Recent credit rating upgrade to save taxpayers millions   COVINGTON, Ky. - The long-awaited redevelopment of 23 acres near the Ohio River moved a big step closer to reality tonight.   The Covington Board of Commissioners authorized the City to borrow the money needed to buy the site, demolish the former Internal Revenue tax-processing facility that dominates 17 of those acres...

IRS site’s backstory enmeshed with intrigue, drama   COVINGTON, Ky. - Almost 60 years old, the newspaper clippings are faded and fragile.   But with the rapid-fire publication of daily journalism, their headlines reveal the fascinating story of Covington’s concerted - some would say “desperate” - efforts in the early 1960s to land a massive IRS...

Chance to reshape ‘our identity and economics’ long into the future   COVINGTON, Ky. - The City of Covington will soon own 23 acres of land once described by an East Coast commercial developer as one of “the most exciting land redevelopment opportunities between Baltimore and New Orleans.”   In an emergency meeting held today and called on Wednesday, t...

Amid purchase negotiations, consultant pitches mixed-use development with street grid, green spaces   COVINGTON, Ky. - A consultant’s conceptual plan for the 23-acre IRS site includes a restored street grid, a levee park, a community plaza for festivals, and a mixture of buildings containing offices, retail shops, and places to live.   The goal?   That it &ld...

The Kentucky Post photographed the massive site near Fourth Street being cleared for the IRS center in the mid-1960s. Notice how the size of the site dwarfs the bulldozer. (Photo courtesy of the Kenton County Public Library) 1,100 miles away, architect who designed IRS center laments closure  COVINGTON, Ky. - More than 52 years after it opened, the federal government’s massive tax...

Three scenarios for 23 acres continue the public discussion   COVINGTON, Ky. - “Green on the Levee” features a strong retail street grid oriented diagonally on the site with a gradual slope up to a massive park near the Ohio River.   “Love the Covline” features a linear park running north-south through the site with “bridges” from building ...

COVINGTON, Ky. - The next phase of Covington’s efforts to solicit the public’s ideas for the soon-to-be-vacant 23-acre IRS site is banking on two beliefs:  Covington is blessed with smart, interesting, creative, articulate, and engaged people. Conversation around dinner and drinks is more productive and inviting than it would be in a 200-seat assembly hall or a Facebook co...

Attendees at the open house for the IRS site’s future check out a map showing traffic counts around the 23-acre Covington complex. COVINGTON, Ky. - They came dressed in high heels, hiking boots, and clerical collars, and they had plenty of ideas.  “They” were the nearly 200 people who attended the kick-off of the public conversation that Covington has started to discus...

COVINGTON, Ky. - For established cities, opportunities like this come along maybe once in their existence: 23 undeveloped acres, one block from a major river, near the heart of downtown.   The City of Covington will soon have that opportunity, and it wants the public’s help.   Next Thursday night, the City and its consultants are kicking off the public conversation on f...

A 10-month process led by a global firm to create a vision for the sprawling IRS site, in a critical part of downtown, will soon be underway. COVINGTON, Ky. - An intensive process to assess the potential of the soon-to-be vacant 23 acres that make up the IRS site, and to set a vision for developing it, will take about 10 months and get under way in earnest right after the holidays.  Tha...