COVINGTON, Ky. - One of the three concepts proposed for the soon-to-be-vacant 23-acre IRS site has definitely caught the eye of the public - so far winning 45 percent of total votes and 57 percent of those through a still-open online survey.

 

“We’ve been surprised by the number of people who zeroed in on that one option - we thought it would be closer between all three of them,” said Nicolia Robinson, senior associate with Cooper Carry, the global architecture and design firm that is helping Covington plan and gain development control of the site.

 

But, Robinson, noted, the voting isn’t over. The 11-question survey - which can be found HERE - will be left open for one more week.

 

“If you want to help the City create a vision for those 23 acres, here’s your chance,” Covington City Manager David Johnston said.

 

The three conceptual plans - called “Green on the Levee,” “Love the Covline” and “Central Green” - were unveiled at a public meeting July 12.

 

All three propose a mixture of uses for the site, but they vary widely in how the buildings are arranged, how the street grid would look, and how the site would be connected to the levee of the Ohio River. They also feature different ideas for how much green space would be put on the site and how it would be arranged.

 

Survey responses so far have singled out these elements of the three plans (listed in alphabetical order): 

The survey asks the public to indicate their level of support for each of the three concepts and to describe specific elements of each concept that they like or dislike. It also asks survey takers to pick their preferred plan and for general feedback.

 

Robinson said Cooper Carry will aggregate the responses with comments and use them to help select “either a preferred plan or a hybrid of the elements that were rated as top priorities.” That recommendation will be given to the Covington City Commission for possible approval.

 

Cooper Carry’s complete July 12 “Reconnecting Covington” presentation can be found HERE, and a City news release about the unveiling can be found HERE.

 

The IRS is scheduled to close its longtime paper processing facility at the end of September, mothball the site, and then prep it for eventual demolition. The City hopes to gain development control of the 23 acres, finalize a conceptual plan for the land, and then divide the project into pieces to be developed by separate companies, a process that could take years.

 

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