News

June 22, 2009 - New Museum Center website gathers personal stories, educates on levy renewal

The Examiner

Capturing memories from the millions who have passed through Union Terminal's doors is the main feature of a newly launched Web site to support Cincinnati Museum Center's tax levy renewal campaign.

Myunionterminal.org asks visitors to "Be a Star for Union Terminal," encouraging them to post personal stories and photos, view other visitors' memories and learn more about Union Terminal and Cincinnati Museum Center.

I spoke with some of the first storytellers in Museum Center’s conference room where they uploaded their stories and photos in real-time at the news conference announcing the new website:

Claudia Abercrumbie, a member of the African American Advisory Board, told me that she finds it a privilege to be a part of the Museum Center and has found exhibits such as Freedom Sisters and Race to be educational and inspiring. As for sharing her story, she described the website as being easy to use. You can read Claudia's story here.

Young Donavynn Sandusky told me she had learned quite a lot while working her way to being the 2nd highest ranking House Detective at Museum Center. Her discoveries include the existence of the historical library and fossils found in the marble. Read about her first detective case here.

John Dyer, a resident of Evendale, related a story about his father. John's father travelled through Union Terminal during World War II, hopping the wrong train and ending up having to hitch back to the terminal. But John’s story has another layer. John's son, Lance Corporal Christopher J. Dyer, was recently featured at Union Terminal as part of the Lima Company Memorial . The memorial recognized the brave efforts of 22 fallen Marines and a Navy Corpsman from the Lima Company who lost their lives while serving in Iraq in 2005. You can read John’s own words here.

The new website was created through the Cincinnati office of Landor Associates, a global branding firm. The site utilizes ShareThis, an application which lets individuals share content to all of their profiles, blogs, friends and contacts, and is compatible with a wide variety of social networks and email options, including Facebook, Twitter, Digg, MySpace and many others.

"We want this Web site to be place where people can connect and feel connected by sharing and reading similar and yet very different experiences with this amazing building," said Douglass W. McDonald, president and CEO of Museum Center. 

In addition to capturing memories, www.myunionterminal.org is also a place for people to become educated on Museum Center's upcoming fall campaign. Union Terminal is in need of significant repair and Museum Center is working to find funding sources to help pay for the estimated $120 million in necessary repairs. The Museum Center intends to fund the preservation without raising taxes by asking that the current levies funding the building be renewed. They are asking the county to continue two existing levies, the 2004 tax levy and a 1987 bond levy, and package them into one levy for the November ballot. If approved, it would raise about $70 million-$90 million toward building repair.

"Tax dollars will be needed for this public building, but we recognize that the tax burden on Hamilton County residents cannot be increased," said McDonald. "Any request will be in accordance with the Hamilton County Board of Commissions Voted Tax Levy Policy."

The first phase of an estimated $120 million project that would repair decades of damage and restore art deco architectural details throughout the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal began earlier this month. This first $8.9 million project phase involves restoring the historic Cincinnati Dining Room on the ground floor, which is rented out for wedding receptions and other events, and other long-unused dining rooms on the second floor that the Museum Center plans to rent out to the public.