Weinland Park began more than 90 years ago to serve people who took streetcars to jobs downtown or who worked in the manufacturing industries along the railroad lines that mark the eastern boundary of our neighborhood.
Like most urban neighborhoods, Weinland Park has lost jobs and population in the last 40 years, but major public and private investments in the last decade and new commitments for home renovation and new construction over the next few years showcase community renewal and the evolution of a stable, mixed-income neighborhood.
At the center of our neighborhood are several acres of greenspace, Weinland Park, named for Edgar Weinland, a popular reform city councilman in the 1920s. Flanking the park are the new Weinland Park Elementary School and the new Schoenbaum Family Center, Ohio State’s innovative early childhood education laboratory.
The Neighborhood Today
The Weinland Park neighborhood is defined by the boundaries of High Street to the west, Fifth Avenue to the south, the railroad tracks to the east, and the east-west alley north of Chittenden Avenue to the north.
Weinland Park Collaborative
Timeline of Weinland Park’s history
The University District is composed of a series of urban neighborhoods that wrap north, east and south around The Ohio State University’s Columbus campus. Weinland Park is one of these neighborhoods, constituting the southeast portion of the University District. Weinland Park is about 30 square blocks bounded by Chittenden Avenue on the north, East Fifth Avenue on the south, North High Street on the west, and the CSX railroad tracks on the east.
When Ohio State was founded in 1870, the surrounding area was farmland. As Columbus grew in the last quarter of the 19th century and streetcar lines were extended from downtown to the university, the farmland between was platted for neighborhoods. In the first two decades of the 20th century, the neighborhoods north and east of the university, including Weinland Park, were developed. The apartment buildings in Weinland Park’s New Indianola Historic District were constructed between 1916 and 1920 and constitute one of the nation’s finest examples of a “streetcar suburb.” In the 1940s and 1950s, the eastern portion of Weinland Park became one of the few neighborhoods outside the Mt. Vernon Avenue area where African-Americans could buy homes.
With the university’s huge growth in student enrollment in the late 1940s through the late 1960s, Ohio State acquired properties and demolished houses to construct the high-rise residence halls on north and south campus. The lucrative private market for student housing transformed the University District’s core student neighborhood and impacted the northern and western edges of Weinland Park.
1959 Columbus City Council rezones much of the University District for higher-density apartment buildings, rather than single-family homes and duplexes.
1961 Columbus City Schools opens Sixth Avenue School to serve African-American children. The school is only three blocks from the then-existing Weinland Park Elementary School. (Godman Guild Association, the primary social services organization in Weinland Park, now occupies the former Sixth Avenue School building.)
University Community Association (UCA) forms as membership organization of residents determined to protect the residential character of the neighborhoods. UAC continues today with a board of volunteers and quarterly membership meetings.
1971 The university, City of Columbus, Battelle Memorial Institute, and several other institutions create the University District Organization (UDO) as a planning organization for the University District. UDO continues today as a non-profit community improvement organization with a board that represents the diverse stakeholders of the University District.
1972 The City of Columbus creates the University Area Commission (UAC) is created as one of the first neighborhood advisory bodies to the City Council. UAC, composed of residents and representatives of students and other stakeholders, meets monthly. The commission’s area of jurisdiction forms the boundaries of the University District today: Glen Echo Ravine (just north of Arcadia Avenue) on the north, Fifth Avenue on the south, CSX railroad tracks on the east, and Olentangy River on the west.
1974 Under a contract with the city, UDO prepares Area Plan 38, the first formal plan for the University District. One result of the plan was a downzoning of peripheral areas of the district.
1970s Sandefur Management Company, a Columbus developer, assembles one of the nation’s largest portfolios of scattered-site, privately owned, government-subsidized housing. The properties were known as the Broad Street portfolio because the private management company was headquartered on East Broad Street. The portfolio was composed of 1,300 units in Columbus, including some 350 in Weinland Park, the largest concentration of Section 8 housing in the city. In the 1980s and 1990s, the properties were poorly managed and maintained, contributing to a growing crime rate and illegal drug sales. By the 1990s, Weinland Park had the highest violent crime rate in the city.
Clarine Polk, who lives on North Fifth Street, leads neighbors to create the Unity Neighborhood Association for an area bounded by East 11th Avenue, East Fifth Avenue, North Fourth Street and Grant Avenue. Their advocacy results in the late 1970s to an allocation from the city of $500,000 in federal Community Development Act funds for grants and low-interest loans to renovate housing and for alley and street repairs and new streetlights and street trees. By the early 1980s, Unity Neighborhood Association is less active.
