WEBVTT - Eddie and Rocky -- 11/18/25 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:06.800 All right back with Eddie and Rocky and rock News 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:11.240 announced on the Western Hills Viaduct, a project that I've 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.520 lived here longer than I've lived here, longer than you've 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.079 lived here, and I'm and I'm not from here. Yeah, 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:20.239 it's one of those things. It's like the Brent Spence 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.680 since I moved here forty six years ago, I did 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:26.720 the bridge. Gotta fix the bridge. You gotta fix the bridge. 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:29.840 You got to fix the viaduct, you gotta fix the nothing, nothing, 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:31.720 And now they're going to half asset. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:35.559 Yeah, it's gonna happen, but not in the way that 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.920 I think everybody envisioned it. So I guess maybe some 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:40.400 some good news bad news. 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:43.760 Well, let's talk to a woman who wrote about it 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.000 today in the Inquirer Cincinnati dot Com. Our good friend, 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:50.680 Patricia Gallagher Newberry, And Patty, what is the latest on 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.720 these things? Because of inflation and I had kind of 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.360 loss the building material right lingering around for so long? 0:00:58.600 --> 0:00:59.840 What are we talking about here? 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:04.640 I started writing about this bridge in twenty twenty two 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:09.280 and learned that it's been considered functionally obsolete since two 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:12.559 thousand and seven. Anybody who drives on the Western Hills 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:17.400 viadec knows it's in some amount of disrepair, and occasionally, 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:19.600 you know, you look up and you might see some 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:27.440 falling chunks of concrete. Year it's been two years since 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:29.600 anything big has fallen off. But of course they have 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.000 a lot of netting up there now to catch between 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.520 the top deck and the bottom. So the latest on this, 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.200 according to city officials, is that they're going to shrink 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.560 the footprint just a bit because of costs anticipated costs. 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:44.679 It was going to be. 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.960 Four lanes in each direction going over from seventy five 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:51.280 to the west side, over the big Queen's Gate rail yard, 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:55.280 and now it's going to be three lanes in each direction. Instead, 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.000 there were going to be paths on both the north 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.080 side and the south side of the new structure. Now 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.320 there's just going to be a south side passage, not 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.720 the north side. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:07.640 Both of those. 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:12.880 Things will save some amount of cost, but city officials 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.640 either don't know or we're not yet ready to make 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:19.320 public how much it's going to cost. The last figure 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.960 was three hundred and ninety eight million, but that's going 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:27.360 back now, you know, three four years, and it was 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:31.840 already the second estimate. So it's definitely going to be 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.480 more than that. I certainly can't venture a guess, and 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.640 if city officials aren't willing to say it, I'm certainly 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:38.679 not going to jump out there. 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:39.840 But it's going to cost. 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.160 More and it's going to be a little more narrow 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:43.799 than anticipated. 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:48.440 Patty, just share with the listeners where all the money, 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.840 the three hundred ninety eight million and growing. Where's that 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:54.239 exactly come from? A local, state, federal combination. 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.919 It's a combination. Yeah, it's a combination. 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.560 And we we didn't publish it today, but we had 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.919 published some charts earlier showing, you. 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.519 Know, dot O DOT is a contributor. 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.720 The Federal Transportation Authority is a big is you know, 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.799 a contributor as the City of Cincinnati. And then they 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:17.119 do have two more chunks of money coming in. One 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.920 is six million that they just secured via OKI, which 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:24.760 your listeners might know is the Ohio Kentucky, Indiana Regional 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.160 Council of Governments, which funnels federal money. 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:29.440 So that's six million. 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.360 And then they've just applied for and are waiting to 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:35.680 hear from another big hunk from the state of Ohio 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.680 to the tune of fifty million. They already had twenty 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:42.760 five million from the state of Ohio secured, so another 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.480 fifty on top of that. Now, is that going to mean, 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.480 you know, we should just add fifty six million to 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:49.160 the last price. 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:53.120 I don't know, but but that's where it stands at 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:54.480 this time in terms of the funding. 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.680 Patricia Gallagher Newberry from the Inquirer Cincinnatia dot com with 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:03.480 us and so, Patty, the plan is to build this 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:09.080 beside the current viaduct and then tear the viaduct down. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.000 That's what I'm reading, Is that right? 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.360 That that is correct, and that's been the plan all along. 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:18.480 So it'll be just south and fifty miles excuse me. