locals and Cubs fans, all of the restaurants and bars were full, and everywhere I went people were talking about the new Square. Almost all the comments were positive, while some people thought that the changing neon lights were tacky. Some people like the Square, some don’t, it a mater of personal taste. We’ll put you in the latter camp, but whatever you think it done and over with and there’s no going back. Get over it, malcontent.
It’s the Scandal Of The Day; 5/3rd has put their logo, on their own building! What a scandal. Why don’t you also make an issue out of PNC Bank placing their logo on one of the most prominent buildings in Cincinnati? I bet that PNC uses that image on their brochures. As to the ill conceived Skywalk, the City owned it so why should 5/3rd have to pay to demolish it? By the way, the City owns the restaurant building, and they are leasing it to the restaurateur, Nicola Pietosa. So what?
30 Sep 2007 at 02:50 pm | #
Also, I understand that National City, McCormick & Schmick’s, Boi Na Braza, Palomino, US Bank, and Macy’s, to name a few, have logos on their buildings that are visible from the Square.
OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!111one
IT’S CONSPIRACY.
...and while the 5/3 deal is dirty from an ethical perspective, the square istself is not branded. I don’t like the logo any more or less than any other logo (which is to say - not at all), but the LED light display on the side of the building is pretty cool.
Also: You can’t see the fountain? WTF. No one else make my mistake and dignify that with a response.
30 Sep 2007 at 03:39 pm | #
The whole point is that the placement of the fountain itself caters to the 5/3 logo. That’s what makes this different.
I also participated in the hop around, and I did not overhear a single person—not a single person—gushing all over the Square like you just did.
30 Sep 2007 at 03:59 pm | #
People are voting with their feet, Dean, and it’s a huge success. And the programming is due to the fact that 3CDC is in charge, and they are a little hipper than City Hall was about what will attract people. In this case, privatizing the programming seems to have made a huge difference.
You are spiraling downward quickly. Move on.
30 Sep 2007 at 04:01 pm | #
CincyCappel, the comments I heard were about what a waste of money it is. People complained about 3CDC being over a year late in completing the job and the fountain location.
It’s not done and it’s not over. It won’t be over until 3CDC has been excersied from our square and it is returned to the people. (We also need to excersise City Hall from the stupid politicians that voted for this crappy deal.)
How much garage revnue did your favorite council members and employers give away for those big campaign contributions?
And no you can’t see the fountain from fith street. It’s tucked away behind the trees that are going to keep growing. You can see it fine from the Westin, 5/3 and Palomino’s but the public never approved of them moving the fountain and you can’t see it nearly as well as you used to be able to.
The point is that this was a shady deal. We haven’t been told the truth about the massive hit to the parking fund. There’s no oversight or accountability and council keeps giving 3CDC more of our money to corporatize/privatize our other public spaces, gentrify OTR and horde the buildings in our historic district. 3CDC is given special treatment and they should be given the boot.
The reason you heard people saying the square is great is because you hang out with a bunch of corporate ass kissers.
no anon, it’s business as usual in a city that loves back room deals for its special interests.
30 Sep 2007 at 05:28 pm | #
BOO HOO BFD, keep crying and stomping your feet. It’s done, game over. The Square is finished, it’s not going to be moved back to where it was, the contracts have been signed, the 5/3rd logo isn’t coming down so get over it.
As another commenter said, people are voting with their feet, and they are indeed. The crowds speak for themselves. If a few alienated malcontents don’t like the new FS they don’t have to fo there. Here’s an idea for you; why don’t you organize a Boycott of Fountain Square and it’s parking garage. Let’s see if you gain any popular support at all. Bet you don’t.
Gentrification couldn’t happen a moment to soon in OTR. Redevelopment of the ghetto is a good thing for the City. But of course you want all the poor people to be caged into the ghetto.
30 Sep 2007 at 09:27 pm | #
Do you seriously think the fountain was moved to benifit the new fifth third logo? How can this be when the 5/3rd facade was designed after Fountain Square, not the other way around.
I guess the square is also branded with Macy’s since they have their sign on their own building. Likewise with the Westin and USBank. Come on now.
By the way, so what is 5/3rd gets a nice picture out of it?
Doesn’t their building already have Fifth Third written all over it, even when the “old” square was there? Oh wait...yes it did.
05 Oct 2007 at 03:19 pm | #
I bet every person in who has posted prior to this thread voted for Bush.
All that glitters is not gold. It seems to me that Jason is saying that all this renovation and programming is coming at a great cost.
It’s like a magic show. There’s a wave of the cape and a bit of misdirection and suddenly no one notices that we’re paying for corporations to have better branding and photo ops, and that 3CDC now owns Fountain Square and that the square no longer belongs to the people.
I cannot go down to Fountain Square as a public space. It is now part of a corporate entity. Does our Council even have the RIGHT to give away or sell the people’s legacy like this? And why is that no one cares that public land is given away to a corporation for free?
And what do we get in exchange? So far some decent programming; a movie night or two, a bar hop, some ice skating that was already there come winter.
Are the few shiny beads worth what we’ve given up?
You may think so, but I don’t.