As the old saying goes, “neither rain nor snow…” nor chilly temperatures will keep fans away. This year, March 28 was sunny and fans filled Freedom Way, Nuxhall Way, and spilled over to Smale Riverfront Park to support and celebrate our hometown team. The 104th Findlay Market Opening Day Parade routed floats and marching bands from Findlay Market down Race Street and east on Fifth Street.

She escaped from slavery in the South. She became a leading abolitionist before the Civil War. She guided 70 enslaved people to freedom in the North, along the Underground Railroad network of safe houses. She spied on the Confederate Army and after the Civil War, became involved in the women’s suffrage movement. She was Harriet Tubman.

Born in Maryland in 1820 as Araminta Ross, she later took her mother’s name of Harriet. During the Civil War, Harriet was a scout, nurse, and laundress for Union forces in South Carolina. Her aid to the Union Army helped ensure the defeat of slavery.

On March 4, elected officials and leaders of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center cut the ribbon to welcome the 11-foot bronze statue honoring Harriet Tubman. Titled “The Beacon of Hope,” the sculpture features Tubman lifting her right hand to the sky to represent the North Star.

Without the parking infrastructure—including the Transit Center and the Central Riverfront Garage—the development itself would lie in the flood plain and be susceptible to damage from a rising Ohio River. Instead, the Central Riverfront Garage (CRG) was designed and built to be “flood resilient.” When heavy rains create rising river levels, the CRG can be secured to control the amount of water entering the garage and support clean up after the weather event. While not “flood proof,” the structure is designed to limit damage and facilitate efficient clean up from the elements.