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:23.440 So it'll be and somewhere in Kentucky. 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:28.040 Yeah, fifty feet south of the the new one will 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:32.159 go up and then when it's done, which will be 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.600 twenty thirty one is what they're saying, then the old 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:40.840 one will come down in its one hundredth year centennial 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:46.119 and last birthday that the old viaduct celebrates, so it'll 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:50.000 be imploded when the new one is up and operational 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.720 and tied in at both ends seventy five and then 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:54.000 to west side streets. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.040 So that's exactly what's gonna happen with the Brent Spensbridge. 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.040 You're gonna build one right next to it and then 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.599 tear down the old structure, so so very similar. 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:05.719 Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no correction, both 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:12.480 the Brent Spence stays it becomes the local okay, okay, connects, yeah, 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.080 connects into Cincinnati and into Covington. 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:15.080 Thank you. 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.200 And then the brand the brand new companion bridge that 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.640 doesn't have a name yet will be built to its 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.680 immediate west and it will become the I seventy five 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.120 seventy one bridge, so it'll be the interstate passage, the 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:31.880 new one, gotcha, and that one, that one they should 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:36.039 have shovel in the water. Next year we'll start to 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:40.520 see some actual you know, cranes and pylons and so forth, 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:42.240 good in the Ohio River. 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.119 That yeah, I think situation is going to be fun. 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.760 That will be fun. But no, thanks for clarifying that. 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.719 Yeah, but the the old viaduct will will come down 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:55.919 and for for the viaduct shovels in the ground when. 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:01.719 Next year they'll be doing found work and that's going 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.560 to take through twenty twenty eight, so you won't see 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.920 any you know, deck work going up on the new 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.720 one until twenty twenty eight, and then that'll take about 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:11.880 three years for completion. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.720 All right, with the with that pet what again? It's 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.719 are people upset about this or were people ready to 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:24.560 make concessions anyway? Just get something done, just to get 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.320 something done, because like groc and I were talking and 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.680 Willie was talking about it, it seems like every project 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.320 that comes around in the city, it somehow gets around 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.120 it being kind of half assed at the end of 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:35.480 the day. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:37.960 Well, those are your words, not mine. 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:39.360 I know that's my words for sure. 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:43.760 Yeah, I'll just say, you know, I haven't I haven't 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:47.480 actually talked to any commuters on this latest change. But 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.279 I think the city is just accepting the reality is 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.120 the price of materials, the price of labor have gone up, 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:55.320 so we want the thing. 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:56.880 To be built. You know, I asked, is this thing 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.120 gonna fly? Is it going to happen? Is it going 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:00.000 to be delayed? 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:05.200 And they're, you know, they're very resolute that it's going forward, 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:08.040 and that the way to go forward is to you know, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.880 right size it or downsize it a bit so that 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.880 they can match the dollars they have to what it's 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:14.840 actually going to cost. 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:16.520 And get it done. 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.880 So all right, well, Patty, great stuff. I really appreciate 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:21.960 you laying this out for us. 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.760 You bet you to take care, take care, Thank you, 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.360 Batricia Gallagher and Newberry from The Inquirer since ninety dot com. 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:35.120 And you know, I look, it's a it's kind of 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:39.480 a turn of a phrase, half ast but I know, 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.800 I mean, seriously, I can't get why she she wouldn't 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:43.320 want me to put those words in her mouth because 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.720 she's a reporter. But right, it kind of doesn't that 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.720 always see in that way? Yeah, yeah, it does, Yeah 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.040 it does. And look, it always goes that way. 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.640 It's never like you know what we're able to you know, 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.200 with the same amount of funds, we're able to reach 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:59.400 out to some different contractors and we're able to get 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:03.160 more then we normally that that never happens, right, especially 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:05.560 when it comes comes to government. So I mean, this 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.200 is usually the way it goes because well we wanted 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:09.760 to you know, have all you. 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.600 Know, gold plated you know, roadways, but that's not gonna 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:15.800 happen now. But look at it, you know, kind of 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.280 the same with the banks, and it seems the same 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:22.640 with Great American Ballpark and even to a certain degree, 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:24.960 pay Corps and all that stuff. It just seems like, 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:29.560 you know, okay, granted, I know it sounds like nothing. 