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NKY Chamber to reopen Roebling Suspension Bridge with Derby Trifecta Crawl to boost local businesses


By Ryan Clark
NKyTribune reporter

Emily Stretch remembers what Opening Day was like this year. She and the others who work at Keystone Bar & Grill on Greenup Street should have had crowds of people partying and having a good time. But there wasn’t a lot of partying going on.

Instead, the big crowds were across the river.

“That was not fun,” says Stretch, who has worked as a manager at Keystone for the past seven months. “We wished we could get some of those crowds.”

The closing of the Roebling Bridge for repairs resulted in a loss of foot traffic for the businesses in the area. Earlier this month, Mayor Joe Meyer expressed concern for those businesses at his city commission meeting, saying he would go to Frankfort to protest if need be.

It won’t be necessary. A little more than a week ago, the city announced the bridge will (barring a setback) reopen by May 1, and the NKY Chamber of Commerce will be there to celebrate it — with a Kentucky Derby flair.

They will be bringing their Business After Hours event to the area on May 2, celebrating with a Derby theme. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., they will host The Derby Trifecta, sponsored by C.K. Ash Insurance.

Attendees will network while visiting three restaurants: The Gruff (129 E. 2nd St.) from 4:30 – 5:10 p.m.; Blinkers Tavern (318 Greenup St.) from 5:10 – 6 p.m.; and Keystone Bar & Grill (313 Greenup St.), 6 – 6:30 p.m. The event will feature a contest for Best Derby Hat, said Jeremy Schrand, director of marketing & communications for the Chamber.

Brent Cooper

Chamber volunteer Jim Parsons will lead the crowd in the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home.”

There is no cost for current NKY Chamber members or future members, but registration is encouraged. Register at nkychamber.com/events/

The NKY Chamber’s Business After Hours events encourage networking within the area, to “meet new people and enhance your business relationships,” according to its website. “The NKY Chamber strongly encourages member-to-member business whenever possible, making these connect events a critical part of keeping in contact with other members.”

“We wanted to find a way to promote these businesses,” says Brent Cooper, president & CEO of the Chamber. “So we decided to move our Business After Hours in an effort to get more people involved. We hope this will energize them.”

The 151-year-old bridge was damaged when a car hit one of its columns March 20.

“Ever since the accident, we’ve been pushing aggressively to have the bridge reopened,” Mayor Meyer said in a statement. “It’s not only an important historic landmark but also a critical link for commuters, shoppers and visitors moving between Covington and Cincinnati.”

“This time of year, Covington’s businesses near the river rely heavily on pedestrian traffic over the bridge on the days that the Cincinnati Reds play,” City Manager David Johnston said in the same statement. “That was part of our urgency in getting it repaired. Hopefully, the downtime won’t hit our businesses as hard as we had feared.”

Emily Stretch says she, and the rest of the Keystone Bar & Grill crew, are looking forward to the bridge reopening and the celebration.

“We’re really excited about it,” she says. “We love getting more people here, and that is going to help get more people. That will be great for us.”

Contact the Northern Kentucky Tribune at news@nkytrib.com


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