Miami Hamilton to open downtown center on High Street

August 16, 2007

Miami University Hamilton will open a new downtown center in the historic Robinson-Schwenn building at 221 High St.

Miami Hamilton Downtown will be a multi-use center for civic engagement and the arts, offering an array of programs including live music, art displays, theatrical performances, educational classes and lectures, and a convenient venue for scholarship activities and community meetings.

Miami Hamilton Downtown is located next door to Cappuccino Depot in the Robinson-Schwenn Building

“Our goal is to seek out partnerships between local schools, governments, businesses and community-based organizations that focus on civic responsibility and community needs,” Campus Dean Dr. Daniel Hall said.

Including the arts in the portfolio synergizes well with the City of Hamilton’s emphasis on the arts, and the growing sentiment that the arts should be one dimension of the city’s economic revitalization, according to Hall.

Miami Hamilton Downtown will join several existing arts resources such as the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Pyramid Hill, City of Sculpture, Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra, and the proposed ArtSpace, Inc. development in downtown Hamilton.

The new center is conveniently located right next door to Cappuccino Depot, which will be open for business during many of the evening events.

Miami Hamilton Downtown will be a vehicle for connecting Miami Hamilton students, faculty and staff with the community, providing assistance, support and resources for applied research that benefit community organizations, governments and businesses.

Hall is quick to distinguish civic engagement from community service.

“Civic engagement means that all parties are engaged and everyone is working together toward a common goal. It’s more than just giving somebody something they need and walking away. The university and the community come as equals into the space, and the intention is to enrich the life of the campus and the community,” he said.

“We want this to be a center for community-based activities, a location where the university in tandem with the community will engage in serious discussions about economic, political, and social issues of the day.”

Miami Hamilton Downtown also is in line with University President David Hodge’s vision of a public university and his intent to use the regional campuses as portals of service learning for all of Miami’s students.