The transformation of downtown Newport is underway.
Demolition work began this week on the redevelopment the World Peace Bell site and a parking lot into an exciting development featuring two hotels, office space and a parking garage.
“It is tremendous to watch the beginning steps of a project that will create renewed vibrancy into the city’s urban core,” said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr. “This has been a long time coming, but I’m convinced it will be worth the wait.”
Hotel operator Shaun Pan – the owner and operator of a riverfront Hampton Inn & Suites just a block away – is leading the redevelopment of the block bordered by Monmouth, York, Fourth and Fifth streets.
Pan will develop two other Hilton brands – TRU and Home 2 Suites – on the site along with the office building and parking garage.
Crews on Monday began demolishing the World Peace Bell office building, which housed Southbank Partners, the regional economic and community development organization that has relocated to an office at Newport on the Levee.
Within the next two weeks, the World Peace Bell will be temporarily relocated to property owned by Maxim Crane Works in Wilder. A Maxim crane will place the 33-ton bell – which rang for the first time on Jan. 1, 2000, to celebrate the millennium – on a large flatbed truck and then transport it five miles through the streets of Newport and on to KY Route 9 before reaching its temporary home.
Plans call for The World Peace Bell to eventually be relocated to another high profile location within the city.
Newport has attempted to attract development to the site over the past several years.
In the late 1990s, developers proposed building the Millennium Freedom Tower, a 1,000-foot-tower that would have included a restaurant, bar, carillon, gardens and event space. But for various reasons, the structure was not developed.
Newport City Manager Tom Fromme said the project will breathe new life into a prime piece of property that will finally realize its untapped opportunities.
“The city has always recognized the potential of the site,” Fromme said. “Meeting that potential had presented some challenges – often times due to economic conditions or other factors out of our control – but now we have an outstanding development to fill a void in our downtown.”
City of Newport