Cincinnati Gardens may be gone — demolished in March by the Port of Greater Cincinnati Redevelopment Authority — but the name lives on.
Or, more specifically, the lettering that spelled out the name on the front of the Swifton Village sports arena now lives on. The individual letters, estimated to each by about 5-foot-tall, have been installed on the Monmouth Avenue side of Camp Washington's American Sign Museum. Except they only spell out "Cincinnati Garden" — singular. The "S" has been inserted between the words, next to newly made, flowing-cursive "ign" so that the message is "Cincinnati Sign Garden."
Kevin Wallace of the museum said its founder, Tod Swarmstedt, approached the redevelopment authority in March to get the letters. Once received, they sat at the museum arrangements could be made with a sign company and sign fabricator. The letters went up Aug. 21.
Wallace also said several other small Cincinnati Gardens signs were salvaged — one from the box office and a Coca-Cola clock. They are not currently on display.
For more info, visit americansignmuseum.org.