1980s Godman Guild Association, a settlement house then located on West Second Avenue, opens a satellite office along East Fifth Avenue and begins community organizing work.
The Third to Eleventh Neighbors (TEN) forms as a civic association for an area bounded by East 11th Avenue, East Third Avenue, North High Street and the Conrail railroad tracks. According to a story published Aug. 20, 1986, in The Columbus Dispatch’s weekly Neighbor News, TEN members meet weekly in Godman Guild’s satellite office and are working on housing improvements and a community festival.
1987 The City of Columbus establishes the New Indianola Historic District along an L-shaped portion of North Fourth Street and East 11th Avenue. Columbus developer Charles F. Johnson originally built most of the buildings in the district as rental housing between 1916 and 1920. The district represents one of the most examples of an early 20th century streetcar suburb.
1988 Concerned about the demolition of single-family homes and deterioration of the University District neighborhoods, UDO publishes an improvement plan, Community Directions.
1991 Escalating conflict between developers and permanent residents over housing demolition, density, parking, and related concerns results in Columbus City Council imposing a demolition moratorium in the University District.
1992 After extensive discussion among all parties, City Council lifts the moratorium and imposes a zoning overlay for the University District, which includes an “impact district” encompassing the predominantly student neighborhood and the northwestern portion of Weinland Park. City Council also creates the University Area Review Board to oversee design and density issues in the impact district.
1994 Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee and Mayor Greg Lashutka form the University Area Improvement Task Force in January to recommend action to combat growing neighborhood deterioration and crime. Two months later, Stephanie Hummer, a freshman student from Cincinnati, is kidnapped just off High Street and murdered, giving enormous emotional momentum for a community-campus partnership.
Community organizers at Godman Guild help create the Weinland Park Collaborative composed of neighborhood residents, local institutions, Columbus police, and area businesses. The purpose of the collaborative was to develop ideas and programs to support the neighborhood. (This collaborative is not related to the WPC formed 16 years later.)
1995 The university and city in partnership with the neighborhoods create Campus Partners, a non-profit community redevelopment corporation focused on improving the quality of life in the University District. Campus Partners in March launches an 18-month community planning process with extensive involvement of residents, university faculty, staff and students, and other stakeholders.
After an extensive investigation, federal and city law enforcement stage a massive round-up and arrest 46 members of the Short North Posse, a gang based in Weinland Park, on multiple charges of drug-dealing, money-laundering, and illegal use of guns. This was the first in a series of raids over the next 15 years that resulted in arrests of numerous Short North Posse members. The raids resulted in gang members scattering throughout central Ohio, but for too long the gang was associated in the public mind with Weinland Park.
The Weinland Park Collaborative is incorporated in September as the Weinland Park Community Collaborative (WPCC) with Craig Jaynes as the first president. The WPCC’s statement of purpose is “to promote a high quality of life for all residents of the Weinland Park area.” Voting members must be a neighborhood resident for at least three years. A business or agency located in Weinland Park could join and name a representative who could vote and hold office. Non-voting members included non-residents and institutions not located in Weinland Park.
1996 City Council adopts the University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan, which offers a comprehensive approach to neighborhood improvement. Joint city-university-neighborhood task forces work to improve municipal services, including public safety, code enforcement, street sweeping, and refuse collection. Committees that grew from these task forces continue to meet regularly today.
As an outgrowth of the federal and city investigation of the Short North Posse, the U.S. Department of Justice designates Weinland Park as a “Weed and Seed” site to focus on crime prevention and neighborhood restoration. The Weinland Park Community Collaborative is named as the coordinating agency with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, City of Columbus, Columbus City Schools, and Campus Partners.
1997 Campus Partners leads a second community planning process focused on the High Street commercial corridor and a potential redevelopment project on High Street at 11th Avenue, which becomes South Campus Gateway.
Campus Collaborative, an Ohio State consortium of colleges and departments that worked closely with Campus Partners in planning and implementation, receives a three-year federal Community Outreach Partnership Center grant to focus on Weinland Park. Faculty members from OSU Extension and the College of Education and Human Ecology worked with neighborhood residents and agencies on initiatives involving economic development, education, and family living skills. Unfortunately, the work had limited lasting benefits because the neighborhood was so distressed and residents extremely transient due at least in part to poorly managed Section 8 housing.
