The approximately 550 viewers of Hamilton’s State of the City speeches offered by Mayor Pat Moeller and City Manager Joshua Smith on Thursday got a preview of just how large Spooky Nook, which is scheduled to open in late 2021, will be. The speeches were offered in the northernmost part of the former Champion Paper mill in the property west of B Street in a large structure much bigger than most buildings.
“This is the lobby” of what will be the sports complex, Spooky Nook owner Sam Beiler, who spoke after Moeller and Smith, told the crowd,. The other building will contain the convention center, retail shops and restaurants, and a large hotel.
Beiler later said he was not kidding that the very large area would be the lobby, although a child-care operation would occupy one corner, there also would be pro-shop retail space and there also would be concessions in the space.
“But it will be a very large, open area, so that when 500 people walk in, it’ll be like this — it still feels empty,” Beiler said in an interview afterward.
Both sides of the street together will have nearly 1.2 million square feet, and “it’ll be bigger,” he said.
Moeller and Smith in their talks mentioned many gains Hamilton has made in recent years, months and even days with new economic-development projects — including last week’s announcement that Fretboard Brewing & Public House would soon fill the former Quarter Barrel micro-brewery building at 103 Main St. and Thursday’s announcement that a Cincinnati group that owns several restaurants plans to open Billy Yanks at 201 Main St.
The two city officials also spoke of Hamilton’s need to build up neighborhoods and stop some areas from regressing because of crime, blight and other problems. Moeller emphasized a need for job training and career-development programs.
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