Keep Cincinnati Beautiful is throwing open the doors of its brand-new Walnut Hills headquarters for the first time next month, inviting the public to a block party inside a building that spent decades as an auto showroom before becoming the nonprofit's first permanent home in its 48-year history. The Cincy Block Party is set for Friday, September 18, running from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at the historic Harry Hake Building, 2410 Gilbert Avenue, and early bird ticket prices disappear after Friday, August 21.
According to Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, general admission tickets include buffet-style light bites from local eateries, complimentary beer and wine, dancing and music from the Catalina Wine Mixer Band, live art from Mysta Bee, a silent auction, and games with a chance to split the pot. Every ticket also comes with one complimentary game ticket and two complimentary Cincinnati Reds game tickets, and organizers say every ticket sold supports neighborhood revitalization, education, and mobilization efforts across Cincinnati.
VIP ticket holders get an extra layer of the evening: a special VIP gift, access to the building's Palazzo Davanzati Room, and an exclusive cocktail experience with mixologist Molly Wellmann, who was named national Bartender-Owner of the Year by Nightclub & Bar Media Group in 2019 and is an Executive Bourbon Steward, according to a video profile of Wellmann. Wellmann previously owned well-known Cincinnati bars including Japp's and Neons.
A Room Modeled on a 14th-Century Florentine Hall
The Palazzo Davanzati Room itself is one of the building's quirkier features: it's architect Harry Hake Jr.'s recreation of the 14th-century Sala dei Pappagalli, also known as the Parrot Room, per Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's own announcement of the event. The building that now houses that room has a layered past. Designed initially as the Quick Service Auto Laundry concept in 1921 before opening in 1925, the structure reflects Walnut Hills' historic role as a mid-1920s automotive hub along the Gilbert Avenue corridor, according to a Facebook post in the Old Cincinnati history group.
Built in the Renaissance Revival style, the Harry Hake Building was designed by prominent Cincinnati architect Harry Hake Sr., who occupied the second floor for his own architectural practice while leasing the ground floor as an automobile showroom for Willys-Knight-Overland cars, according to documentation from the Ohio Department of Development. The state awarded $722,000 in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits in December 2024 toward a $7.29 million rehabilitation of the building at 2400-2410 Gilbert Avenue, transforming the 1925 structure into offices, an art studio, tool storage, and event space for the nonprofit.
From Shared Spaces to a Permanent Home
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful operated community cleanups, youth education, and neighborhood beautification programs across the city without a permanent headquarters for nearly 48 years since its 1978 founding, according to WLWT. That changed this spring when the organization moved into the Harry Hake Building, a transition Hoodline covered when the nonprofit launched its $500,000 “Imagine the Impact” capital campaign in April, featuring a dollar-for-dollar matching grant from United Dairy Farmers CEO Brad Lindner.
The new headquarters has already proven useful beyond ribbon-cutting ceremonies. In July, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful used the Walnut Hills building as a distribution hub, giving away 150 free clean-up kits to help residents recover from localized flash flooding. The organization also runs ongoing programs from the space, including its Adopt-A-Spot initiative, which recruits neighborhood volunteers to take long-term ownership of specific city blocks, parks, and public spaces, as reported by WCPO 9 in March.
Funding Programs Across the City's Neighborhoods
Proceeds from the Cincy Block Party help sustain programming like Don't Dump the Nati, a recurring waste-diversion initiative that runs on the last Friday of each month through November 20 aimed at preventing illegal dumping and diverting non-standard recyclables from landfills, according to the organization's own program listing. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has said its work now extends across all 52 Cincinnati neighborhoods.
The nonprofit's finances have not always run smoothly. A 2017 City of Cincinnati audit of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful found billing discrepancies under a prior executive director, which subsequently led to updated financial controls and leadership restructuring, Hoodline reported in coverage of former director Mary Huttlinger. Current leadership has operated under the revised controls put in place after that review.
Tickets for the September 18 block party remain at early bird pricing through Friday, August 21, after which prices are set to increase. Organizers are framing the night as both a housewarming for the nonprofit's long-awaited permanent home and the fundraiser that keeps its neighborhood programs running citywide.