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:33.040 Maybe we could save a quarter million dollars here, blah 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.280 blah blah by doing this. Well, you know what, look 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:40.600 at these other stadiums in the other cities. Granted, Vegas 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.600 has a lot of money, so does LA I get it, 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.920 But can't we sometimes just put a little extra, just 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.079 a little kick into it and go, damn am nice, 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.960 that's nice, No to be, it's adequate. 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.080 On a completely different note here, obviously, we've been talking 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.480 about the big news that the Sex Elder game that 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:06.200 was scheduled for Mason High School this weekend. You know, 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.600 lots of folks Willie myself very vocal byt let's move 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.680 that thing to pay Corps and do it right. Officially 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.120 came down and that's what's going to happen now. Someone 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.280 who was really integral in making this happen, and I 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.280 talked to her, Denise Treehouse, and she just released a 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.560 statement quote, there will be a once in a lifetime 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.520 opportunity for so many young men who take the field 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.920 Friday night. Pay Corp is a publicly owned stadium and 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:30.440 it only makes sense that the public should be able 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.079 to access it for big events like Elder versus Sex. 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.640 I'm grateful for Katie Blackburn and the Bengals organization and 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.480 partnering to make this happen. This is one of my 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:44.040 main points in our recent lease negotiations. Hopefully it's indicative 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.319 of many similar events to come. So again, that's a 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:48.880 statement from Denise tree House and I definitely want to 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:52.040 reach out and say thank you to Commissioner dree House 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:53.080 for really pushing. 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:55.960 That getting that thing done. Job, well done, awesome. Coming up, 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.280 we got traffick in weather what is going on? Talking 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.839 to Petty Newbery from the Inquirer, and we were talking 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.640 about how everything tends to be half assed these days. 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.120 No offense to our friends at the Cincinnati Bengal or 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.360 what the Bengals or the Reds, but the Reds we 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:14.760 are the home with the rest by the way. 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:15.880 And uh. 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:20.120 But I was always kind of all right, you build 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:22.680 a ballpark, but you go to some of the I've 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:27.199 been to other ballparks and they're beautiful, and I would say, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.160 and again, I get it, it's a lot of money, 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:34.400 but can't we one day around here build something that's 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.280 built to last for one hundred years. I mean, come on, man, 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.000 and make it cool and classic. 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.120 Yeah, and I guess you know, it comes down the 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.640 money and that you know, do do people want their 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.040 levies raised and taxes raised and all that. But but 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:50.720 I just say, in general, you and I were talking 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.880 during the break, it's like, there's no buildings that are 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.360 built like that, just are just top top notch, like 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:02.760 both functionally and esthetically. And I think the only place 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.439 that you see those kind of buildings building anymore, I 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:08.200 feel like, are on college campuses, right because because they 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.320 can go to a donor and say, look, you know 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.440 this building is gonna have your name on it, right. 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.959 And yeah, we need thirty million bucks. 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:19.360 And that thing is is built to survive a nuclear 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:23.800 bomb and looks unbelievable brick and the whole ornate everything. 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:25.960 But yeah, a lot of buildings these days are just 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:27.840 office buildings. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.440 Are you know, just glass boxes? 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:30.840 Yeah? 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.800 You know, And that's what we were talking about. 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.560 The it does make you wonder, just like, Okay, I 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.560 mean throughout all of history there's needed to be some 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:42.200 amount of public money that goes in. 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:44.320 How come they could be done then? 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.760 Or you know, even fifty years ago, and it doesn't 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:48.640 seem like they're done like that anymore. 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:51.640 Well, I guess you had to work with what you 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:55.280 had forrest building materials went right, and they only had 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:57.960 stone and maybe that's part. 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.240 Of it too, But now there's all these other but 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:04.520 everything's like it's like this space age material and it's 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.880 fireproof and okay, which is great, but you know, but. 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.559 I mean, look at the Empire State Building, for instance, 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.280 how much would that cost to build today? 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.000 Yeah, and then the building go up like like like 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.960 under the time they they thought it would under budget, 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.280 like the whole thing that would never happen again, Like yeah, 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.800 we're just talking about the viaduct skyrocketing costs. 