Congresswoman Pryce to tour Weinland Park neighborhood

Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) will be touring Weinland Park on April 17, 2006, to get a better understanding of several projects which hold great promise for improving the quality of life in that neighborhood. The Ohio State University and Campus Partners have worked closely with the City of Columbus and neighborhood stakeholders in the last decade to promote neighborhood revitalization.

Weinland Park encompasses the southeast portion of the University District. The neighborhood’s boundaries are Fifth Avenue on the south, Chittenden Avenue on the north, High Street on the east and the railroad tracks on the west. The neighborhood is predominantly African American with a significant amount of poverty and with the city’s highest concentration of federally subsidized, low-income housing.

Over the past four years, Congresswoman Pryce has sponsored a series of congressional appropriations totaling $3.2 million to assist this revitalization effort. These funds have supported “gap financing” for the renovation of low-income housing, a critical crime prevention and public safety initiative, and community-based neighborhood planning.

The prospects for Weinland Park are looking much brighter.

With support from Ohio State, Campus Partners in 2001 prepared an innovative plan for the acquisition and renovation of about 1,300 units of Section 8 subsidized housing, including about 550 units in Weinland Park. Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, a statewide non-profit agency which finances affordable housing projects, in 2003 acquired these housing units, which are now known as Community Properties of Ohio.

OCCH currently is investing more than $40,000 per unit in the renovation of these apartments, has significantly improved property management and maintenance, developed a public safety program using special duty Columbus Police officers, and provides supportive social services to residents.

These measures should reduce the turnover among tenants, as well as to help stabilize the neighborhood, including attendance at the elementary school.

Other significant advancements in Weinland Park include:

-- The City of Columbus for the past two years has sponsored an extensive community-based process to prepare the Weinland Park neighborhood plan. This draft plan is being reviewed by neighborhood organizations this spring and likely will go to Columbus City Council for adoption early this summer. The plan envisions Weinland Park evolving as a mixed-income neighborhood with opportunities for increased homeownership and for new market-rate housing development, while maintaining a large supply of housing units affordable to low-income families.

-- Columbus Public Schools is constructing the new Weinland Park Elementary School on the site of the previous school on East Seventh Avenue between North Fourth and Summit streets. The school, which will include a gymnasium accessible during non-school hours, is scheduled to open in January 2007.

-- Ohio State’s College of Human Ecology has begun construction of its innovative Early Childhood Development Center, which will be co-located with the elementary school to foster collaboration. A significant portion of the youngsters served are expected to come from the neighborhood. College officials hope to open the center in January 2007.

-- Campus Partners has an option to acquire the 17-acre brownfield site of the former Columbus Coated Fabrics. This severely deteriorated property is located along the eastern border of Weinland Park. Campus Partners is exploring legal, regulatory and environmental issues related to the possible acquisition of the site. The draft Weinland Park plan recommends the site be redeveloped for housing.

Joining Congresswoman Pryce on the tour of Weinland Park will be neighborhood residents, as well as representatives of OCCH, Community Properties of Ohio, the College of Human Ecology, Ohio State’s Office of Governmental Relations, and Campus Partners.

Congresswoman Deborah Pryce visited the Weinland Park neighborhood of the University District on April 17