Hamilton, Ohio – The future is now.
The City of Hamilton installed electric-vehicle charging stations in the Fitton Center parking lot. Two weeks ahead of schedule, no less.
Originally slated to be operational in early September, the charging stations at the southeast end of the lot at 101 South Monument Avenue went live August 24.
“Everything went smoothly with the installation,” said Mike Gurr, Senior Project Manager for the city. “The EV device is available for customers to charge any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. EV customers simply use their account with ChargePoint or download the ChargePoint App to their smart phones.”
(EV owners can create a ChargePoint account at https://www.chargepoint.com/.)
The Fitton Center hosts a ceremonial first charging event at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, when Fitton Center board member Tim Werdmann plugs in his EV to celebrate this electrifying new amenity available to both Fitton Center patrons and the general public.
“This is an amazing resource for the city in general and for the Fitton Center in particular,” said Executive Director Ian MacKenzie-Thurley. “We are happy to partner with the city on this project. Not many places of comparable size have the resources and services we have in Hamilton. “If the Fitton Center can help make electric vehicles more viable for our residents and for visitors to our city, we’re glad to offer a couple parking spots to help make that happen.”
The private-public collaboration leading to the charging stations had been in the works for the better part of a year.
“The Fitton Center is a destination spot in Hamilton,” Gurr said. “It’s close to the bike path. It’s close to Marcum Park. It’s a place people come to visit on its own. We felt like this is a spot that will get a lot of use, both by residents and people visiting Hamilton.”
The city converted three existing parking spots into the dual charging station, making sure the chargers had plenty of room for ADA compliance. Electric vehicles can get a complete charge from empty in about eight hours.
However, Gurr said he thinks initially the Fitton Center charging stations will serve “more as a maintenance charge while you’re in seeing a show for a couple of hours.”
The power powering the charging stations is green, too.
“The power being used for these stations is hydro-electric,” Gurr said. “We’re spot-on with the goal of zero carbon emissions to power these stations. Hamilton owns and operates its own utility. We try to promote more green initiatives and we have the ability to make them happen.”
The city already has charging stations at 125 Main Street, the city’s parking lot at 218 S. 3rd Street and the parking lot at 790 N. 3rd Street, with more in the works.
“We’re trying to be good stewards of the money we’re provided and to build the infrastructure we’re going to need,” Gurr said. “We’ll continue to build these out as we get the funds. We’re trying to build these out strategically. Electric vehicles are on the way from manufacturers and we’re making sure we’re ready.”
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
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