WESTERN HILLS PRESS
Your Community Press newspaper serving Addyston, Bridgetown, Cheviot, Cleves, Covedale, Dent, Green Township, Mack, Miami Township, North Bend, Westwood
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Miami Twp. thanks Sykes for more than 30 years of service By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
MIAMI TWP. — For the first time in nearly three decades, the township board of trustees will be without Joe Sykes when it begins a new year of governing in January. The longtime trustee is retiring at the end of December, after 28 years of service to the township. “I’m going to miss the camaraderie of serving Sykes with the other trustees,” Sykes said. “I think we have two of the finest trustees you could find in Paul Beck and Jack Rininger. “I’ll also miss all the employees of the township. I can’t say enough about the great people who work for Miami Township,” he said. A native of the Three Rivers area and a U.S. Air Force veter-
75¢
New storage space, restrooms, planned for Kuliga Park By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
much,” he said. “I wanted to do what I could to give back and make it a nice place to live.” In addition to his role with the township, Sykes has served on dozens of governmental com-
GREEN TWP. — Kuliga Park is getting a new restroom and maintenance storage building. The Green Township Trustees voted Nov. 25 to accept a bid of $295,000 from Lambing the Leo J. Brielmaier Co. for the project. Green Township Public Services Director Joe Lambing said a new 2,000-squarefeet restroom building and storage facility will be built at the park, 6717 Bridgetown Road. The existing combined
See SYKES, Page A2
See KULIGA, Page A2
Miami Township officials and U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot dedicated the Miami Township Community Center and fire station in 2011. Township Trustee Joe Sykes, who is retiring at the end of December, said he’s proud the facility was built during his tenure on the board. FILE PHOTO
an, Sykes, 82, has dedicated more than 30 years of his life to public service. He was a member of the Three Rivers Local School District Board of Education for nine years – from 1976 to 1985, and he first became a Miami Township
trustee in 1985. He said the township is a great place to live and raise a family, and he chose to serve the township because he wanted to make sure it remained a strong community. “This community gave me so
Theater group lauded for renovation of Glenmore Bowl By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
CHEVIOT — The Drama Workshop’s efforts to turn a former bowling alley into a live performance venue has caught the eye of the Cincinnati Preservation Association. The preservation association recently presented the West Side theater organization a 2013 Rehabilitation Award for its renovation of the former Glenmore Bowl, 3716 Glenmore Ave. Ray Persing, president of The Drama Workshop, and theater group members John Netzley, Karen Romero and Elaine Volker accepted the award during a ceremony in November. Persing said the building, now called The Glenmore Playhouse, was opened in 1928 as Bueche Lanes by Lawrence and William Bueche. Lawrence Bueche was already established in the movie theater business and his goal was to set his younger brother up in business, Persing said. “Their father, a master mason, built the structure for them,” he said. “Because they were concerned that bowling may just be another passing fad,
Representatives from The Drama Workshop, the city of Cheviot, the Cheviot Westwood Community Association and Rebold, Rosenacker, and Sexton Funeral Home accept a 2013 Rehabilitation Award from the Cincinnati Preservation Association. From left: Karen Romero, Kitty Zech, Arthur Sturbaum, Ray Persing, Margo Warminski, John Netzley, Richard Duval, Elaine Volker, Mike Sexton and Ray Kroner.THANKS TO GRETCHEN GANTNER
the building was constructed so that it could be converted into a movie theater should bowling not work out.” Bowling proved to be a hit and the alley remained in operation for more than 80 years. Persing said the building passed through several hands over the course of eight decades, but Les Horstman and his family had the strongest connection to the bowling house. The Horstman family had at
least one family member working at the bowling alley in some capacity for more than 50 years, Persing said. Glenmore Bowl closed for good in August 2010, and the theater group’s membership voted in April 2011 to buy the property. “The Drama Workshop had been looking for a permanent home for many years, and the size, configuration and location of the building fit the needs of
READY TO ... FLY? A9
BLUE CHRISTMAS
High school swimmers back in the water
Recipes for a cheesy holiday See Rita Heikenfeld’s column, B3
The Drama Workshop received a rehabilitation award from the Cincinnati Preservation Association for its transformation of the former Glenmore Bowl building in Cheviot into the Glenmore Playhouse theater. KURT BACKSCHEIDER/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
the group very well,” Persing said. “Mary Stone, then The Drama Workshop’s president, spearheaded the plan which saved the building from demolition.” He said the theater group worked with Cheviot Savings Bank, Cheviot city officials and neighborhood businesses, particularly Rebold, Rosenacker and Sexton Funeral Home, to enable the purchase of the building in November 2011. Mike Sexton and Jerry Rosenacker of the funeral home were
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excited to help save the historic building, which sits down the street from their business. “We’re happy that The Drama Workshop saved the building, rather than having the space become another parking lot,” Sexton said. The theater group began renovating the building in early 2012. Persing said members removed all bowling equipment and gutted the building. They replaced decades-old wiring and installed a theatrical lighting system. A 22-feet high arched ceiling, hidden for years, was uncovered. Windows that had been covered by paneling were exposed, providing natural light in the new lobby area. A stage was constructed where the pinsetters once stood, he said. The preservation association commended the group for exposing and preserving many of the original building features, he said. More than 100 volunteers have contributed more than 8,000 hours converting the building to a theater, which opened in October 2012, Persing See THEATER, Page A2 Vol. 86 No. 4 © 2013 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
See page A2 for additional information
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