Former Mad Frog space demolished. Here’s what’s going there next

CINCINNATI (Enquirer) - Mad Frog, Mount Auburn’s decades-old music venue, was demolished over the weekend, according to our media partners at the Enquirer.

The space, located at 1 E. McMillan St., will soon be home to Uptown Rental’s new $60 million housing development.

Owner Aydin Kol sold the storied building to Uptown in January after running Mad Frog for 26 years.

The space, as well as the deteriorating tennis courts next door, will be part of Uptown’s Hollister Court rental complex. The upcoming four-story, 270-unit complex will be built on top of a three-story parking garage and include five, three-story townhomes facing Vine Street.

Prices for the townhomes and apartment rentals have not yet been revealed, but the developer reportedly said last October they will be similar to Uptown’s nearby One41 Wellington property. One-bedroom apartments in this 259-unit building currently go for upwards of $1,522 per month.

Kol purchased Mad Frog in 1996. The bar and live music venue was a popular hangout for locals and University of Cincinnati students, and provided a “stepping stone” for several Cincinnati bands, Kol said.

Before it was Mad Frog, the building was known as Cory’s, a bar and jazz club owned by Dan Swango. It hosted acts like Pigmeat Jarrett, Big Ed Thompson and H-Bomb Ferguson, and was widely credited with reviving Cincinnati’s blues scene in the early ‘80s.

Uptown’s plans for Hollister Court have support from the Mount Auburn Community Council, the community development group and the Short Vine Association. Rezoning for the site is currently underway.

Despite backing from these groups, locals are still sad to see Mad Frog and its building go, and wanted Uptown to attempt to preserve some of the aging structure.

“As far as I can tell, there’s a great divide between the value that Uptown placed on the building and the value that patrons and longtime community members placed on its historical and cultural significance,” Mount Auburn Community Council member Christian Huelsman told The Enquirer. “The latter cannot be designed; it can only grow out of community.”

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