On Your Street: West Broadway Street/ Observation Avenue in Newport

BY ANN MORT | LINK nky CONTRIBUTOR

The hill above Newport has many nicknames – Nanny Goat Hill and Spaghetti Nob, among others. Whatever it is called, it is known for its spectacular views of downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River cities.

The area is fast becoming the place to live with its vintage homes and repurposed buildings, such as the former children’s home that later became the Baptist Convalescent Home and is now upscale condos with glass walls facing north to frame the view of downtown Cincinnati.

The area of West Broadway Street and Observation Avenue is really just one street with a few homes. Sue and Frank Peluso own one of the four homes on the Broadway end of the street.

The Peluso home was built in 1948 from wood salvaged from the Housing Authori- ty, which was being torn down at that time. The recycled wood created beams of various widths in the home.

Both the Pelusos were born and raised in Newport, and Sue Peluso lived in the same house on Columbia Street from birth to marriage.

Frank Peluso’s Irish grandmother owned an Italian restaurant on The Hill – Grandview Gardens on Widrig Street – now repurposed into condos. His grandparents were known as Margaret and “Johnny TV.” She was the cook. He repaired TVs and was the face of the business. He was also a mayor and city commissioner of Newport.

Frank and Sue Peluso were married in October 1974. By 1977, they wanted to live in a real home before their first child, Cassandra, was born, so they went house hunting – in Newport. If you worked for the city, you lived in the city in those days.

Frank Peluso’s supervisor in the Water Department lived on Broadway, two doors down from a home on the market for $23,500. The seller offered to toss in the empty lot across the street for another $500, along with a washer/dryer. They fondly remember Mr. Egan of United Savings and Loan helping them with the deal. The Pelusos moved into a very green home. Everything was green – doors, registers, carpet. They did a lot of painting in the next few months.

Sue Peluso worked as an assistant to the purchasing agent at Wilder Display Specialists from 1989 to 2011, when it closed.

Frank Peluso worked for the city of Newport for 30 years. Beginning as a water meter reader, he was promoted to hole-digger. After eight years with the Water Depart- ment, he took the civil service test and was hired as city clerk/purchasing agent. After 25 years, he went back to the Water Department as works director of the last independent water system in Kentucky. Eventually, it was sold to the Kentucky system, and Frank was out of a job.

Cousin Jerry Peluso, now the owner of Peluso’s Market on Monmouth Street, and Tom Guidugli Sr., who was mayor of Newport at the time, started a little two-day Italian Festival in 1991. Not many Italian restaurants wanted to be in the festival. Most felt it was too risky – the weather was always iffy and so on. So, Frank and Sue Peluso did a food booth for the festival. As most will now attest, the festival was and remains a huge success.

Out of that festival success, Frank and Sue Peluso, along with friends Doug and Linda Wagner, opened a catering business, Frankie’s Catering. The catering business, never a restaurant, ran out of a storefront on Monmouth Street.

Frank Peluso got bored, so he, who knew nothing about HVAC, signed on to be a salesman for a buddy who owned such a business. He did, however, know how the purchasing and contract system worked in government and schools, so he was very successful for 15 years.

“Then ‘we’ decided to run for public office,” Frank Peluso said. “I missed helping people, and I could not have done it without Susan. She was always by my side. We were in office 16 years.”

Frank Peluso served as commissioner and vice mayor, retiring in January 2023.

Not one to sit on the sidelines, he is now the chair of the Campbell County Courthouse Commission, which owns the courthouse built in 1870. Three commission members operate the building, leasing space to the Campbell County Administration offices. All other courthouses in Kentucky are owned by their respective counties.

The Peluso family stays close. In fact, their son Frankie and daughter-in-law Sarah live just across the street with their 13-year-old daughter, whose swing set still stands in Frank and Sue Peluso’s backyard.

The empty 100-by-100-foot lot across the street was a nice asset, and Frank and Sue Peluso eventually bought more adjacent land to protect the view. That space also allows for the continued expansion of their Christmas holiday light display, which is open to the public each year. Frank has always enjoyed holiday lights and still has the first string his mother gave him at age

8. There is a story behind each decoration.

Santa and Mrs. Claus greet guests who drop by during the season to see the Peluso light display and the lights in Cincinnati from The Hill. On Labor Day, their home is also a private party spot where guests watch the fireworks on the Ohio River.