OneNKY Center coming to Covington riverfront

BY KENTON HORNBECK | LINK nky REPORTER

Aforthcoming addition to Covington’s riverfront is planned to be the new home to several Northern Kentucky growth organizations.

Kenton County Fiscal Court unanimously voted to provide credit enhancement for up to $10 million in construction bonds to build the OneNKY Center. The bonds are slated to be issued by the Kentucky Association of County Officials.

The office building will house most of Northern Kentucky’s growth organizations, such as the NKY Chamber of Commerce, meetNKY, OneNKY Alliance, The Catalytic Fund of Northern Kentucky, BE NKY Growth Partnership, Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky and Northern Kentucky Bar Association.

OneNKY Center is 93% leased, and all tenants have committed to locating into the building, according to a Northern Kentucky Port Authority press release.

“Bringing key regional organizations handling economic development, tourism, etc., together in the OneNKY Center will improve their ability to elevate Northern Kentucky, while increasing the efficiency of their backroom operations,” said Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann in a press release.

The bond issuance is still subject to approval by the State Local Debt Officer. The building will be owned by the Northern Kentucky Port Authority — a multi-jurisdictional economic development organization that facilitates river port projects along the Ohio and Licking Rivers.

“Launching the Northern Kentucky Port Authority as an active player in economic development has been a priority of our board of directors for several years,” said BE NKY Growth Partnership CEO and President Lee Crume. “In 2019, we began the groundwork that led to the role the Northern Kentucky Port Authority is playing in the OneNKY Center and are proud that it is the building’s owner.”

The bonds are a large part of the project’s capital stack. Overall, the construction project is expected to cost $26 million. Other funding is coming from the Coving- ton Life Sciences Partners, the Haile Foundation, Horizon Community Funds, Durr Foundation and Drees Foundation, and the sale of the land by St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

The OneNKY Center will be located at the foot of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Covington. The spot is currently a parking lot in front of The Gruff. The building will feature 43,000 square feet of Class A office space and 44 underground parking spaces.

Construction is expected to begin this summer. Covington-based Corporex was chosen as the project’s design-build contractor after a Request for Proposal, or RFP, process was conducted.

The Covington Sciences Lab will have up to 15,000 square feet on the second floor inside the OneNKY Center. The state of Kentucky provided $15 million for the life sciences lab through House Bill 1, the state’s two-year budget legislation, which the Kentucky General Assembly passed in April 2022.

“The Covington Life Science Lab will build on Covington’s growing reputation as a hub for high-tech advancements in this critical sector, and it will bring to fruition our vision when we started this process two years ago,” said Covington Mayor Joe Meyer in the release. “Companies like Bexion, CTI, and Gravity Diagnostics are wowing the world, and we hope this lab will help many other new companies along that same path.”

Established in November 2022, Covington Life Sciences Partners Inc., or CLSP, is a nonprofit organization founded to advance science, education and entrepreneurship in the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati region. The CLSP signed a 99-year, $12 million lease with the Port Authority for space in the OneNKY Center.

“It’s exciting to see this project move forward with collaboration from business and government leaders,” said CLSP Co-chair and St. Elizabeth Healthcare CEO Garren Colvin in the release. “If Northern Kentucky is going to be one of the healthiest regions in the country, we need to have businesses that are poised for future growth –like biotechnology– and access to improved healthcare. This project is advancing both.”

Many of the growth organizations moving into the OneNKY Center positively commented on the project. OneNKY Alliance President and CEO Karen Finan commended the efforts of the people and organizations who worked behind the scenes on the project.

“Having initiated this coalition of dedicated people and organizations, in partnership with the Catalytic Fund, working toward building a more meaningful future for our community was a major priority for the OneNKY Alliance and was simply exhilarating,” Finan said. “This project has been an important initiative for many key Northern Kentucky organizations over the past four years and now, we cannot wait to see what happens next.”

“It will be a signature building at the front door to Northern Kentucky,” said Schroer. “It will complement all the new development in the Roebling Point neighborhood while serving as a catalyst for exciting new developments along the riverfront and throughout the region.”

Five inducted in May to NKY Sports Hall of Fame

The Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame inducted its May class on May 17, headlined by three Highlands grads, a Bellevue grad and a Holmes grad.

Dave Hudepohl (Highlands High School), Cindy Schlarman Graves (Highlands), John Schlarman (Highlands), Walter “Whitey” Kordenbrock (Holmes High School) and Dennis Deal (Bellevue High School) are the newest inductees.