The Weinland Park Community Collaborative (WPCC) creates four “impact teams” of residents and Ohio State faculty and students and agency staff. The teams were Economic Development, Housing Development, Neighborhood Development, and Community Safety.
The WPCC receives a federal Weed and Seed grant that over the next three years that funds a Weed and Seed coordinator and safe haven manager, activities at two safe haven centers, development and distribution of a neighborhood newsletter, and a summer enrichment program for children and youth.
2000. An application to the U.S. Department of Justice to renew the Weed and Seed grant is denied. Over the next several years, the WPCC becomes inactive.
2001 Campus Partners, with support from Ohio State, gains site control of the troubled Broad Street portfolio of Section 8 housing reputed as “housing of last resort.” Campus Partners develops a plan to preserve the large majority of the units and move them to new non-profit ownership and management and builds community-wide support for the plan.
2002 City Council adopts A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street and complementary design guidelines and expands the jurisdiction of the University Area Review Board to the whole High Street corridor in the University District.
2003 With the assistance of Campus Partners, Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing acquires the Section 8 housing portfolio, renames it Community Properties of Ohio (CPO), and installs a new management team.
Campus Partners completes land acquisition, demolition and begins new construction of South Campus Gateway, a major mixed-use redevelopment project on High Street at 11th Avenue.
Robert Caldwell takes the lead in founding the Weinland Park Community Civic Association (WPCCA) to represent residents and stakeholders. The elected officers are Mr. Caldwell as president, Joyce Hughes as vice president, Robby Florstedt as secretary, and Leannette Lyles as treasurer. The association affirms the boundaries of Weinland Park as Chittenden Avenue on the north, East Fifth Avenue on the south, High Street on the west, and the CSX railroad tracks on the east.
2004 Mayor Michael Coleman, Ohio State President Karen Holbrook, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, and WPCCA President Robert Caldwell participate in a ceremony June 14 to mark the start of renovation of CPO properties in Weinland Park. Over the next five years, CPO completely renovates more than 1,000 units in seven Columbus neighborhoods, investing $30 million in Weinland Park alone.
The city’s Planning Division, with financial support from Campus Partners, begins an 18-month community planning process to prepare the Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan, which is adopted by City Council in 1996. Robert Caldwell chairs the community advisory committee for the planning process. The plan supports the revitalization of Weinland Park “by fostering the development of a mixed-income neighborhood.”
Campus Partners begins negotiations through federal bankruptcy court to acquire the 21-acre Columbus Coated Fabrics (CCF) property, a “brownfield” site along Weinland Park’s eastern edge. The site is plagued with arson, graffiti, and questionable salvaging. Extensive legal work and environmental assessments follow. The city and Wagenbrenner Development join as partners in the project.
2005 South Campus Gateway opens, setting a higher standard for building design and the pedestrian experience and encouraging other private investment on High Street.
2006 The city takes title to the CCF “brownfield” property.
City Council approves the designation of Weinland Park as one of the city’s Neighborhood Investment Districts to provide tax incentives to homeowners and rental property owners for the renovation and new construction of housing.
More than 50 people attended the Weinland Park Community Civic Association meeting in December to hear Gene Smith, superintendent of Columbus City Schools, and David Andrews, dean of Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology, discuss plans for construction of the new Weinland Park Elementary School and the university’s Schoenbaum Family Center.
2007 Campus Partners oversees demolition of existing buildings on the CCF site. The State of Ohio awards a $3 million grant to Wagenbrenner Development to remediate the site for eventual housing development.
The new Weinland Park Elementary School and the Schoenbaum Family Center open in the fall and are co-located with the four-acre city park behind the buildings.
The city’s Neighborhood Pride program focuses on the eastern half of Weinland Park from May 14-18 with activities to access city services for housing, health and public safety; to improve the neighborhood’s appearance through street and sewer cleaning, trash pick-up, and code enforcement; and to meet with neighbors and the mayor and other city officials.
In 2007 or 2008 (records aren’t clear), Joyce Hughes succeeds Robert Caldwell as president of the Weinland Park Community Civic Association (WPCCA).
2008 The city’s new Northside Neighborhood Pride Center and police substation open on East 11th Avenue in Weinland Park.
With a joint grant from JPMorgan Chase Foundation and The Columbus Foundation, Campus Partners prepares a proposal to revitalize Weinland Park through investments in housing, education, workforce development, public safety, and resident engagement.
