Boone Recorder 09/20/18

Page 1

BOONE RECORDER Your Community Recorder newspaper serving all of Boone County

host BE THE

WITH THE

MOST T H I S TA I L G A T E S E A S O N

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 ❚ BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS ❚ PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Five new hotels part of Florence construction boom Melissa Reinert Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

FLORENCE – If you build it ... yeah, you know the rest. So do hotel owners. That’s the reason for a recent hotel boom in Florence, according to the city’s director of business and community development, Josh Hunt. According to Hunt, visitors to the Creation Museum in Boone County and Ark Encounter in neighboring Grant County are a contributing factor for hotels opening. Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky International Airport’s (CVG) addition of more low-cost airline flights, in particular, is driving a need for more hotel rooms. “When you combine that with Florence’s proximity to a variety of shopping and dining options, it makes Florence the place to build in Northern Kentucky,” Hunt said. This year Florence welcomed two new hotels to its roster, Comfort Suites with 82 rooms at 5895 Merchant Drive and Hilton Home 2 Suites with 109

Rooms at 7570 Woodspoint Drive. In addition, there are five hotels currently under construction within city limits: ❚ Stay Bridge Inn, is a 2.8-acre development site at 3255 Ted Bushelman Boulevard. It is expected to be completed in spring 2019. The building will stand at five stories and consist of 89 rooms in 72,965 square feet. ❚ Fairfield Inn & Suites will stand at Merchant Street, at four-stories and 50,635 square feet. This hotel is anticipated to be complete in spring 2019 and will feature 91 rooms. ❚ Tru Hotel will be a four-story, 45,000-square-foot hotel at Vandercar Way. ❚ Holiday Inn Express is being built on 2.1 acres at Vandercar Way. This 56,000-square-foot hotel will feature 93 rooms in a total of four stories. ❚ TownePlace Suites Marriott will soon stand at Turfway Road. This 2.85acre development will consist of four stories and 65,716 square feet. There will be101 rooms. “When all of the projects are finished

The Comfort Suites opened this year in Florence with 82 rooms. FILE PHOTO

up, we will have added 667 new hotel rooms within the city,” Hunt said. In addition, several hotels already operating in the city have completed or are undergoing multimillion-dollar renovations: ❚ Major interior and exterior upgrades to Hampton Inn, 7393 Turfway Road. and Courtyard by Marriot 46 Cavalier Boulevard. ❚ Major interior upgrade to Hilton Cincinnati Airport, 7373 Turfway Road. According to meetNKY director of bureau operations Mary Watkins, hotel room occupancy in Northern Kentucky has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Watkins said that Covington and Florence take the lead in hotel occupancy. Covington has 1,463 rooms; Florence currently 2,674 rooms. As Hunt noted above, that tally will be growing for Florence.

More business boom in Florence Discount store Five Below opened Sept. 14 in Florence. SUBMITTED/ THE TENNESSEAN

Besides the addition of several hotels in Florence, there are a plethora of busi-

ness projects coming to fruition this fall. ❚ A new popular trend in pampering will be available in Florence at 7665 Mall Road. Becoming Mom Sap & Ultrasound is a new spa that will specialize in providing therapeutic spa services and ultrasounds for expectant mothers. ❚ Zoup!, a fast-casual soup restaurant concept, will soon be offering up award-winning soups and made-to-order sandwiches and salads in Florence at 7753 Mall Road. Five Below, where everything is $5 and under, opened in Florence on Sept. 14. The store is located at 7800 Mall Road. ❚ New to the market is Noah’s Ark Animal Clinic, a chain that will open this fall. It will operate out of a newly remodeled 5,775-square-foot building at 7025 Burlington Pike. ❚ CVG Site 6B, a 21-acre development, is expected to complete its first 117,000-square-foot building this fall. Two of the three tenants will occupy this building. ❚ Wayfair, the online home furnishings and decor retailer, will be opening a retail outlet there this year. The address is 5101 Renegade Way.

Former Rabbit Hash dog mayor dies Melissa Reinert Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

RABBIT HASH, Ky. – Former Rabbit Hash Mayor Lucy Lou has died. The red and white border collie who served in office from 2008 to 2016 died Sept. 10. She was 12. Lucy Lou lived her entire life in Rabbit Hash, an Ohio River community that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She dedicated her time in “the center of the universe” to help others. Since her political career took off Lucy Lou attended many charity events and served as spokespet for a women’s crisis center. Her term as mayor ended earlier than planned in 2016 when she voluntarily left office in order to help her hometown raise funds to rebuild the Rabbit Hash General Store. The 1831 historic building was destroyed by fire in February 2016. With the help of Lucy Lou and others,

Find your news

To see news for your community, visit bit.ly/YourCommunities

Former Rabbit Hash mayor Lucy Lou with her owner, Bobbi Kayser. FILE PHOTO

the Rabbit Hash Historical Society was able to rebuild and reopen the landmark within a year. During her tenure, Lucy Lou also gave many radio and magazine interviews. She appeared on news segments to promote local events as well as a Japanese pet show and shared a “Talking Points” walk with Bill Geist of CBS Sunday Morning.

Contact The Press

Celebrity aside, Lucy Lou’s favorite thing was to greet visitors to Rabbit Hash, located in western Boone County in Northern Kentucky. She also enjoyed swimming in the Ohio River. Lucy Lou’s secretary and “momma” Bobbi Layne Kayser said that Lucy Lou “was an astounding canine who brought joy to many more people than just her immediate family.” “I’m so proud to have known her and shared these short years on earth with her,” Kayser posted in a Facebook announcement yesterday. “Run free and easy, sweet girl. Momma loves you.” Lucy Lou was the first female mayor of Rabbit Hash. Lucy Lou ran on the popular campaign slogan: “The Bitch You Can Count On,” raising $8,087 of the total $21,921 raised that election. The question Mayor Lucy Lou was most asked during the campaign was: “How does a DOG become mayor”? Her answer, according to Kayser was: “As with politics in every corner of the

News: 513-248-8600, Retail advertising: 513-768-8404, Classified advertising: 513-421-6300, Delivery: 859-781-4421. See page A2 for additonal information

earth, the candidate with the most money wins. In Rabbit Hash, we’re just honest about it. Anyone of any age can vote, you can vote as many times as you like, and we encourage drinking at the polls.” Lucy Lou’s executive staff have been heard to say on more than one occasion, “We bought that election fair and square!” Hundreds of condolence messages are posted on Facebook including one from Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach. “On behalf of the entire City of Cincinnati, thank Lucy Lou for her service,” Seelbach wrote. Musician Ricky Nye, one of many who have performed at the Rabbit Hash General Store, posted a message, as did the director of the movie about Rabbit Hash, “Rabbit Hash: Center of the Universe”: “She was a star! Wouldn’t have been the same with her. So sorry for your loss,” posted director Jude Gerard Prest.

Vol. 1 No. 36 © 2018 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Price $1.00


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.