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JOURNAL
Your Community Press newspaper serving Indian Hill E-mail: indianhill@communitypress.com Indian Hill senior standout Robby Pickett
Volume 12 Number 18 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
New direction
Fifth-graders from Indian Hill Elementary School didn’t need a compass to find the Greenacres nature center. Learn about their visit. SEE LIFE, B1
Never forget
Gulf War Veterans arrived in Cincinnati for a 9/11 memorial ceremony and a patriotic tribute to recently injured military heroes and veterans. They were welcomed by the pomp and circumstance of the Indian Hill School Braves Marching Band. SEE STORY, A6
Trick or Treat
We want to know when your community is conducting trick or treating this year. E-mail calendar@cincinnati.com and include: name of community, date, start and end time and contact phone number or submit the details through SHARE at http://local. cincinnati.com/share/.
Halloween photo contest
Get in the Halloween spirit by visiting CincinnatiMoms LikeMe.com and entering the online Halloween Photo Contest. You can enter in three categories: Best Baby/Toddler; Best Kids; Best Adult. Deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, and voting will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 18. To enter the contest and for official rules, visit the Contests page on CincinnatiMoms LikeMe.com.
T h u r s d a y, O c t o b e r
7, 2010
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
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Road budget gets new layer Council adds $215K for 2011 By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
Indian Hill Village Council continues working the 2011 budget, but at least one program is getting an infusion of cash in the coming year. During the Sept. 27 council meeting, Councilwoman Lindsay McLean said the village is funding $215,000 in paving projects in 2011. The village put a hold on repaving projects for village roads this Burns year as a way to save money during the economic downturn. Council is still working on the proposed budgets, so the figures could change. However, City Manager Mike Burns has previously said the village couldn’t wait another year to repair roads. Burns said during the meeting that all of Graves Road and portions of Drake Road would be included in the resurfacing program next year, along with the intersections of Shawnee Run Road and Drake, Shawnee Run and Graves and Indian Hill Road and Drake. “All of which need attention after our recent water project,” McLean said. The village’s water main replacement project has moved through several village roads, leaving some uneven after the work has been completed. The village suspended the road resurfacing program last year and typically allocated more than $500,000 to the program. McLean said the village could increase the amount of $215,000 in 2012 for the program.
PROVIDED
Helen Starkey of Wilmington, Ohio; Ginny Holcombe of Richardson, Texas; and Georgia Murray of Euclid, Ohio, reveal the new bench in Whitacre Park during a special ceremony at the park honoring the park’s namesake, H.C. Whitacre. Each are descendants of Whitacre.
Namesake honored at Whitacre Park
By Rob Dowdy
rdowdy@communitypress.com
Family members of a former Indian Hill resident recently paid tribute to their descendent at the park that now bears his name. H.C. Whitacre was honored with a bench at Whitacre Park, located on Drake Road, during a brief ceremony that included a dedication of the bench and a picnic lunch. Several of the approximately 30 family members from across the country shared stories about Whitacre and the property their families lived on at one time or another. Russ Whitacre, grandson of H.C. Whitacre, said the event began in discussions about a year ago, when some of his cousins visited the park and noticed there was no place to sit and rest after walking the trails of the property. He said he then began working with the village to place a bench with Whitacre’s name on it.
PROVIDED
H.C. Whitacre’s six surviving grandchildren rest during the special ceremony honoring the former owner of the property that is now Whitacre Park. Standing are (from left) Georgia Murray, of Euclid, Ohio; Ginny Holcombe, of Richardson, Texas; and Helen Starkey, of Wilmington, Ohio. Seated are (from left) Charles Whitacre, of Alma, Ga.; Russ Whitacre, of New Glarus, Wis.; and Roger Whitacre, of Dallas, Texas. “It was just a great experience to be there,” Whitacre said. Lindsay McLean, Indian Hill Village councilwoman and Indian Hill Historical Society historian, attended the event and said Whitacre, who lived in the village from 1911 until his death in 1972, was a man of many talents. While he was a teacher during the day, Whitacre also practiced law downtown and farmed his
Indian Hill land and property in Butlerville in Warren County. The land was bought by the village from H.C. Whitacre’s family after his death. McLean said the village bought the property for greenspace, and named it after the principal owner. “There’s a history of naming tracts of land ... after owners,” she said.
Schott estate sold for $1.75 million Gannett News Service
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Marge Schott’s historic Indian Hill estate has been sold to Venkata Madabhushi, a senior vice president with the Humana Corp., for $1.75 million.
Marge Schott’s historic Indian Hill estate has been sold to a senior executive from Humana Corp. Venkata Madabhushi, a senior vice president with the health insurer, paid $1.75 million for the 19-room estate that sits on 15 acres in one of the region’s toniest neighborhood, according to Hamilton County property records. The selling price was less than half the original listing price of $3.95 million. Proceeds go to the Marge and Charles J. Schott Foundation, the charitable foundation that supports education, health care, Scouting and other causes.
“We were a motivated seller,” said Tom Donnellon, lawyer for the Schott Foundation. The mansion had been vacant for six years since the former Cincinnati Reds owner’s death in 2004. In any housing market demand for a 12,000-square-foot mansion built in 1928 and in need of some repair would not be great. But the current market made selling it even tougher, as it was listed for more than a year. Donnellon said the buyer, who also goes by Raja Rajamannar, plans to make renovations and live in it with his family. “I’m excited that he’s going to redo it and live in it,” Donnellon
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said. Rajamannar declined to comment about the purchase. The sprawling estate, originally called Ambleside, was built in 1928 by architect John Henri Deeken, and modeled after a mansion in Ireland. It was built for Mr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Smith Jr., who owned National Marketing Machine Co., and was meant to be staffed and serviced by live-in help. The building was constructed with oak flooring, wrought iron, leaded windows, Rookwood tile and a motor court paved with stone. Nearly everything is original to the 1920s construction.
See SCHOTT on page A2