'Safety and energy': Why part of Downtown will now be the Fountain District

The blocks surrounding Fountain Square will now be called the " Fountain District ."

At least, that's the goal of a new branding campaign by Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., also known as 3CDC.

With backing from the city administration, the non-profit development group is renaming the core of the central business district through a series of digital billboards on buildings and interactive kiosks , as well as ads on parking garages, Downtown and at the airport.

According to 3CDC, renaming Downtown's core will:

• Encourage Downtown workers and residents to stay local for dining and nights out.
• Market the dozens of local eateries in and around Fountain Square and attract new ones.
• Bring more Cincinnatians Downtown as tourism potentially dips with the Duke Energy Convention Center closing for an 18 month-renovation .

Where is the Fountain District?

Think of the Fountain District as the space between The Banks and Court Street, branded with a signature logo, color scheme, its own website and Instagram page − like Court Street Plaza. Places like the Aronoff Center for the Arts, The Davidson, LoVe on Fourth nightclub , and Sotto, among others, will be marketed as part of the Fountain District.

For now, this will be advertised through banners, window graphics and billboards, but in the future, official area markers could be installed similar to what's found in the West Fourth Street Historic District .

According to 3CDC, the Fountain District has "blurry" boundaries but technically extends at least two blocks north, south, east and west from Fountain Square.

Why call it the Fountain District?

The name and design for the new Fountain District come from Over-the-Rhine-based creative consultancy goDutch , the brains behind the graphics for Cincinnati's biennial light and art festival, Blink.

The consultants conducted engagement sessions with local business owners, companies with Downtown offices and groups like Visit Cincy before landing on the final brand identity for the Fountain District: a black, white and royal blue logo with nods to Fountain Square through the font (the letters mimic the water spray of the Tyler Davidson Fountain) and the central square icon (aka the square ).

To Galen G. Gordon, the Kinley Cincinnati Downtown general manager , the name itself was a no-brainer. It makes sense to focus Downtown around a landmark, he said. "Why call it anything else?" he asked. "What's better than the fountain?"

While working in Downtown's hospitality industry for nearly two decades, Gordon has promoted Fountain Square to visitors as the center of Cincinnati. Rarely has he highlighted the area surrounding it as the "central business district." It's not sexy, he added, and it certainly doesn't communicate the idea of family-friendly entertainment.

"To me, the Fountain District brings a thought of safety and energy," he said "The fountain also kind of means 'traditional.' I think that's helpful for people because it feels good."

The $100,000 branding project is largely coming out of 3CDC's coffers with a portion funded through the Downtown Cincinnati Improvement District . (3CDC is contracted through the district to keep Downtown clean and safe, and maintain its street planters.)

Why rebrand the city center now ?

According to Christy Samad, 3CDC's executive vice president for civic and commercial space activation, it makes sense to create the Fountain District now as Downtown undergoes its latest renaissance: There's a ton of construction , more people are moving there as new residential conversions come online and new hotels are opening .

But more urgently, the convention center will shut down through the rest of this year and 2025, potentially reducing the number of people visiting downtown Cincinnati weekly.

Samad thinks Downtown can regain some of that lost foot traffic if locals visit instead. This district campaign will make Downtown more approachable, she explained.

"With the convention center closing, there's this perception that it will suck a lot of life and activity out of the area, but it won't," she told The Enquirer.

3CDC estimates that the Fountain District's restaurants, bars and entertainment venues collectively bring in $80 million annually, signaling that Downtown is healthy and thriving.

The Enquirer recently reported that data shows most visitors are coming Downtown in the evening. Tracking foot traffic through cell phone data, researchers at the University of Toronto's School of Cities found that Cincinnati saw a 28% increase in visits to Downtown in February 2024 compared to the same month last year. The majority of those people came between the hours of 5 to 9 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Safety and energy': Why part of Downtown will now be the Fountain District