HCF Community Initiatives | Hamilton Community Foundation

Community Development

In 2005, the Hamilton Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees sought to improve the quality of life in our community by focusing efforts on economic development projects in the city of Hamilton. Thus, the Community Development Fund was born. Established as a method for investing in community projects that have a profound impact on the economic vitality of our community, the Board chose the renovation of the Hamiltonian Hotel as its first Community Development Fund project.

The result is the beautiful Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Hamilton.

The hotel is owned and operated by Concord Hospitality Enterprises Company, an experienced operator of Marriott and other fine hotels. The beauty of this project is that as the $6 million is repaid to the Foundation, those funds will be available to finance other critical community initiatives.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of these donors the Hamilton Community Foundation was successful in raising more than $6 million for the Community Development Fund initiative. We would like to thank our Foundation benefactors for their leadership, vision and investment in our community.

50th Anniversary Gifts to the Community

In 2001 in honor of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary of serving the community, the Board of Trustees decided it would be most appropriate to give back to the community by making several substantial gifts to the city. Today, through the generous support of the Foundation, these community projects continue to be tremendous assets to the city of Hamilton.

A separate endowment fund has been established for each gift to ensure long-term maintenance and capital improvements.

Hamilton Gateway Project

The City Entrance Gateway Sign and Landscaping creates a beautiful vista as travelers enter our city on Route 129.

Michael J. Colligan Lodge

The old American Legion building at Veteran’s Park was restored and rededicated as the Michael J. Colligan Lodge. It features a modern kitchen, new restrooms, extensive landscaping, front patio and a spacious new terrace overlooking the city. New lighting, heating, air conditioning and furnishings were also added.

The Colligan Lodge is now an important gathering place for community events, celebrations and family gatherings.

Foundation Field

Foundation Field at the Booker T. Washington Community Center is now a state-of-the-art baseball complex that serves as the home field for the Miami University Hamilton baseball team and for other youth baseball games and tournaments. In the spring of 2007, Foundation Field hosted the Hamilton High Badin High game for the first time, drawing a huge crowd and enhancing this cross town competition.

Lentil Park

To honor Hamilton’s award-winning author, Robert McCloskey, the Foundation commissioned internationally known sculptor Nancy Schon to portray this memorable character from McCloskey’s first book. The playful sculpture graces a small park at the corner of High Street and Riverfront Plaza. Lentil Park is a wonderful pocket park in downtown that boasts sculptures of Lentil and his dog from Mr. McCloskey’s first book Lentil. In May of 2007, a major historical plaque honoring McCloskey was unveiled.

Skateboard Park

The skateboard park in Joyce Park is a joint project with the City of Hamilton and the City of Fairfield. This park is a great facility for skating enthusiasts to enjoy their sport and draws quite a crowd all year long.

Bike Path

Our largest Anniversary gift is a five-mile extension to the Bike Path, which will connect 13 parks and nearly 900 acres. It follows the historic Miami-Erie Canal, ending at the scenic Rentschler Forest Preserve. Although this project has seen its share of delays, the plans are now complete and construction is expected to begin in the near future. This significant addition to the bikeway will help make this trail an important link for walkers, runners and cyclist in our community and from throughout the region.

Community Grant Consortium

Since 2002, the Hamilton Community Foundation along with several community partners assisted in bringing millions of new dollars into Butler County. Since its inception, the Consortium has garnered more than $10,000,000 for the Butler County Community.

The Community Grant Consortium was designed to help Butler County non-profit and public organizations acquire funding from outside the County. The Consortium helps with grant proposal development, training and technical assistance and new program initiatives.

Endowment Partnership Program

In the spring of 2007, the Hamilton Community Foundation launched a new program to assist non-profit agencies in building endowment funds. The Endowment Partnership Program was created to help area non-profit agencies establish, re-establish and/or sustain their endowment funds through the promotion of a formalized planned giving program.

Through the Endowment Partnership Program, Foundation staff work directly with area non-profit executive directors, development staff and board members to identify and cultivate relationships with the non-profit agency’s friends. The Foundation then assists the agency in educating its constituents about the many different charitable gift vehicles available so that donors are able to make informed decisions regarding planned giving. The non-profit agencies in turn establish endowment funds at the Foundation and the Foundation invests and stewards those funds in perpetuity.

The Hamilton Community Foundation and our endowment partners are working together to strengthen our community through endowment building.

The first wave of the Endowment Partnership Program, which began in May 2007, was limited to a maximum of four non-profit agencies—all offering different services within the community. The Hamilton Community Foundation is pleased to announce our first program participants: Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton, Fitton Center for Creative Arts, the Presbyterian Church of Hamilton, and Stephen T. Badin High School.