A long time ago, when Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati partnered to build a neighborhood and lift the riverfront out of the mud and flood zone, a world-class riverfront was a possibility.
Video: Pureval, Bowman and Frank face off in Cincinnati mayoral debate
The Cincinnati Enquirer hosts Incumbent Mayor Aftab Pureval and challengers, Cory Bowman and Brian Frank in a debate on March 25, 2025.
The headline on this story has been updated to better reflect our editorial standards.
“Many good things have happened along the riverfront over the past 25 years, and the team is glad to continue working with Hamilton County to forge a long-term deal that works well for Greater Cincinnati.” − Bengals spokesperson Emily Parker.
When I read this quote from Parker, my first thought was, “Does she work in Cincinnati, or is she a remote worker?” I ask because there is no way a person who works at The Banks can make such a statement with a straight face.
A long, long time ago, when Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati partnered to build a neighborhood and lift the riverfront out of the mud and flood zone, a world-class riverfront was a possibility. But for 25 years, the area has remained a checkerboard of long vacant lots with ugly steel rebar sticking up from partially built concrete columns.
The area around Paycor Stadium looks more like Gaza than St. Louis or New Orleans. Honestly, the only thing I see that’s world-class down at The Banks is the Smale Riverfront Park with the awesome Reds Hall of Fame, The AC Hotel Cincinnati, with its fantastic rooftop lounge, and the Moerlein Lager House, with its annual Christmas village and skating rink and the Carol Ann’s Carousel and Anderson Pavilion.
The former GE building might be close to being world-class, as it has the amazing Taste of Belgium restaurant, with its awesome world beer collection. But now that GE has abandoned Cincinnati for Evendale and taken its sign off the building, this can hardly be considered a business center.
My question is, why can’t my former employer, First Student, Inc., put a sign on top of their headquarters and get the naming rights? As the largest school bus company in North America, they come across as nothing but cheap. The new CEO is nothing like his predecessor, who was proud to have FGA naming rights to the Sixth and Vine building. It might be because this remote CEO lives in Florida.
Why we never covered the Bengals’ stadium stands out as another example of why The Banks is not world-class. Look no further than Indianapolis, where I previously worked for Eli Lilly, and you will see a world-class NFL stadium hosting the Colts. Sadly, we let our NFL team owners, who live in Indian Hill in a family compound, dictate to Hamilton County what and how things will look at The Banks.
They don’t want any neighbors. The long vacant lots around their Taj Mahal and their stadium only host football games and rock concerts, though it was built to host soccer as well. The next question is, why are so few college and high school football championships or fan favorite high school rivalry games not held at Paycor? Is it because it is controlled by a world-class bully and his family? The nearby lots have zero chance of being built on, except perhaps as a Brown/Blackburn cemetery or mausoleum, so we can pay homage to Cincinnati’s royalty forever.
Here are some other reasons why The Banks is not world-class:
The Banks transportation center is a ghost town.The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has top attendee ratings, but sparse attendance.And, Heritage Bank Center is famous solely for The Who concert stampede and the end of festival seating.
I have called the arena’s owners, Nederlander Entertainment, in New York several times, and they never seem to have time to share their expansion or renovation plans.
Brian Frank lives in Mt. Adams and is a Republican candidate for Mayor of Cincinnati in 2025.