Cincinnati’s B&O warehouse to be partially demolished

by Chris Mayhew

The former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Freight Station & Storage Warehouse will be partially demolished because of the Brent Spence Bridge for a second time. Many know this structure by its current name of Longworth Hall.

The B&O freight warehouse stretched 1,277 feet in length when it was built in 1904. It was considered one of the longest structures in the nation at the time.

Today, the Ohio Department of Transportation is working to build a  second, or companion, Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River to Kentucky. This will require the demolition of the easternmost 204 feet of the five-story brick warehouse. In 1986, the structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The name Longworth Hall came into use in 1986, when the building was converted into its current use as retail and office space. The B&O built a sister warehouse in Baltimore, Maryland, which was similar in appearance to the Cincinnati warehouse. The Baltimore structure was later transformed into part of the Baltimore Orioles’ ballpark Camden Yards.

The $3.6 billion federally funded bridge corridor project that will affect the warehouse encompasses approximately seven miles of interstate road from the Dixie Highway exit in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, to the Hopple Street interchange in Cincinnati. Groundbreaking is scheduled for November 2023, according to the project website. Construction is scheduled to be complete by 2029. The new bridge will continue to carry through traffic for Interstates 71 and 75, while the existing Brent Spence Bridge will be converted to carry local interstate traffic.

A changed structure

And yes, this is the second time the building will have been made shorter.

Located at 700 Pete Rose Way, the 1,160-foot by 48-foot warehouse remains one of the longest buildings in the country but used to be even longer. In 1961, construction of the Brent Spence Bridge meant approximately 150 feet of the building was removed to make way for the interstate. Afterward, a five-story brick addition with 30,000 square feet was added to the northeast corner, or rear, of the warehouse.

The 1960s addition will also be removed as part of the coming demolition.