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.000 You got to cut it, cut this, cut back, make 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.920 it three lanes at A four. And the Empire State 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:36.480 Building built in the early thirties that took that thing 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.440 took a hit from a I don't know if it 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:40.200 was I forget if it was a B fifty. It 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:44.440 was a big airplane that hit the Empire State Building 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:48.840 square in more or less the middle. Fine, okay, it 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.560 took out a floor. Really, I did not know that story. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:55.040 That's a fact. Look it up. Really yeah, huh, hadn't 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.280 been up very long, and this plane wasn't a terrorist attack. 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:00.640 I don't know if a guy got lost in the fog. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:02.600 I forget what the story is. Just smack right into 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:07.320 its back, right into it. Wow, and uh yeah it's 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:11.840 still standing. Yeah, it makes you wonder. Well. 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:17.200 I think one of the things is regulations. You know, 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.480 back then day had when the Empire state buildings, they 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.439 had guys up there, no harnesses, just walking around. 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.319 You know, you see those old pictures of those guys 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.600 out there, they're literally ninety floors up just walking around 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:31.840 to eating a ham sandwich, just going about there. 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.400 Is Now there's got to be you know, this safety measure, 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.280 this harness, this hook, this, can't do this, can't do that, 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.000 can't do it on this day. I guess all that 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:43.920 from what builders say, all that red tape just adds 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:44.440 to the cost. 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.520 Well, coming up, put on your safety harness. Because we're 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:52.120 going to be talking to the Queen. Now there may 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:53.600 be a punting situation. 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.679 You might have to we're trying to get a commissioner 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.319 Jreehouse to come on and talk about the venue change. 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:03.520 But nevertheless, you will be listening to a powerful woman 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.040 of the tri State after the. 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:10.280 News right now seven hundred WLW, the Elder. 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:14.160 Playoff game has in fact been moved from Mason down 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.520 the pay Court Stadium. And you know something Willie and 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.000 I were kind of pushing hard for. But someone who 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:22.800 deserves a lot of the credit and making this happen 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.080 is Hamilon County Commissioner Denise Dreehouse. And she joins us 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:28.560 right now. Commissioner Dreehouse, how are you. 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.600 Well, I'm in a good mood. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:34.920 Yes, let me can. 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.920 I just say though, that it took Willie reaching out 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.920 to me to put it on my radar, so you know, 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.520 I wasn't in the loop on this, and so when 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:45.720 he told me what was going on, I was like, 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.960 oh wait a minute. And so so I appreciates credit, 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.560 but credit where credits due. I mean the impetus came 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:52.480 from Willy Cunningham. 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:57.840 Yeah, so explain the machinations going on here? Denise? Where 0:14:57.920 --> 0:14:59.880 did you go once you had this information? 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.120 So talk to Willie a little bit about it. I'm 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.760 familiar with Elder and as it's going to Dentilly and 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.240 what a big rivalry this is. And so I said, 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.400 oh my gosh, we should so have this down at 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.600 pay Corps and so I called Katie Blackburn and said, hey, 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.640 we had been talking through the least the lease we 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:21.680 just signed about having high school football games at pay 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.280 Corpse Stadium, and we were thinking, yeah, we'll work all 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.600 that out next year, have a model that we can 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:29.400 you know, sort through. And it just came sooner than later, 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:31.120 that's all. And Katie said, well, yeah, let's see if 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.120 we can make it happen. And so she and her 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:37.040 team reached out to the O H SAA and said, hey, 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.280 we've got the capacity down here, we think, you know, 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.640 we're open to this. Would you think about moving it 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.200 because I'm hearing horror stories right at these schools where 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.760 that the students can't get tickets, the parents can't get tickets, 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.200 the teachers can't get tickets, and so we just they 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.400 took us from there. But the Bengals did a lot 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:58.000 of the groundwork here and then finally got in okay, 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.000 And then it took you know, the County Commission to say. 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:00.720 Ye to it as well. 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:02.600 Yeah, and that was the issue a lot of folks 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.000 that it reached out to me and you know, we're 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.000 kind of screaming, look, you know, nothing against Mason High School. 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:08.760 Great place. 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.920 But since it's about you know, six thousand people, and 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.400 you go to just your average regular season Elder game 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.320 and there's eight ten thousand people. You go to your 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.080 average regular season, say next game, there's eight ten thousand 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:22.920 people at that thing. 