The Rubicon House is a community development initiative to revitalize the Rubicon Park area. The project will mobilize University of Dayton faculty, staff and students, as well as area businesses, schools, and neighborhood associations, in building community and social capital, addressing difficult developmental issues and creating a neighborhood center. This neighborhood center - a newly renovated property dubbed Rubicon House - serves as the meeting place for the planning of a healthy, vital community.

Officially opening its doors to the public on April 30, 2000 the Rubicon House has served as a catalyst for various community initiatives for the past three years. In the fall of 2000 alone, twenty-two professors in partnership with dozens of community members led nineteen courses and 259 students through experiential learning opportunities in Rubicon Park. Their collaboration resulted in a strategic analysis of the business district; survey research focused on priority concerns of residents; education of school children and their families about lead paint; a record of oral histories from long-time residents; classroom experience for future teachers; tutoring; a strategic analysis of tourism prospects in Rubicon Park, and much more. Now with the doors of Rubicon House wide open to the possibilities in the Rubicon Park community, imagine what we can accomplish!

The short-term goals of the Rubicon House initiative include:

• Working with the neighborhoods and businesses to identify the strategic questions which could be addressed by University of Dayton faculty and students.
• Establishing specific functions in the neighborhood community which the University of Dayton will assume on a sustained basis.
• Creating a new Rubicon Park partnership or development corporation.
• Designing and implementing University of Dayton service-learning course which focus on experiential learning in Rubicon Park.
• Consolidating the fragmented interactions of the neighborhood, hospital, and university in the Rubicon House, establishing it as the neighborhood center.

The long-term goals of the Rubicon House focus on:

• Establishing more single-family homeowners.
• Attracting new retail businesses.
• Having increased “walk-around” shopping in a vibrant business district.
• Developing a pedestrian-friendly environment on Brown Street.
• Having a strong neighborhood school.
• Incorporating an active Neighborhood Watch program.
• Eliminating prostitution, drugs and other neighborhood crime.

Rubicon House Partners

Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association
The Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association is comprised of concerned residents committed to working for positive change in their neighborhood. Primary goals of the association include improving the quality of housing, addressing the presence of drugs and creating opportunities for children. The Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association currently meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 PM. Meetings are held in the Berry Center at Miami Valley Hospital.

Rubicon Park Business Association
Business leaders in the Rubicon Park District united to form the Rubicon Park Business Association. Traffic & parking, crime and attracting new businesses are just a few of the focuses of the business association. The Rubicon Park Business Association currently meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 9:30 AM.  Meetings are held at the Rubicon House.

National City Bank
Founded in 1845, National City has grown from a small bank to a financial services company serving companies and individuals throughout a six state area. National City has a long history of contributing to the communities in which we do business. So it is with pleasure that National City Dayton joins the University of Dayton and INCLUD in a partnership to establish the Rubicon House.  We applaud the long-range goals of the Rubicon House initiative and share the vision to reestablish Rubicon Park as a thriving residential and business district. National City looks forward with excitement to the successes that will emanate from this partnership & this beautiful structure at 1056 Brown Street.

For more information on the Rubicon House please contact Dick Ferguson at (937) 229-5400 or e-mail him at dick.ferguson@udayton.edu