by Paul A. Tenkotte
Special to the NKyTribune
Benjamin Franklin once said that “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Ironically, for Covington, Kentucky, thanks to U.S. Congressman Brent Spence (1874-1967), federal taxation translated into a sound employment and tax base for the city.
Spence served the 6th District of Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1931 until January 3, 1963. He was a powerful New Deal Democrat, who blessed the Northern Kentucky region with a largess of federal projects, from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to public housing to the floodwalls/levees of Covington, Newport, and Maysville.
And of course, he was instrumental in bringing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Service Center to Covington.
Designed by architect Carl Bankemper (1917-84), the sprawling one-story IRS Service Center was located on a 14.5-acre urban renewal site north of Fourth Street.
Construction began in 1965. Completed and dedicated in 1967, the $4.5 million center employed over 3,000 people soon after its opening. In 1993, it expanded into the Gateway Center on Scott Street.
In 2014 the IRS Service Center in Covington was the largest job provider in the city, employing 4,500.
In September 2016, the IRS announced that it would be closing the one-story, 450,000-square-foot facility on Fourth Street by 2019.
There will be a massive hemorrhage of jobs, although some operations will remain in the Gateway Center.
We want to learn more about the history of your business, church, school, or organization in our region (Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky). If you would like to share your rich history with others, please contact the editor of “Our Rich History,” Paul A. Tenkotte, at tenkottep@nku.edu. Paul A. Tenkotte is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History at NKU.