Parking site may be sacred mound

Opponents of a planned Loveland parking garage have a new objection to the project: The site may be a sacred Native American mound.

The city has commissioned an archeological study of the property in downtown Loveland following requests by Ohio's State Historic Preservation Office and the Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition.

In addition, Loveland learned on June 14 that the U.S. Economic Development Administration had denied its request for a $3.1 million grant for the garage.

The grant would have covered nearly half the $6.3 million cost of the 270space facility the city wants to build between First and Second streets behind city hall at 120 W. Loveland Ave.

Loveland earlier secured a $900,000 Ohio capital budget grant and a $250,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant for the garage.

Garage opponents say that if Loveland officials remain committed to the project after further study and rejecting alternative parking solutions, the issue should be put to a vote of residents.

The city has already spent $980,000 to purchase the garage site, demolish two buildings there and pay for design engineering, Loveland City Manager

David Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he will work with Loveland City Council and its finance commission to determine how best to proceed.

The garage is an important project, he said, with residents, city leaders and visitors agreeing that parking is a problem downtown.

Kennedy has said the garage would also help downtown businesses retain and create jobs and spur capital investment.

He likes the chosen location of the garage because it is not in the center of town, is connected to existing city hall parking, is near the Little Miami Scenic Trail and will improve traffic flow by providing new access to Loveland's downtown via an entrance to the garage from state Route 48.

A group of city residents who oppose the garage said Loveland needs to more thoroughly study the impact it would have on the downtown's parking, traffic and character, as well as municipal finances and the environment.

Members of the Sierra Club's Miami Group chapter have also raised concerns about the planned garage's proximity to the Little Miami River and the Little Miami Scenic Trail.

Meanwhile, Kennedy said he learned in April that a plat of Loveland from 1849 shows that a century-house on Second Street that the city razed to make room for the parking garage had been built on a “mound.”

The information is in a November 2019 historic preservation review of the property conducted by Hamilton County Community Development before Loveland got the go-ahead to tear down the house and another structure.

Native Americans used mounds for a variety of purposes, including burials, ceremonies and residences for important leaders.

“It is not known whether the ‘mound' remains or is an Indian mound, but it is possible,” the historic preservation review said.

“The area appears topographically similar to other areas with Indian mounds.”

The review noted that the Second Street house built on the mound sat on a hill between the Little Miami River and a B&O Railroad right-of-way, adjacent to O'bannon Creek.

“Locations on a bluff or hill overlooking a flat river or creek bottom always have high probability for prehistoric sites of all time periods,” the review said.

While there was no problem tearing down the house, the report said, it recommended Loveland consult with the State Historic Preservation Office about whether an archeological survey should be done prior to any construction on the site involving a federal permit or funding.