LIBERTY CENTER STREET NAMES
Street names at the approximately $350 million Liberty Center project in Liberty Twp. honor local residents as follows:
- Niederman Way in a tribute to Bob and Janet Niederman of Niederman Farms
- Taylor Street in honor of Chief Henry Taylor, a past fire chief
- Haskell Street for Lawrence "Red" Haskell, a former fire chief
- Maus Lane, the first fire chief
- Wyle Street in honor of J. Wyle, a well-known Bethany store owner
- Wissman Court for Harold Wissman, Liberty Elementary School teacher and principal
SOURCE: Steiner + Associates
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LIBERTY CENTER TIMELINE
Key events in the development of Liberty Center leading up to Thursday’s opening:
2008: Liberty Town Square project proposed and planned unit development approved by Liberty Twp.
2011: Talks resume for the project between county and company officials, after a hiatus brought on by the economy
Sept. 2012: The Journal-News learns that the center’s opening is delayed until 2015
April 2013: Steiner + Associates, Dillard’s announce the department store has signed lease, the first tenant
July 2013: Steiner + Associates, Butler County and Liberty Twp. sign Master Development Agreement for $43 million ($25 million commitment from county and township) in public financing
July 2014: A year after the Master Development Agreement was reached, no bond deal yet
Nov. 2014: Public funding finalized for mega retail project Liberty Center
Jan. 2015: Mega-project Liberty Center already designed for future growth
July 2015: Here are the stores coming to Liberty Center
Oct. 2015: Dillard’s welcomes first shoppers at grand opening in Liberty Twp.
KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST@CLevingstonDDN.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #LibertyCenter
Visit this news outlet’s dedicated website to all the latest Liberty Center news: www.journal-news.com/data/news/liberty-center-project/
LIBERTY CENTER TIMELINE
Key events in the development of Liberty Center leading up to Thursday’s opening:
2008: Liberty Town Square project proposed and planned unit development approved by Liberty Twp.
2011: Talks resume for the project between county and company officials, after a hiatus brought on by the economy
Sept. 2012: The Journal-News learns that the center’s opening is delayed until 2015
April 2013: Steiner + Associates, Dillard’s announce the department store has signed lease, the first tenant
July 2013: Steiner + Associates, Butler County and Liberty Twp. sign Master Development Agreement for $43 million ($25 million commitment from county and township) in public financing
July 2014: A year after the Master Development Agreement was reached, no bond deal yet
Nov. 2014: Public funding finalized for mega retail project Liberty Center
Jan. 2015: Mega-project Liberty Center already designed for future growth
July 2015: Here are the stores coming to Liberty Center
Oct. 2015: Dillard’s welcomes first shoppers at grand opening in Liberty Twp.
The day has arrived. The grand opening of the approximately $350 million Liberty Center development — believed to be one of the largest developments in Butler County history — begins Thursday with events continuing all weekend.
Anchor tenants Dick's Sporting Goods and Dillard's department store opened to shoppers earlier this month, but Thursday will see the opening of more retailers and restaurants to the public, including Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern, Celebrate Local, Cheesecake Factory and more.
“Our expectations for the company is to be one of the best stores in the company. We’re in a great location, we’re in a fantastic community,” said Rusty Bucket Liberty Center General Manager Matt Choate on Wednesday.
“It’s an outdoor mall with a lot of things to offer. We have the movie theater right next to us. Across the street we have an outdoor amphitheater, as well as plenty of outdoor boutique shops,” Choate said.
Liberty Center is located at the crossroads of Liberty Way, Ohio 129 and Interstate 75 in Liberty Twp. The first phase consists of just over 1 million square feet of shopping, dining, office and residential space.
Here are a few details about the opening for those planning to go:
1. ACTIVITIES BEGIN AT 11 A.M. THURSDAY
In addition to shopping and dining options opening Thursday at Liberty Center, town center management has also planned the following schedule of events:
11 a.m. to 8 p.m.: On- the-Go Eats featuring food trucks parked throughout the center;
Noon to 4 p.m.: Games on the Square such as life-sized Candy Land, Jenga and Chutes and Ladders;
Noon to 4 p.m.: Kids fun in the Park such as face painting, photos with The Cupcake Girls, magicians, balloon sculptors and more; and
6 to 10 p.m.: Live music by The Chuck Taylors at the Square.
The Square and the Park are two of the public greenspaces located at Liberty Center, according to center management.
