| Football parking earns $11,000 for Godman Guild
While the Buckeyes scored on the
football field against the University of Michigan, Godman Guild settlement house scored in
the parking lot, earning $6,190 to support its neighborhood youth programs.
Volunteers and staff members with Godman Guild parked more than 600 vehicles at $10 each
on the vacant site of the University Gateway Center during the Ohio State-Michigan game on
Nov. 23. Campus Partners invited the Guild to use the site as a fund-raiser during
the football season. The Guild parked cars during three previous home games, earning
a total of $4,850 for those games. Randy Morrison, executive director of Godman
Guild, said the huge increase for the Michigan game reflected a growing awareness by the
public of the parking on the Gateway site and the larger number of fans who drive into the
University District to share in the excitement of the game, even if they don’t have
tickets to the stadium. He was very pleased with the parking arrangement, noting
that it is a great fund-raising project for volunteers.
Godman Guild, which has served the north
side of Columbus since 1898, is named for Henry C. Godman, owner of a Columbus shoe
factory and a major donor to the construction of the settlement house’s first
building. The Guild is now located at 303 E. Sixth Ave. in the Weinland Park
neighborhood of the University District. The Guild’s recently completed capital
campaign resulted in a major renovation and attractive addition to its facility.
“With a tight budget, this [parking
revenue] will help us enhance our programs,” Morrison said. Benefiting from the
parking funds will be the Guild’s Adventure group of middle school children, Teen
Program, Camp Mary Orton, Epic after-school program, summer camp program, and the learning
enhancement program for kindergarten and first grade youngsters.
Construction of new buildings on the
Gateway site may begin in 2003, so it is uncertain whether parking will be available for
the 2003 football season.
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| Godman Guild
volunteers greet drivers pulling into the parking area on the Gateway site during the Ohio
State-Michigan football game on Nov. 23. |
A Godman Guild
volunteer directs a motorist to a parking spot. |
By mid-morning
on Nov. 23 the Gateway site between Pearl and High streets was full. By kick-off,
the whole Gateway site east of High Street contained more than 600 vehicles, raising more
than $6,000 for Godman Guild's youth programs. |
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Gateway public improvements to be bid
in January
EMH&T is working to complete the
final design of the public improvements on the site for the University Gateway Center.
Campus Partners has agreed upon a submittal, review and approval schedule with the
City that will allow the public improvements to be bid in January 2003. After
working extensively with representatives of the City administration and Council, Campus
Partners has been successful in having the City budget $3.5 million (including the
$500,000 needed for design of the improvements) of its $5 million commitment to fund Phase
1 of the public improvements for the Gateway project from the City’s bond sale
expected to close later this month.
In a related matter, Campus Partners has
identified a major real estate firm as the preferred candidate for development manager of
the Gateway project. In that capacity, the firm would manage the design,
construction and leasing of the Gateway Center and advise Campus Partners on key
development decisions. An announcement of the firm’s selection is expected
soon, pending execution of a development management services agreement between Campus
Partners and the firm. Meanwhile, the firm began work on the Gateway project Sept. 3
and has been actively engaged in a review and validation process of the existing
development concept and is completing a thorough refinement of all key elements of the
project.
Closing nears on acquisition of Broad Street Portfolio
Campus Partners and Ohio Capital
Corporation for Housing (OCCH) expect to close on acquisition of the Broad Street
Portfolio and the related restructuring through the federal Mark-to-Market program late
this year or early next year. OCCH recently received approval from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the revised Restructuring Agreement
and has submitted an application for approximately $4.5 million in acquisition financing
through the HUD 223 program.
Based on the estimated rehabilitation
needs of the various units and the likely permanent financing strategy for the various
units, OCCH has begun the process of putting together the rehabilitation schedule for the
portfolio. In the University District, OCCH is projecting that the majority of the
units on North Fourth Street will be renovated during 2003 and the units off this main
corridor will be renovated during 2004.
OCCH has selected Columbus Housing
Partnership and Columbus Housing Network as development partners for certain portions of
the portfolio. In the University District, the units will be redeveloped or
renovated either by OCCH or by Columbus Housing Partnership. In either case, OCCH
will be responsible for managing the units on an on-going basis.
Campus Partners and OCCH are continuing to
work with Congressman Pat Tiberi and other members of the Ohio congressional delegation on
legislation that would grant greater flexibility in the restructuring of the Broad Street
Portfolio to permit a phased de-concentration of a portion of the units.