The WPCCA develops a series of proposed programs to be funded by a $75,000 grant approved by City Council to improve public safety in Weinland Park. Among the proposed programs are community ambassadors, a community-police relations workshop, security cameras, juvenile restitution, and a summer youth program.
2009 Campus Partners convenes regular monthly meetings in Weinland Park of representatives of the foundations, the city, the university, Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, United Way of Central Ohio, and the civic association. The number of partners at the table begins to grow.
JPMorgan Chase Foundation, The Columbus Foundation, and Campus Partners create a joint fund to acquire vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed properties in Weinland Park with a focus on the most distressed properties that are not likely to be renovated by the private market.
2010 Weinland Park Collaborative (WPC) is publicly launched at the annual Weinland Park Neighborhood Festival in August and is the lead story on the front page of The Columbus Dispatch.
In consultation with the civic association’s Housing Committee, WPC plans housing renovation, new construction, and an exterior home repair grant program for homeowners. Other early investments are made in employment, education, health, public safety, and resident engagement.
Ohio State’s International Poverty Solutions Collaborative conducts an extensive baseline neighborhood survey involving 441 residents, a sample representing 26 percent of the neighborhood’s households.
Moms2B Program, a partnership of Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, starts in Weinland Park. The program builds relationships with pregnant women at high risk for infant mortality and helps them learn tools to make healthy choices and deliver healthy babies.
2011 WPC creates seven task forces on education, health, housing and land-use, public safety, resident engagement, employment and workforce development, and youth development. With representation from residents, WPC members, and local experts, the task forces are charged with developing strategic, transformative ideas to bring about sustained change in the neighborhood.
Kroger opens a completely renovated and expanded grocery on High Street at Seventh Avenue, which becomes one of the company’s best-performing stores in the region.
Habitat for Humanity completes the first of seven houses built in Weinland Park.
The civic association and WPC sponsor the first Roots & Roofs community service event involving a neighborhood clean-up, planting flowers and community gardens, and celebrating new housing opportunities. The event continues annually.
At the request of the WPCCA, the city installs video surveillance cameras in 10 neighborhood locations with high incidents of criminal activity and loitering.
2012 The NRP Group completes construction on 40 new single-family homes along North Sixth Street on the CCF site. Construction is financed with low-income housing tax credits. The lease-to-purchase homes have affordable rents and are fully leased quickly.
The city completes infrastructure improvements on the CCF site as part of an agreement with Wagenbrenner Develop to build market-rate housing on the site.
Working on behalf of WPC, Wagenbrenner Development completes renovation of the first of 15 houses to go through a gut-rehab and be sold for affordable homeownership. The city financed the rehabilitation with funds from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).
Columbus Foundation and other WPC partners fund summer enrichment programs for every Weinland Park child and young person who wants them, including day camp, Freedom Schools, teen employment, football and cheerleading. That support continues each summer.
2013 The Annie E. Casey Foundation joins the WPC and brings the two-generation approach to alleviating poverty. WPC creates the Family-Centered Community Change (FCCC) initiative for working with low-income families through a deeper collaboration involving Ohio State’s Schoenbaum Family Center, Weinland Park Elementary School, CPO, and Godman Guild.
The Weinland Park Community Civic Association, with support from WPC, conducts an intensive two-month series of neighborhood dialogues in small groups that affirm a vision for Weinland Park. The vision emphasizes connectedness, respect, diversity, safety, and health.
On behalf of WPC, Wagenbrenner Development completes and sells the first of five new single-family homes at East Eighth Avenue and North Fourth Street. Financed with federal NSP funds, the homes are sold at an affordable price.
With support from The Columbus Foundation, Neighborhood Options for Youth (NOY) is implemented as an innovative neighborhood-based approach to public safety. Special-duty Columbus police officers cooperate with staff from Directions for Youth and Families and CPO to deter criminal and disruptive behavior by at-risk youth and to promote positive choices. NOY continues for several years.
The city’s Planning Division begins a two-year public process to develop a new plan for the University District that would significantly update and replace the University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan (1996), A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street (2002) and the Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan (2006).
The City of Columbus engages an urban design team to develop a comprehensive approach to parking management and supply in the Short North neighborhoods, including Weinland Park. The planning process continues for the next five years.
