CINCINNATI - The Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) and a research team at the University of Cincinnati are renewing and reimagining Cincinnati's public stairways, beginning with two sets of steps in the CUF neighborhood near Van Lear Alley at Ohio Avenue and Fig Alley.

“The goal is to re-connect our neighborhoods through the city’s public stairways using signage and placemaking to promote neighborhood identity, pride, and livability,” says Joell Angel-Chumbley, supervising graphic designer with DOTE.

The city manages nearly 400 sets of public steps.

The $26,300 project in CUF was funded by a $15,800 grant from UC's Office of Research and the city, which contributed $10,500 for design, fabrication, and construction oversight. Dozens of volunteers donated their time and labor to make the project come to life. 

The idea for the project dates to 2019, when the UC College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning's grant accelerator program paired Kate Bonansinga, a professor and director of DAAP’s School of Art, with Muhammad Rahman, an assistant professor of design, to research and develop a community enrichment program.

The university team, known as Step Up to Art, cleared overgrown brush and trash from the steps. The city power washed and repaired the concrete steps. The city also installed new wayfinding signage to mark both sets of steps. A colorful mural dubbed "Ghost Garden" by local muralists Lizzy DuQuette and Dai Williams, adorns the risers of the Ohio Avenue stairs, which begin at Bellevue Park and end at Van Lear Alley. The Fig Alley stairway, which leads to Vine Street near Findlay Market, was officially so named thanks to this project and its proximity to a large fig tree near where the stairs begin at Van Lear. 

The project's partner organizations included:

• University of Cincinnati VP Office of Research
• Spring in our Steps
• CUF Neighborhood Association