If you drove past Centre Pointe Drive in early June and thought the Square looked different, you were right. The clock tower is still there. The stage isn't where it used to be, the fountains are gone, and the crowd for Thunderstruck on June 4 fanned out across a park that had been under construction for most of last year.
The short version for anyone already living here: the $3.6 million refresh at The Square @ Union Centre is done, and it quietly reorganized the geometry of a West Chester summer. Where you park, where you set your chair, and where you grab dinner before the 6 p.m. downbeat are all slightly different than they were twelve months ago.
What actually changed at the Square
The renovation was the first major update since the Square opened fifteen years ago, and West Chester Township timed construction to wrap in time for the 2026 concert season. If you had not walked through since last summer, here is what to look for:
- A new covered stage on the opposite side of the plaza, with a roof designed to keep concerts running through iffy weather
- Two interactive splash pads flanking the stage, replacing the older fountains
- More shaded seating and green space
- Decorative concrete barriers around the perimeter that read as landscaping but function as security
- Upgraded lighting on the First Financial Bank clock tower that gives the space a different feel after 8:30 p.m.
The stage move is the one that matters most for how you use the park. If your muscle memory says to walk in from the MidPointe Library side and drift left, the sound now hits you from a different angle. The families who used to camp near the old fountain edge are the ones who need to rethink their spot the most. The splash pads pull kids to a zone that is now near the stage rather than away from it, which is either a feature or a bug depending on the age of your children.
The Thursday lineup, in order
The Takeover runs 6 to 9 p.m. every Thursday at 9285 Centre Pointe Drive, free admission, presented by First Financial Bank. Grainworks Brewing pours the beer tent, and the nonprofit staffing rotation includes the West Chester–Union Township Historical Society, so the money you spend on a cold one does something useful. Well-behaved dogs on leash are welcome. Outside alcohol is not, and coolers are checked at the perimeter.
Here is the full 2026 slate so you can plan babysitters, patios, and out-of-town visitors around it:
| Date | Act | Angle |
|---|---|---|
| June 4 | Thunderstruck | AC/DC tribute |
| June 11 | Long Live | Taylor Swift tribute |
| June 18 | Cassette Junkies | 80s and 90s covers |
| June 25 | Naked Karate Girls | Cincinnati mainstay |
| July 2 | Saints & Strangers | Rock and pop covers |
| July 9 | Grunge: The Seattle Sound | 90s Seattle catalog |
| July 16 | Back & Forth | Foo Fighters tribute |
| July 23 | The Little Mermen | Disney tribute, family night |
| July 30 | Michelle Robinson Band | Season closer |
Two nights are worth flagging. July 23, The Little Mermen, is the closest thing to a kids' night on the calendar, and pairs well with an early splash pad hour. July 30, Michelle Robinson Band, closes the series and tends to pull the biggest crowd of the summer, so plan for the outer edges of the parking lot and a walk in.
The two Fridays and a weekend you should actually block
Concerts aren't the only reason to be at the Square. Three dates outside the Thursday rhythm matter this summer.
Friday, June 5, the Union Centre Boulevard Merchant Association runs the annual Food Truck Rally from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. More than forty trucks set up around the plaza. The lunch shift is calmer than the evening shift by a wide margin, so if you have kids or a low tolerance for lines, come between 11:30 and 1. UCBMA rotates the beneficiary each year, which is worth checking before you decide how much cash to bring.
Saturday, June 6, the West Chester History Center hosts a Founder's Day Open House from 1 to 5 p.m., free. If you have lived here five years or fifteen, the collection at the History Center is the kind of thing residents keep meaning to see and never do. This is the excuse. The West Chester–Union Township Historical Society also anchors the September 19 Founder's Day street fair at West Chester Presbyterian Church on Cincinnati Dayton Road, so treat the June open house as the summer bookend to that.
Friday and Saturday, July 3 and 4, the All American Bash returns to VOA MetroPark, 4 to 11 p.m. both nights, with fireworks at 10 p.m. Saturday. Free, and sponsored by Kemba Credit Union. This is the one weekend where you probably want to skip the Union Centre parking approach entirely and come in from the VOA side. Country Music Fest at the same MetroPark runs August 6 through 9, which is ticketed and a very different crowd.
The new west side of dinner
A concert is only as good as what you ate before it, and the food geography around the Square shifted meaningfully in the last nine months.
At the eastern edge, Chick-fil-A Union Centre Blvd. opened October 23, 2025 at 9414 Civic Centre Blvd. under local operator Tyler Peters, running Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The opening included a $25,000 donation to Shared Harvest Foodbank and added roughly 100 jobs to the corridor. Practically, it also gave the Thursday-night crowd a fast option that closes at 10 rather than 9, which matters more than it sounds when a concert lets out at 9:05.
The bigger story sits three miles west, off Butler-Warren Road. Village North, the 49-acre mixed-use project straddling West Chester and Liberty townships, spent March 2026 signing eight new restaurant and retail leases to join a Whole Foods anchor at 8296 Liberty Way. The confirmed food tenants include Brassica, the Columbus-based Mediterranean fast-casual whose first Cincinnati location opened at Harpers Station, and Café Patachou. Clous Road Partners is the master developer, with Sansone Group on the retail phase, and the center is aiming at a 2026 opening, with individual store dates depending on tenant buildouts. If you are a West Chester resident who has been driving to Kenwood or Rookwood for a Brassica bowl, that trip gets a lot shorter this year.
Between those two anchors, the Liberty Center block continues to fill in. Whiskey Yard, Noche, Etxe, Rangeen, Dean's Mediterranean Table, Parlor Doughnuts, and the Liberty Collective food hall all show up on the "newest in 45069" lists that circulated over the winter, and the older tenants like Pies & Pints, Son of A Butcher, and Ford's Garage are still the reliable pre-concert options for a table with real chairs.
A resident's Thursday, in walking order
If you have not been to the Square since the renovation, park at the MidPointe Library lot on Centre Pointe Drive, cut through the Saturday Market footprint, and approach the stage from the north side. You will get a feel for the new stage orientation in about ninety seconds, and you will spot where the splash pads sit before the kids do.
A working template for the summer, based on how the space now flows:
- 5:15 p.m. Grab a quick dinner at Union Centre or a table at Liberty Center. If it is a splash pad night, pack a towel.
- 5:45 p.m. Park at MidPointe Library, 9363 Centre Pointe Drive. Walk the clock tower loop.
- 6:00 p.m. Downbeat. Grainworks tent is on the near side. Cash tips help the nonprofit of the week.
- 7:30 p.m. Kids to the splash pads, adults to the shaded seating on the new south edge.
- 9:00 p.m. Encore. Walk out the east side toward Civic Centre Blvd. if you want a late Chick-fil-A run.
- Saturday morning. West Chester Market in the MidPointe lot, same clock tower, different pace.
Do that three Thursdays in a row and you will know the new Square better than most of your neighbors.
The point of writing all of this down is not that any single evening will be perfect. The point is that West Chester spent $3.6 million to make the middle of the township more usable, added a Chick-fil-A on one flank and is finishing a Whole Foods-anchored center on the other, and the residents who plan around those changes get a materially better summer than the ones who show up out of habit.
If you are thinking about what your own address looks like from the outside this summer, or you have a neighbor asking what their home might be worth in this market, The Parchman Group is happy to walk the block with you. Get your free home valuation any time you are ready.