2014 On behalf of WPC, Wagenbrenner Development completes the renovation and sells its first market-rate house in Weinland Park – a major milestone in revitalizing the neighborhood.
Joyce Hughes concludes her final two-year term as WPCCA in April. WPCCA members elect Brandyn McElroy as president, Jennifer Mankin as vice president, Kimberly Golden as secretary and Laura Bidwa as treasurer.
Under the leadership of a visionary principal and experienced teaching staff, Weinland Park Elementary School returns to a traditional school calendar with a clear plan and data-driven methods to help all children meet their academic goals.
With continued support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Columbus Foundation, FCCC creates a pilot called Next Doors to help parents and children make positive changes in their lives through goal-setting, coaching and continuous support. Each parent develops clear goals for herself, each child and their family, such as finding employment and doing better in school. A coach helps the family refine the goals, identify action steps, and provides support. CPO effectively becomes the “backbone” organization coordinating the team of agencies partnered in FCCC.
The R.I.S.E. Youth Club, a partnership of Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus and Godman Guild, provides recreation and personal development for Weinland Park teenagers.
The Wexner Center for the Arts publishes the Weinland Park Story Book, a collection of stories and memories of the neighborhood gathered by teenagers and illustrated in a comic format by Columbus graphic artists.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awards a $16.5 million grant to the Schoenbaum Family Center, CPO, and other partners for an innovative Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership in seven Columbus neighborhoods, including Weinland Park.
Campus Partners obtains rezoning for the 7.5-acre “south of Gateway” project and selects Edwards Communities as its development partner. With support from Ohio State, The Columbus Foundation and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, Campus Partners purchases and closes two carry-outs with troubled histories along North Fourth Street: Kelly’s at East 11th Avenue and D&J at East Eighth Avenue.
2015 Wagenbrenner Development completes renovation of 23 historic apartment buildings in Grant Commons along East 11th Avenue. The market-rate apartments are leased quickly. The company also expects to sell all of its new market-rate houses being constructed on 39 lots along Grant Avenue by the end of the year. The former CCF site is now known as Grant Park.
In partnership with the Wexner Center for the Arts, Weinland Park teenagers and local artists in April unveil the first of four positive images of the neighborhood displayed on a large billboard at one of the major entrances to Weinland Park. Each image will be posted on the billboard for three months over the next year.
The city’s Neighborhood Pride program focuses from September 14-18 on the western half of Weinland Park with activities to access city services for housing, health and public safety; to improve the neighborhood’s appearance through street and sewer cleaning, trash pick-up, and code enforcement; and to meet with neighbors and the mayor and other city officials.
City Council adopts the University District Plan, which includes a land-use plan, design guidelines for future commercial and residential development and identifies capital improvements for the neighborhoods.
2016 The WPC engages Ohio State’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity to conduct an extensive survey of neighborhood residents to determine attitudes and the impact of the investments in Weinland Park. The survey included a cross-section of 422 residents. The survey found residents believe the appearance and safety of their neighborhood is improving and that they influence the decisions affecting their neighborhood. Sophisticated analysis of the survey data also permitted a more detailed understanding of differences between groups of residents who shared similar life experiences, as well as varying perceptions of public safety.
The WPCCA elects new officers for two-year terms with Jennifer Mankin as president, Omar Elhagmusa as vice president, Ed Chin as secretary and Abigail Hartung as treasurer.
The Family-Centered Community Change initiative expands the capacity of Next Doors and provides mentorship and support to 35 Weinland Park families.
The Ohio Historic Preservation Office in October gives its 2016 Preservation Merit Award to a team of WPC partners for the renovation of Grant Commons, composed of the market-rate apartment buildings along East 11th Avenue. The buildings are an important component of the New Indianola Historic District.
Edwards Communities constructs a number of new apartment buildings east of Pearl Street between Ninth and Eight avenues and starts construction of new retail and student-oriented apartments along High Street.
In October, Community Housing Network opens Terrace Place, a new 60-unit apartment building on East Ninth Avenue for formerly homeless persons and those at-risk for homelessness due to disabilities. The building also has office space for OSU Extension in the University District.
2017 Rhonda Peeples, principal of Weinland Park Elementary School from 2013 to 2017, is selected in April as Ohio’s 2017 National Distinguished Principal by her peers in the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Tiffany Tynes Curry, third grade math teacher, receives the Milken Educator Award in January. The annual national award, which comes with a $25,000 cash prize, recognizes elementary and secondary school principals and teachers who are furthering excellence in education.
