Grand opening of downtown center a smash hit
February 4, 2008
Miami Hamilton Downtown was inaugurated in style during the City of Hamilton’s 2008 Icefest celebration on Feb. 2. (See the images, right, and many others at the Miami Hamilton Downtown Flickr.com site. No login required.)
On a crowded city sidewalk, those instrumental in bringing Miami University to downtown Hamilton spoke in turn, then grabbed hammers and ceremoniously smashed through a carved ribbon of ice.
All the while, a penguin named Buddy stood calmly preening itself in front of the podium, encircled by a wall of humanity and unaffected by it.
During the hour leading up to the event, hundreds of people strolled—and cool Buddy waddled—through Miami Hamilton’s new downtown center in the historic Robinson-Schwenn building on High Street at Journal Square.
Dr. Daniel Hall, Miami Hamilton Campus Dean, would later say: “’Wow’ is the only word I can use to describe it.”
Hall was joined at the podium by Miami University President Dr. David Hodge; Thane Maynard, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden; building owners Larry and Carla Fiehrer; and Hamilton Mayor Don Ryan, who presented Miami University with a key to the city.
In expressing the city’s appreciation of the university, Ryan told Hodge and Hall it’s the first time an entire institution—rather than an individual—has been presented a key to the City of Hamilton.
The Fiehrers presented Hall with a framed portrait of the building as the Hamilton Opera House in the 1930s.
An Antarctica exhibit and presentation by Dr. Rick Lee, Miami University Distinguished Professor of Zoology, and his colleagues Dr. Andor Kiss and Rachael Morgan-Kiss, provided a fascinating learning experience for kids throughout Icefest. Dr. Lee led a research team to Antarctica in 2005. Their interactive presentations focused on evidence of climate change, and adaptations of certain flora and fauna to environmental stresses brought on by extreme cold.
“We were scheduled to wrap it up about 3:30, but people were still coming in after 5 o’clock when Icefest came to a close,” said Chele Dienno, Miami Hamilton Marketing Director who arranged the grand opening event.
“Dr. Lee and his colleagues were only too happy to stick around. Their knowledge, enthusiasm, good humor, and remarkable patience were brilliant examples of what ‘civic engagement’ can mean,” Dienno said.
“They were a hit. All day long I watched kids, parents—the young and the old—become transfixed and transformed by midges, pods, and snowshoes.”
Images, top to bottom: The "icebreaker" ice sculpture before the grand opening ceremony; Dr. David Hodge, President, Miami University, joins two young visitors getting acquainted with Buddy the penguin; Thane Maynard, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, and his buddy, Buddy, talk to the crowd, as Hamilton Mayor Don Ryan (right) looks on; (L. to R., Dr. David Hodge, Dr. Daniel Hall, Hamilton Campus Dean, Ms. Carla Fierher (owner of the Robinson-Schwenn Building), Ms. Chele Dienno, Director, Marketing, Miami Hamilton, Ms. Valerie Hodge (Wife of President Hodge and special ambassador for Miami University) and Mayor Don Ryan wear protective eyeware and use beribboned hammers to break the ice ribbon.)