Hudepohl is a 1959 Highlands grad who was a four-year starter in football, basketball and baseball. In football, he was a 9th Region All-Star, and in his junior season the Bluebirds went undefeated. In basketball, he served as co-captain during his senior year, and in baseball, he posted a 14-2 record as co-captain his senior year and batted .529 for the 9th Region champs. After graduating, he played football at Harvard University and was named All-Ivy League defensive end in 1962. The Crimsons were Ivy League champions in 1961.

Schlarman Graves, a 1985 Highlands alum, played basketball and volleyball. She was named 1984-85 Kentucky Enquirer Player of the Year. She was also First Team, All-Conference, 36th District All-Tournament team and MVP and 9th Region MVP and All-Tournament team. Schlarman Graves is a member of the 1,000-point club and was team captain in volleyball in 84-85 as well as team MVP, All-Conference first team, 36th District All-Tournament team and MVP and All-9th Region. She went on to NKU, where she was an NCAA Division II All-Academic team member in basketball in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. She scored 1,287 points and dished out 212 assists in her Norse career.

John Schlarman is a 1993 Highlands grad who participated in football, basketball and track-and-field. As a three-year starter on the offensive line for the Bluebirds, he helped lead the team to a 14-1 record and a state title in 1992. He was named All-State by the Courier-Journal, Herald-Leader and Associated Press and was named Kentucky Post Player of the Year. In his three years as a starter, the Bluebirds went 29-8, and he led the team in tackles in both his junior and senior seasons. Schlarman went on to play at the University of Kentucky and was named first-team All-SEC in 1997. He moved into coaching after graduation and served as UK’s offensive line coach from 2013-20. Schlarman died of cancer in 2020.

Kordenbrock, a Holmes graduate, was part of the first Bulldogs basketball team in 1935-36. After starting high school at Covington Catholic, he transferred to Holmes because it offered both basketball and baseball. At 16, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians, but his father insisted he finish high school. After graduating, he reported to Fargo-Moorhead at the age of 18 to begin his minor league career. In six seasons in the minors, Kordenbock had 2,284 plate appearances, collecting 600 hits and only striking out eight times.

Deal is a 1970 Bellevue grad and was a fouryear tennis player for the Tigers. He won the region as a junior, knocking off the top two seeds. Deal sponsored men’s local softball clubs and served as co-supervisor of District 22 Knothole and coached two district champions. He coached the Bellevue baseball team in 2001 and 2002 and was named to the Northern Kentucky Knothole Hall of Fame in 1999. Deal also played football at Bellevue and was named second-team All-

City in 1970 and elected to the Bellevue Hall of Fame in 1999.

Northern Kentucky University’s Christina Roybal, the first Latina woman Division I athletic director in the university’s history, was the guest speaker at the induction. Roybal joined the NKU athletics staff as vice president and director of athletics in July 2022.

Ludlow High School promotes McMillen to head football coach

With summer workouts not far away, the returning members of the Ludlow Panthers football team do not have to worry about adapting to an outside leader.

The Ludlow administration promoted Woody McMillen to the head coaching spot, taking over for Greg Taphouse, who recently resigned after six seasons. McMillen had been an assistant on the staff the past three years, serving as special teams coordinator last season. He was also co-director of athletics.

The school is installing turf at Ludlow’s home football field. It sits behind the 1975 restaurant, which has a Ludlow sports Hall of Fame that fans can view before games. McMillen said he hopes the field will be ready for use after the dead period in early July.

McMillen is a 1987 Ludlow graduate and comes in with five years of head coach- ing experience. He started the program at Walton-Verona High School. The Bearcats finished 4-6 in the first varsity season in 2008, but McMillen had to resign to take care of his father after that season.

McMillen then led the Bellevue Tigers for four seasons from 2015-18, going a combined 16-28.

Covington Catholic, Notre Dame win 9th Region tennis titles

Covington Catholic High School won its 21st consecutive 9th Region team tennis title, while Notre Dame Academy took the trophy in the girls teams standings.

The Colonels’ Brady Hussey won the singles title in boys, while Colonels Kalei Christensen and Alex Yeager won the doubles crown.

Covington Latin School’s Sarah Watanbe won the girls singles title, with Hailey Fullenkamp and Taylor Meenach of Notre Dame winning the doubles trophy.