Cincinnati's Brewing Heritage Trail to break ground later this summer

Amanda Seitz
6:00 AM, Feb 3, 2017
2 hours ago

CINCINNATI -- If you think Cincinnati’s brewery scene is hopping
today, you should have seen it 150 years ago.

Soon, you’ll be able to.

The first signs of the city’s long-anticipated, $5.2 million Brewing
Heritage Trail will soon be unveiled, with the trail’s website and
smartphone app becoming available in the coming days.

The 2.3-mile long trail will stretch through Over-the-Rhine and
celebrate the city’s long love affair with beer by showcasing historic
stops, such as old breweries, with bronze markers and signs.

WANT TO SEE WHERE THE TRAIL WILL TAKE YOU? CLICK HERE.  

The trail is six years in the making and Cincinnati leaders hope it
can become a tourist destination similar to the likes of the Kentucky
Bourbon Trail.

“It’s shown to be very powerful in many other cities,” said Steven
Hampton, the executive director of the Brewery District Community
Urban Redevelopment Corporation. “History has drawn people to these
neighborhoods maybe they normally wouldn’t visit. This amazing brewing
history we have and their stories are already bringing people to the
neighborhood, but this is going to bring them to a much greater
level.”

WCPO Insiders find out more about what the trail will mean for local
tourism when it opens later this year.  

CINCINNATI -- If you think Cincinnati's brewery scene is hopping
  today, you should have seen it 150 years ago.

  Soon, you'll be able to.

  The first signs of the city's long-anticipated, $5.2 million Brewing
  Heritage Trail will soon be unveiled, with the trail's website and
  smartphone app becoming available in the coming days.

  The 2.3-mile long trail will stretch through Over-the-Rhine and
  celebrate the city's long love affair with beer by showcasing
historic
  stops, such as old breweries, with bronze markers and signs.

The trail is six years in the making and Cincinnati leaders hope it
  can become a tourist destination similar to other historic trails
  across the country, like the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

  "It's shown to be very powerful in many other cities," said Steven
  Hampton, the executive director of the Brewery District Community
  Urban Redevelopment Corporation. "History has drawn people to these
  neighborhoods maybe they normally wouldn't visit. This amazing
brewing
  history we have and their stories are already bringing people to the
  neighborhood, but this is going to bring them to a much greater
  level."

  Thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit ArtWorks Cincinnati,
  brewery murals and mosaics already dot the buildings that run along
  the trail. But later this month, you'll be able to get interactive
  with the trail.

  The Brewing Heritage Trail app that will be released later this
month
  allows users to take self-guided tours throughout Over-the-Rhine and
  pull up brewing history on location.

Hampton is expecting to break ground on the physical trail later this
  year, hopefully around summertime. Bronze markers will be inserted
in
  the sidewalks and life-size signs will detail the area's history. By
  fall, the first 3/4 mile will be ready to tour, Hampton said.

  "We hit the really historic brewery sites along this first segment,"
  Hampton said. The first part of the trail to open will start near
  Christian Moerlein Co. on Moore Street and end around Findlay
Market.

  Once the trail is finished, it will feature as many as 30 historic
  breweries.


  A map of Cincinnati's Brewing Heritage Trail. Courtesy of Cincinnati
  Brewing Heritage Trail.

  The trail will also route OTR visitors and tourists off popular Vine
  Street and toward the northern part of the neighborhood, which
doesn't
  see quite as much foot traffic as Vine.


  "As the trail starts to get developed and people start realizing
what
  an awesome culture we have here, it's only going to help not only
  Rhinegeist, but all the businesses and future businesses here," said
  Katie Hoffman, the marketing manager for Rhinegeist.

  The city of Cincinnati kicked in $100,000 for the trail and the
state
  granted $200,000. Donations and grants will fund the rest of the
  trail. About 40 percent of the project's funding has been secured,
  Hampton said.

  He expects more people will be inclined to donate to the trail, too,
  once the first phase is completed.

  The trail will be used to sell everyone from travel writers to
  tourists once it's complete. While local craft beer is becoming
  popular in cities throughout the country, the city's history with
beer
  makes Cincinnati's brewery boom unique, said Yancy Deering, the
  communications director at the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors
  Bureau.

He's already making plans to take reporters who come here to write
  about Cincinnati tourism on the trail - with a stop for a beer at a
  local brewery on the way - in the future.

  "We see it as: There's a great product for us to promote," Deering
  said. "Microbreweries are popping up all over the place. Ours is
  different because we have the history and all the buildings intact."


http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/cincinnatis-brewing-heritage-trail-to-break-ground-later-this-summer