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(This article, reprinted with permission, appeared in the Columbus Dispatch on February 26, 2001)
By Ray
Crumbley
City officials are looking at
other areas, primarily along E. Main Street, after strong opposition
to the park surfaced at a public meeting. “An overwhelming
majority of the 70 people at the Feb. 12 meeting did not support
using Jeffrey Park,” said Dan Lorek, economic-development
director. “Now I’m looking at the next-best alternatives.” “Site costs are a factor. The
council and the administration agree that a new building will not be
financed by a tax increase.” The City Hall, police department
and service department at
2242 E. Main St. occupy prime real estate along Bexley’s
2-mile main business strip. Surrounded by Columbus, Bexley cannot grow and must attract larger
projects to existing sites to expand its tax base. Officials hope moving the city
offices and leasing the l.7 acres they now occupy to a private
developer will generate enough additional tax revenue to retire
bonds to pay for a new city building.
An advantage of building in
Jeffrey Park at Clifton and Parkview avenues is that the city owns
it. But some neighbors say the park is a poor choice. “City Hall is supposed to be
convenient for the public. It would cause gridlock on Clifton
avenue,” said Don Cook, who lives in the Bishop Square
condominiums across from the park. He is a former Columbus safety
director who helped develop the one-way street system Downtown in
the early 1950s. “I know something about traffic,
and it’s just not feasible
to put more traffic here,” Cook said. “Clifton Avenue is one of
only three entrances to Bexley from the west and is heavily
traveled. There are no sidewalks, either.” The campus of St. Charles
Preparatory School is just south of the park, and traffic to and
from classes or special events already clogs the street. It’s
sometimes heavily traveled for other reasons, too, Cook said. “I told council members to drive
down Clifton Avenue some June morning when every mother in Bexley is
taking their children swimming and you’ll know why it won’t
work. The street is parked solid,” he said. Lorek said that no traffic study
14 had been done, but that it would be required if the park is
recommended for a new city building. About 115 businesses on mostly
narrow lots dominate the E. Street corridor in Bexley. Lorek said as
much as a block might have to be bought to put a new city building
there. Buying residential property would force people from their
homes, he said. Bexley officials want to see a sixstory
building for stores, offices and residential suites built on the
current city offices site. A city-owned parking garage would be
built at the rear of the site to provide parking for shoppers and
tenants. Rental income from the property,
parking fees and taxes generated by the new businesses would be used
to finance building the garage and city offices at an estimated cost
of $8 million. Just less than $700,000 could be generated annually,
Lorek estimated. Jeffrey Mansion, built in 1905, is
the centerpiece of the nearly 40-acre park at Clifton and Parkview.
The three-story brick home was built by Robert H. Jeffrey, a former
Columbus mayor who died in 1961 at age 88. The Jeffrey family lived
there until 1941, when the estate was given to the city. Opponents of building in the park
say the deed to the city specifies that the property be used
exclusively as a public park and playground and for athletics,
recreation and instruction, including meetings and other gatherings
sponsored or authorized by the city. However, city officials do not
think that the deed prohibits other uses. Some opponents also have said that the park is in the flood plain of Alum Creek and that building there would uproot trees and disturb the peacefulness of the setting along the creek. |
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