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:24.560 So it just it's crazy. 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:28.760 And you know, they released the tickets during school hours, 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.200 so a lot of the students, who yeah, I mean, 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.880 you want the students to be at the game. That's 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.920 the lifeblood of high school football is having the you know, 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.440 the kids there and stuff. So I guess, I mean, 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:43.480 I mean talk about some of the other I guess 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:44.640 hurdles that had to. 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:46.880 Be you know, kind of overcome here to make this 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:47.400 happen to. 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:51.200 These well there there Actually there's quite a bit to 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.600 it when you talk about the personnel that needs to 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.880 be down there at the safety of the stadium, you know, 0:16:56.960 --> 0:16:59.560 opening that thing up on a day that you didn't anticipate. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.440 Remember the Beangals are in town on Sunday, so that's 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.119 a quick turnaround for them. We can do it, but 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.680 it's no small task to turn that around. So they 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:11.399 worked well with us. They had to run through all 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.800 that they were working last night through the night trying 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:15.280 to figure out whether or not they could pull it 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:17.679 off for Friday. And then I heard from Katie this 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.719 morning and she said, yep, she said, we can do it. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.960 We just need the nod FROMHSAA. And then that came, 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:25.920 and then we had to get approval from the county 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.840 commissioners and so that came, and it's like, so everything 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.320 just kind of fell into place. But you know, hopefully 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.640 this will serve as a model as we move into 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:36.879 next year and we get more aggressive about being on 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.359 the radar WITHSAA. I don't want to do this this 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:42.240 way next time, right. I want to be on the 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.960 radar and have them thinking through oh wait a minute, 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.080 pay course and option. Why don't we have some of 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:48.679 our games down there? Because I want this to be 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.760 open to any high school team that you know in 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.080 this kind of game. I mean, this is exciting stuff 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.440 for the community and by the way, the taxpayers on 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:58.840 the stadium, and so I think we should let them 0:17:58.920 --> 0:17:59.159 use it. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:03.400 And look, when you're talking about the regional finals every year, 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.439 it's going to be one or multiple of these schools. 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:08.160 It's going to be Saint Axe is gonna be Outer, 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.000 It's going to be Molder. It's going to be you know, 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:14.040 it could be Leasal, could be La Cota West. You know, 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.080 I mean you you're talking about some and others I 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.520 haven't mentioned, but you're talking all big time fan bases. 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.520 So I mean, no matter who of a bunch of 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.560 like say a group of ten teams, any one of 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:28.159 those are going to bring a big fan base. So 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.920 it just makes sense to just let's make this precedent 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:33.520 set right now that the regional finals are going to 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:34.159 be held to pay for it. 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:34.720 That'd be great. 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.040 I think that'd be great too, but that's not my decision. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:39.960 To make right right. 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:44.560 But here we are right doing this setting a precedent. 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.520 You know, this is again this is the first four 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:48.800 a because commissioners have said, we said all along we 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.520 want to bring more concerts and football games into this facility. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.119 So here we are right, and it's and it's quicker 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.960 than we anticipated. But let's get this right. Let's figure 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.159 out all the details, and then next year will be 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.240 set and ready to go to you know, try to 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.280 promote this pay course sitium for some more of these games. 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.040 County Commissioner Denise Treehouses our guest and Denise So who 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.760 I don't know understand, not that it matter, just one 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.240 of those behind the scenes thing that I was thinking about, 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:22.240 who who staffs or who staffs the stadium on a 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.080 on a night like this. Do the Bengals supply the 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.600 staff does the county? How does that work? I have 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:29.119 no idea. 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.240 Yeah, the Bengals manage all of that. And so this 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:35.200 is why it was so important that they reach out 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:37.600 to OHSAA, because you know, there are those kinds of 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:40.720 technical questions on what do you need, what do we 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:42.920 need to open up? How many people do we need 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:46.080 in there? And so it was critical that the Bengals 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.479 do that outreach, which they happily did because they're excited 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.800 about this too. And so you know, it hasn't always 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:57.560 been this kind of relationship with the Bengals, the Bengals 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.879 in the county, but I think to see, you know, 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.480