The Voice - January 2021
/City Update: Mayor and Board of Commissioners Sworn into Office
By City Manager Tom Fromme
City Attorney, Dan Braun, administered the Oath of Office for Newport elected officials whose new terms in office began January 1:
Mayor – Tom Guidugli, Jr.
Vice Mayor Frank Peluso, Sr.
Commissioner Beth Fennell
Commissioner Jerry Peluso
Commissioner Ken Rechtin
The Newport City Building continues to remain closed to the public. During the city building’s closure to the public, all departments continue to function, processing occupation licenses, tax payments, certificates of appropriateness (COA), development project requests, sign requests, public works projects, the Newport Forward Comprehensive Plan, etc., to keep the city moving forward.
Most required applications are available on the city website for processing via email or the city lockbox inside the entry doors at 998 Monmouth Street.
Meeting of the Board of Commissioners, Board of Adjustments, Planning & Zoning, and Historic Preservation will be available for viewing on the city’s Facebook page. Please check the city’s website for dates and times of meetings.
As always, if you have any questions, please email bholiday@newportky.gov or call the office at 859-292-3687.
Newport’s Online Resources:
City Website: http://www.newportky.gov/
City Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CityofNewportKY/
Newport History Museum @ The Southgate Street School’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewportHistoryMuseumattheSouthgateStreetSchool/
Thanks for making Newport a great place to live, work, shop, dine and play.
Southgate Street School Restoration Project Update
Submitted by City Manager Tom Fromme and Historic Preservation Officer & Museum Executive Director Scott Clark
When CRG Residential started to plan their purchase and demolition of the Fourth Street School property, they were required to obtain a historic review of the impact of removing the building. This review was performed between the developer, the state preservation office and Newport’s Historic Preservation Officer, Scott Clark. As talks progressed, it was determined the best way to mitigate the loss of Fourth Street School was for the developer to not only provide artifacts from the old school but to also conduct restoration work on another former school building, the Southgate Street School just a block away.
Newport Masonic Lodge 120 has owned the building since the late 1950s after the segregated school closed. Its use and condition had declined over the years. Robert Ingguls, Lodge member, alumnus of the school and lifelong resident of Newport had been caring for the building for years. He was looking for an opportunity to see it preserved for the future and to tell the stories of Newport’s past.
Mr. Ingguls approached Scott Clark about his concerns and a meeting was arranged with alumnus of the School, Mayor Jerry Peluso, City Manager Tom Fromme, Community Liaison Coordinator Bev Holiday, and Scott Clark. In this meeting, it was determined the best way to preserve the building was to open it to the public as a city museum. With the promised work that would be done by CRG Residential, the Newport History Museum @ the Southgate Street School was opened in November 2017.
This past autumn, as CRG Residential dedicated their 202-unit apartment complex, they started the restoration on the old Southgate Street School building. Following through on their agreement, the building has been tuckpointed, dozens of crumbling bricks replaced, a new paint job using Historic Sherwin Williams colors completed, stairs to the lower level rebuilt, inappropriate non-functioning doors replaced with period salvaged doors, and a handicap ramp being assembled onsite. Still to come is the re-creation of the metal cornice and repair of the historic windows.
It has been a joy to see the school building preserved to become a gathering place for seminars by Northern Kentucky University and local preservationists.
Due to COVID-19, the Newport History Museum is currently closed to the public. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Scott Clark at sclark@newportky.gov.
Newport History Museum @ The Southgate Street School Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewportHistoryMuseumattheSouthgateStreetSchool/
As always if you have questions, email bholiday@newportky.gov or call my office at 859-292-3687.
Visit Taqueria Nogal, Home of the KenTaco
By Jeff Richardson
Lidia Domingo-Cinto takes a quick break with some of the fans of Taqueria Nogal, a local favorite.
Taqueria Nogal is our own home-grown, Mexicano-Guatemalteco taqueria. Its co-owners, East Row resident Vale Nogal, and his sister-in-law Lidia Domingo-Cinto (long-time west Newport resident), represent its two central American influences. Vale and Lidia and their extended families have long resided in Newport, with two decades of experience among many family members working with Cincinnati’s best chefs and restaurants. Their children have grown up here and attended Newport schools, and they have themselves gained their own experience at local restaurants including Cincinnati-area Latin American restaurant institution, La Mexicana in Newport.
Taqueria Nogal opened as a food truck in September 2019 in Newport Shopping Center where it operated until July 2020. After negotiating a lease on a new brick-and-mortar location (which will be 524 Sixth Avenue, Dayton KY), the Taqueria moved to the plaza/lot at 614 Sixth Ave. in Dayton pending completion of the new restaurant.
The taqueria serves a fantastically delicious, authentic menu of tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and tortas (sandwiches), with meat options including pastor (pork), asada (beef), pollo (pork), and lengua (tongue). Periodic specialties also include birria (shredded meat slow cooked), chorizo (sausage), chuchitos (Guatemalan tamales), and loaded nachos (nachos de muchas cosas muy bien). Other frequently available sides include elotes loco (Mexican street corn on a stick) and atol de arroz en leche (hot rice milk). Always available are Mexican soft drink “Jarritos” in various flavors.
A particular specialty is the “KenTaco,” which is like a large taco/quesadilla hybrid with your choice of meat.
A particular specialty is the “KenTaco,” which is like a large taco/quesadilla hybrid with your choice of meat. (I named this, though my idea for the KenTaco was a two-pound taco for $16.00. Available on request, I bet!!)
My own personal go-to favorite is the large burrito al pastor (pork) with Lidia's special, cannot-be-matched, salsa verde (“green sauce”). Combined with elotos locos, if on offer that day, and the grapefruit Jarritos.