The new Northside Branch of Columbus Public Library opens in June at 1423 N. High Street.
Wagenbrenner Development begins construction on up to 450 housing units along the east side of North Grant Avenue.
Campus Partners commissions the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) to conduct a study of commercial properties in Weinland Park that will assess existing conditions and illustrate opportunities for development. Representatives of the NDC meet with the WPCCA Housing Committee several times in the fall to incorporate into the study the ideas and priorities of residents for the types of businesses needed and the appropriate scale of development. The study is released in February 2018.
Campus Partners commissions Arch City Development to conduct an analysis of the renovation costs and market potential of six vacant duplexes that remain in its Weinland Park real estate portfolio. The analysis was presented to the WPCCA Housing Committee in early 2018 to provide information for the committee’s recommendations for re-use of these properties.
The Los Angeles-based art collaborative Fallen Fruit partners with the Wexner Center for the Arts to create the Weinland Park Berry Patch and another fruit park in south Columbus. In April, volunteers plant the berry bushes on the vacant lot on the southeast corner of North Fourth Street and East 11th Avenue.
Moms2B expands its weekly program for pregnant women to five Columbus locations. Moms2B continues to offer its program in Weinland Park, which is no longer a “hot spot” for infant mortality.
Joyce Hughes, beloved resident and former WPCCA president, dies on March 14.
The City of Columbus renames the University Area Review Board as the University Impact District Review Board to better reflect its area of responsibility as part of a zoning update for the University District.
2018 The WPCCA elects new officers in April for two-year terms: Omar Elhagmusa, president; Laura Bidwa, vice president; and Lydia Yoder, secretary. Throughout the year, the officers and steering committee planned activities to appeal to the diversity of residents in Weinland Park.
The annual Growing Weinland Park Roots & Roofs event in May recruited volunteers to focus on the community gardens throughout the neighborhood.
The WPC moves in mid-year from monthly daytime meetings to bi-monthly evening meetings to accommodate more participation from neighborhood civic leaders. Discussions continue on the WPC’s mission and structure. The WPC creates its own website: www.wpcollaborative.org.
The Family-Centered Community Change (FCCC) initiative increases its two-generation services to children and families enrolled in Weinland Park Elementary School (WPES). A total of 193 families have taken FCCC’s Parent Pledge. Next Doors has 61 families engaged in its coaching model. CPO, WPES and the Schoenbaum Family Center improve and expand participation in Weinland Park Family University. Columbus Works joins the FCCC initiative and offers its signature JumpStart Job Readiness Training out of CPO’s leased space in Godman Guild.
The Ohio Department of Education in the fall moves WPES from “priority status” to “focus status,” a clear sign that the academic performance of WPES is continuing to improve.
The WPC in February published The Role of Early Education in Neighborhood Revitalization: The Story of Weinland Park, a report that summarized the impact of multiple early childhood education and kindergarten readiness programs.
With encouragement from several WPC partners, Jerzell Pierre-Louis, owner of the Sprout Early Learning Center downtown, acquired the Live Laugh & Learn childcare business in September. She plans to extensively renovate the building in early 2019 and reopen with the capacity for caring for 81 children.
Moms2B adds an important new companion program, Dads2B, that provides opportunities for fathers to participate in primary care visits with their partner during the pregnancy and birth of their child.
Godman Guild reopens its T.E.E.N. program at the beginning of 2018 and by the end of the year has 75 teenagers enrolled from the Weinland Park, Milo-Grogan and Italian Village neighborhoods.
OSU Extension in the University District oversees the Weinland Park Community Connectors, a team of six residents who each take responsibility for communicating with neighbors on a particular street about community activities and resources.
Through 2018, the WPCCA Housing Committee discusses the potential renovation or re-use of the six vacant duplexes in Campus Partners real estate portfolio in Weinland Park. In the fall, the committee considers the potential of transferring some or all of the duplex properties to the new Central Ohio Community Land Trust.
Wagenbrenner Development completes construction of two new single-family homes and 150 one- and two-bedroom apartments as part of the Grant Park development along the east side of North Grant Avenue. Wagenbrenner has under construction an additional five single-family homes and four of 50 proposal for-sale duplexes.
The City of Columbus implements a permit parking plan for the Short North neighborhoods. The plan includes the southwest portion of Weinland Park.
Prepared by Steve Sterrett
February 25, 2019