Hamilton, Ohio – Enjoy it while it lasts.
One driving route to the Fitton Center changes when the right-hand turn from eastbound High Street to South Monument Avenue goes away next week.
“We’re actually vacating the street there entirely,” said Rich Engle, director of engineering for the city of Hamilton. “That was a one-way way street. It provided a shortcut down Monument for people coming off High Street, but it shouldn’t affect too many people.”
A sign announcing the closure takes place July 1 has been at the north end of Monument Avenue for several weeks. Engle said the closure won’t actually happen until Wednesday, July 5.
“We’ll be putting up the barricades across the street then,” Engle said.
Access to Monument Avenue and the Fitton Center from Court Street will not change, nor will access to the Fitton Center from Ludlow Street a block further south. Cars headed east on High Street can turn right on Front Street to access Court or Ludlow and reach the Fitton Center.
The traffic change comes in preparation for the Fitton Center’s soon-to-be new neighbors - the Well House Hotel, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton property – in the former Anthony Wayne Hotel. Most recently an apartment building, interior renovations on the building already are under way.
The block of Monument Avenue between High and Court streets will cease being a thoroughfare and become a parking lot for the Well House.
The boutique hotel featuring 54 rooms plans to open in 2024. In addition, it plans a 5,000 square-foot restaurant and outdoor dining options.
“All I do is execute the plans,” Engle said. “But if the city wasn’t willing to work with developers to make infrastructure accommodations like this, we wouldn’t have the kind of development in Hamilton that we do.”
Fitton Center Executive Director Ian MacKenzie-Thurley told the Journal News he was excited by the prospect of new business in the area when the project was announced last year.
“We’re seeing this incredible development in Hamilton week by week, month by month,” he said. “The biggest impact is that macro impact of the growth of Hamilton, the growth of the population, and the companies that are coming here. Honestly, that’s our biggest focus, is the community.”
Fitton Center guests will have more than a month to guest used to the new traffic pattern before its 2023-2024 Season Launch event – Paint the Town Red – scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18.
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
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