This warm, all-Newport family will welcome you like their own family. Introduce yourself when you visit. It will be good for you to know each others’ names. You will see one another “una y otra vez” (over and over again) unless you hate Latin American food and nice people!
All cooking is to order, so assume a 10-minute wait. Alternatively, feel free to call in your order to 859-878-6989, or request your order by Facebook Messenger at www.facebook.com/taqueria.nogal.7.
There's Something for Everyone at the Campbell County Public Library
Submitted by Mackenzie Manley, PR Coordinator, Campbell County Public Library
Coming up in February is a Zoom workshop for kids/teens with graphic novelist Shannon Wright, author and illustrator of Twins: A Deeper Dive into Your Car with Mechanic Shop Femme, and The Ancient Olympics with professor Kathleen Quinn, the second installment of the library’s annual Food for Thought lecture series.
Note: You may notice a new format in the program listings. In February, the adult book clubs are moving to a hybrid format. Patrons will have the option to join via Zoom or in-person (with a limit of 10 in attendance for the latter). The clubs will move to Zoom-only if Campbell County is in the red zone for COVID-19.
Check out the array of programs for January and February on the Campbell County Public Library website.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Sends a Free Book Every Month to Young Children in Campbell County
The Campbell County Public Library is proud to continue to offer Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails a free book monthly to enrolled children under age five. The Imagination Library puts hand-selected, age-appropriate, high-quality books into the hands and hearts of children across the world. Families who live in Campbell County can sign up their children, newborn to age 5, online or at all Campbell County Public Library branches. Enrolled children are mailed a new book every month at no cost or obligation to recipients.
The program is made possible thanks to a partnership between the Campbell County Public Library, Campbell County Schools and the independent school districts in Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, and Fort Thomas. For more information, visit https://www.cc-pl.org/imagination-library.
Honor Your Furry Family Members with a Dog Park Brick
By Paula Brandon
Many of Newport’s beloved four-legged friends are honored at our new Dog Park — immortalized on the brick walkway just outside the entrance. Just a few weeks ago, I ordered bricks for my crew, one who is at the rainbow bridge and the others sitting here watching me type. The girl who, as a puppy, was tossed inside the door of the Crazy Fox; the beagle-boy wandering 9th St., determined to find a home; the fierce little terrier with the biggest heart; and the giant moose of a dog who came to us so starved that he tried to eat birdseed and crayons. Their bricks are not installed yet, but I look forward to seeing them with the next batch.
What better way to honor a dog- or cat-loving friend or family member? Another round of bricks will appear at our dog park when enough orders have been received for the next section. Let’s get those orders in now to be part of this legacy. Here’s how to order:
$75 Donation – 4x8 in. brick
$500 Donation – 12x12 in. brick
Visit PolarEngraving.com/NewportDogPark
PayPal or checks accepted
New Riff community bourbon barrel bottles are available for purchase: The limited edition 225th anniversary bottles “Proudly Celebrating Our Diverse Past & Making History Every Day” are available for purchase in the New Riff Distillery Gift Shop at 24 Distillery Way. Thanks to New Riff’s generous donation, a portion of each bottle sold will benefit the 225th Anniversary Celebration of Newport’s History.
The Newport History Museum @ The Southgate Street School is offering for purchase a limited supply of architectural pieces from the former 1936 Fourth Street School. All proceeds from the sale will benefit the promotion and interpretation of the 225-year history of the City of Newport. Items include:
Terra Cotta Decorative Block - $55
Slate Deli Cheese Board - $28
Oak and Brass Stair Railings - $75
Newport 225 coasters and magnets are also available, locally handcrafted by Studio Vertu.
Coasters - $10
Magnets - $6
Contact Scott Clark at sclark@newportky.gov to order items from the former Fourth Street School.
Thank you for your continued support of the Newport History Museum!
Ever Wonder about the History of Your East Row Home?
The East Row home at 645 Monroe (Frye-Wall House) has second-floor decorative brickwork and an impressive, projected front gable .
Submitted by Jeff Richardson
Editor’s Note: Most of us think of ourselves as caretakers of our well-loved, East Row homes, honored to be part of the fabric of time that makes our neighborhood special. Jeff Richardson has researched and written many house histories over the years for publication in our garden walk and Christmas tour brochures, and we continue to feature some of these histories in The Voice.
History of 645 Monroe (Frye-Wall House):
This circa 1886 Queen Anne home is characterized by decorative brickwork on the second floor façade and an impressive projected front gable. The brick porch, balustrade and front door were likely later additions to the home.
Built as an investment property by Prussian immigrants Elizabeth and Fred Frye, a manufacturing tailor, the home’s initial residents appear to have been the family of Carl M. and Anna (“Nannie”) Feine, immigrants from Saxony (Prussia). Feine was a professor of music and served in the Confederate Army as a musician, enlisted in the 22nd Virginia Infantry by George Smith Patton, General George S. Patton’s grandfather. The Feines lived in the home until his death in 1907. Joseph A. Wall, a waterworks engineer, later purchased the home in 1926 where he lived for more than 40 years until his death in 1967.
The side entrance to the home presents to a two-story staircase with open view from top to bottom. The home features original hardwood floors, transoms, woodwork and windows, with a working gas fireplace in the parlor. The kitchen was remodeled several years ago and is the home’s entertainment hub. The second floor baths were also recently remodeled. A rear “servants” staircase leads from the master bedroom to the kitchen.
The Voice
Editor: Paula Brandon
Send articles to voice@eastrow.org. The editor reserves the right to edit or reject submissions due to length or content.
