Beechwold Arts District Proposal 9/10/24
Vision:
Currently the east side of Indianola Ave. is very industrial and ageing. The infrastructure is either very old or nonexistent, the area is not walkable and there is a perception that it is a rough or dangerous area.
The idea is to create a designation for the area bordered by Cooke Rd. on the south, Morse Rd. on the north and the East Beechwold neighborhood on the west. In time the demographic and business forces from either High St. on the east or Morse Rd to the west and north are going to prevail in our little area of north Indianola. Our vision is to create an arts district to provide an area of focus for investment, growth and renewal.
Misson:
The Beechwold Arts District exists to promote the areas strength and grow into a diverse, safe and fun neighborhood to visit and do business. With local business agreeing to keep these tenets in mind as they work to make our neighborhood a more business and community friendly area with landlords investing in their property and business being involved in making the area better. We also wish to encourage participation by the city of Columbus to address infrastructure such as sidewalks, trees, banners and other items that will lead to pride in our neighborhood.
Goals:
Initially, we wish to distill our message into an easily digestible format that can be disseminated to business owners and landlords in the area. Once this message is complete we will plan ways to promote our idea. We need to actually get the arts district designation, so working with the city will be needed. Additionally, the district would like to encourage the city and COTA to donate part of the parking lot at Morse and Indianola for a park memorializing area Jazz artist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The tie-in being his involvement with the Ohio School for the Blind that borders our neighborhood on the north. The empty lot currently is a magnet for abandoned cars, a staging point for street racers and is often not kept up.
We would like the city to build some sidewalks on the east side of the street. Perhaps some green islands and some banners, not unlike the Morse Rd. revitalization project.