Work begins on $11.9M Cincinnati Streetcar Maintenance & Operations Facility

City and project leaders were joined by construction workers and members of the media yesterday for the demolition/groundbreaking ceremony for the Cincinnati Streetcar’s $11.9 million Maintenance & Operations Facility (MOF) in northern Over-the-Rhine.

The new facility will be built at the corner of Race Street and Henry Street, at the northern terminus of the phase one route, and will take the place of an existing surface parking lot and two vacant structures, which were approved for demolition by the City of Cincinnati’s Historic Conservation Board.

Final design for the new $11.9M Cincinnati Streetcar Maintenance & Operations Facility

There will be an actual building where work can take place and house the system’s original five trains, but the facility will be able to accommodate up to 12 trains as additional sets are purchased for system expansions.

City officials say that the demolition work is scheduled to take approximately six weeks, with construction on the actual building commencing immediately thereafter.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Is the Streetcar happening?'” Mayor Mark Mallory told the audience at the ceremony. “Let me be clear: The streetcar is happening. You can see it happening here today.”

In addition to the maintenance areas, the 12,500-square-foot MOF will also include operational staff offices.

The MOF is expected to be completed by March 2015, with the phase one route beginning passenger service in spring 2016.

“They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls emphasized. “The Cincinnati Streetcar, connecting the Riverfront and Findlay Market, will be that single step that will connect the city’s two largest employment centers and spur development along the route.”