Can’t make it Thursday? Events are planned all weekend including a fireworks display 9:45 p.m. Saturday, according to Liberty Center.
2. TENANTS HAVE THEIR OWN CELEBRATIONS PLANNED
Dick's Sporting Goods may have already opened at the mega retail development, but the grand opening celebration with special prizes and celebrity appearances was saved for this weekend, according to the company.
A two-day celebration begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. The first 100 people in line Saturday will be eligible for a free Reebok Play Dry T-Shirt, according to Dick’s. Sunday giveaways starting at 10 a.m. Oct. 25 include a free mystery gift card ranging from $5 to $500 for the first 100 adults in line.
Guests waiting in line at 8:45 a.m. Saturday and 9:45 a.m. on Sunday will also get a chance to open the DICK’S Sporting Goods Gift Locker, according to the retailer.
Planned in-store appearances Sunday include Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones from 1 to 2 p.m. and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from 2 to 3 p.m., according to the company.
For more information, call the store at 513-712-9048 or go online to dicks.com/Liberty.
Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern will celebrate the opening of its third Cincinnati location Thursday at Liberty Center, located at 7524 Bales St. Twenty percent of Rusty Bucket proceeds Thursday will be donated to The Dragonfly Foundation, a nonprofit that provides support to young patients and their family, caregivers and health professionals while they are in the hospital, according to the Columbus-based restaurant chain.
During the first week of the opening, Brio Tuscan Grill will collect donations for No Kid Hungry, a national nonprofit that is working to end childhood hunger in America, according to the restaurant.
3. WHERE TO EAT
In addition to food trucks planned on site Thursday, these Liberty Center restaurant tenants open at 11 a.m. Thursday: Rusty Bucket, Kona Grill, Brio Tuscan Grille, The Cheesecake Factory, Bibibop Asian Grille, Rodizio Grill, Sbarro and China Wok, according to Liberty Center spokeswoman Jackie Reau.
Brio is opening its first Ohio restaurant in more than eight years in Liberty Twp., said General Manager Doug Thrush. Customers will find two bars, two patios and a pizza counter at the site, plus indoor and outdoor seating options, Thrush said.
Employees have been training for weeks to open California-based Cheesecake Factory's 182nd location at Liberty Center, located at 716 Blake St., said spokeswoman Alethea Rowe.
Kona Grill, serving steaks, sushi and pasta, opens Thursday a two-level bar and restaurant. The upper level bar overlooks Liberty Center’s rooftop garden, said Assistant General Manager Matthew Allen. Happy hour with food and drink specials is 3 to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, Allen said.
“We’ll be the front row place for the concert they’re having tomorrow as well as a lot of the events this weekend,” Allen said. “Our patio seating will be fully open.”
4. DEPUTIES TO DIRECT TRAFFIC
Liberty Way already sees an average of 15,000 vehicles per day, according to the Butler County Engineer's Office. Volumes are expected to more than double to 40,000 vehicles during the center's first phase, according to the engineer's office.
From 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, 7 to 10 Butler County Sheriff’s Office deputies will be stationed along the roadway to direct motorists, according to Lt. Morgan Dallman, commander of the Liberty Twp. sheriff’s substation.
“We expect a large crowd and we want to make sure the normal volume of traffic on Liberty Way is not affected any more that it is to be,” he said. “Our main concern is that we keep traffic flowing on Liberty Way and entering Liberty Center and exiting, as well.”
Liberty Center also will have a large number of security personnel inside the center to funnel traffic in and out of parking lots, Dallman said.
5. IT’S NOT OVER FOR JOB SEEKERS
Some businesses opening at Liberty Center are still accepting job applications including tenants that won’t open until later.
Dillard's will employ about 140 to 160 employees in total, according to General Manager Richard Lanthorn. Job openings are still available and listed online at careers.dillards.com. "We have the majority of the staff in place but we're always looking for great people," Lanthorn told Journal-News within the last month.
“We’ve hired 100 associates and we’re always looking for good people,” Choate, of Rusty Bucket, said.
More remaining job opportunities are listed online at www.liberty-center.com/Careers and include positions at AC Hotels by Marriott, which is planned to open in January; and other companies.
About 3,500 full- and part-time jobs are expected to be created by year 2018 at Liberty Center tenants, according to Liberty Twp.
Staff Writers Greg Lynch and Eric Schwartzberg contributed to this report
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