Historic Conservation Board to consider fate of Christy's building

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati’s Historic Conservation Board on Monday will consider whether to recommend that an old Clifton Heights mansion be designated a local historic landmark.

And city staff is recommending that the designation be approved.

The CUF Neighborhood Association and a group called Save Clifton Heights is fighting to save the building at 151 W. McMillan St. that houses Christy’s Rathskeller & Biergarten.

The building was for years home to Lenhardt’s Restaurant, too, but the restaurant closed late last year. The bar is near University of Cincinnati’s campus and has long been a popular student hangout.

The building’s owners want to sell the property to a Rhode Island-based developer, who wants to raze the old house and several other nearby buildings to make way for a seven-story student housing complex.

If the city ultimately decides to designate the building a local historic landmark, it would be much more difficult to demolish the structure.

The Historic Conservation Board will review the neighborhood association’s report seeking the designation during its meeting March 25.

“It’s quite likely that the board will make a recommendation,” said John Senhauser, the board’s chairman and founder of John Senhauser Architects in Mt. Adams.

Once the board votes to either follow or reject the staff recommendation, the board’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Cincinnati Planning Commission for review.

Cincinnati City Council will have the final say, and the process could take several months before it’s resolved.

The Historic Conservation Board meeting is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Monday in the J. Martin Griesel Room on the seventh floor of II Centennial Plaza on Central Avenue downtown.

To contact Lucy May, e-mail her at lucy.may@wcpo.com .

You can review the Historic Conservation Board packet of information for the building at 151 W. McMillan St. below or go to https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/626521-goetz-house-packet.html