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Public safety update
The University Area Safety Committee
devoted its meeting Nov. 13 to a discussion of public safety matters related to the Ohio
State-Michigan football game. Post-game activities for students were announced.
The Office of Student Affairs planned a concert for students in the Newport Music
Hall for the evening after the game. Student Affairs and Undergraduate Student
Government planned a distribution of free food outside the Ohio Union late that evening.
The Columbus Division of Police planned a continuing presence in the neighborhoods,
but officers would not be in riot gear unless specific situations required it.
Despite these precautions, serious disturbances erupted after midnight. City and
university authorities are cooperating to identify and prosecute those violating the law
in the disturbances.
Columbus Police devoted significant staff
resources to capturing a serial rapist who was attacking women in their homes and
apartments in the University District over the summer and early this fall. Stepped
up patrols and undercover officers resulted in the arrests of several burglars, but the
rapist is still at large. Central Ohio Crime Stoppers has announced a reward of up
to $4,000 for information leading to an arrest or indictment in the rapes. Crime
Stoppers normally offers a reward of up to $2,000. In this case, Ohio State will
contribute an additional $2,000.
The University Area Safety Committee will
not meet in December. The tentative date for the next meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 8,
at 3:30 p.m.
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Code enforcement focuses on student neighborhood
The city’s code enforcement staff
early in the fall completed its program of systematic exterior code enforcement in an area
bounded by High Street on the west, Indianola Avenue on the east, East 11th Avenue on the
south and East 14th Avenue on the north. The area has no known homeowners, so a
companion “envelope program” was not needed. Andy Baumann, code
enforcement supervisor, and Ed Stollard, code inspector, reported on this initiative at
recent meetings of the University District Code Enforcement Task Force. They
reported that 160 properties have been inspected in the area, which resulted in 66 orders
issued for code violations. The citations totaled as follows:
-- 44 for housing violations (examples are peeling paint, rotted wood, damaged gutters and
downspouts);
-- 12 for zoning violations (examples are junk cars and illegally parked cars);
-- 10 for environmental violations (examples are trash and weeds).
They reported at the task force meeting on Nov. 12 that 46 of the 66 orders had been
complied with and two cases were going to court.
Task force members discussed extending the
systematic exterior code enforcement from East 15th Avenue north to Woodruff or Lane
avenues. Neighborhood representatives on the task force agreed to contact homeowners
in that area to gain their support for the code enforcement initiative before moving into
that area. City funds are not currently available for an “envelope
program” to assist low-income homeowners in making repairs ordered by code
enforcement.
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Campus Partners Student Advisory Board meets on Gateway
The Campus Partners Student Advisory
Board met on Nov. 20 for an in-depth briefing and discussion on the University Gateway
Center. The purposes of the meeting were to provide these interested students with
accurate information on the Gateway project, solicit comments and advice from the students
about various aspects of the project, and consider ideas for more public forums on the
Gateway project during winter and spring quarters.
Eric Zimmerman has joined Campus Partners
this quarter as a Work-Study student employee. He is working with the Student
Advisory Board and University Area Crime Stoppers and is preparing a report on the
University District comparing 2000 Census data with the data collected during each Census
since 1950.
Campus Partners hosts delegation from West Virginia
Campus Partners hosted a delegation of
seven from Morgantown, W.Va., and the West Virginia University on Nov. 4 to discuss Campus
Partners’ initiatives. During the daylong meeting, they toured the University
District and met with Campus Partners staff and Steve McClary, administrator of the
city’s Planning Division; Wayne Garland, president of Buckeye Real Estate; Pasquale
Grado, executive director of the University Community Business Association; and Mike
Casto, associate professor of education. The City of Morgantown and West Virginia
University have formed the non-profit Campus Neighborhoods Revitalization Corporation to
work in the Sunnyside neighborhood adjacent to the university.
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Committee meets on refuse collection and street sweeping
The Campus Partners Public Service
Committee met Nov. 20 to discuss street sweeping and refuse collection. City staff
distributed a schedule of street sweeping for 2003 beginning April 10 and 11. In
discussing refuse collection, the city staff reported that the amount of bulk trash
collected during the annual student move-out and move-in during late August was less than
in recent years. No one knew why. In another matter, city staff said they are
considering the placement of metal dumpsters in the Weinland Park neighborhood to improve
service.
The committee will meet next on Wednesday,
March 12, at the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St. Committee members will
focus on street sweeping at 2:30 p.m. and refuse collection at 3:30 p.m. |
