February 24, 2011
Woodward Park
Community center to get air-conditioning By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
An investment of $1.1-million will bring something new to the Woodward Park Community Center: air-conditioning. Columbus City Council member Zachary M. Klein, who was appointed to office on Jan. 10, toured the 15,000square-foot facility at 5147 Karl Road
last week with Recreation and Parks director Alan McKnight. “That was my first visit,” Klein said. “I was thoroughly impressed by the operation there.” In addition to the money for the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning at the Woodward Park Community Center, Klein said that $1.2-million is being set aside in the capital budget for a similar upgrade to the Far East Communi-
ty Center, 1826 Lattimer Drive. Klein, chairman of council’s Recreation and Parks Committee, said that he hopes the addition of air-conditioning to the two facilities, and perhaps to others if the money can be found, would enable expansion of programs and make the centers more available to senior citizens during the hot summer months. “The improvements we are making at Woodward Park and the Far East
Recreation Centers will allow Columbus residents to enjoy their facilities yearround,” Klein said in a statement. “Our investment in air-conditioning will allow Columbus residents to take advantage of expanded programming, improve their overall health and provide a great place for young people and seniors to beat the summer heat.” “Council member Klein is exploring funding options that will allow the Recre-
ation and Parks Department to install HVAC systems in other recreation centers around the city,” according to the announcement of the funding for the Woodward Park and Far East facilities. “It is one of his top capital budget priorities he is asking his colleagues to support …. In addition to improving area recreation centers, he is also including See WOODWARD, page A2
Tagger’s jail sentence termed ‘step in the right direction’ By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Eric George/ThisWeek
Jess Harshbarger, a program leader with the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Ready to Read Corps, reads to 2-year-old Naeonna Overstreet at the Helping Hands Health and Wellness free clinic as part of a new literacy initiative.
Ready to Read team sold on what they’re selling By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
It’s a sales pitch, of sorts, but for something the customer needs, and it won’t cost them a thing. The “salesladies” aren’t on commission; they simply believe in the product they’re selling. As Jess Harshbarger and Megaly Vazquez drop in at Laundromats, thrift shops, doctors’ waiting rooms and other gathering points in the Northland area to make connections with parents of very young children, the two members of the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s newest Ready to Read Corps say they find ready acceptance and real job satisfaction. “It’s absolutely enjoyable,” said Harshbarger, the program leader for the third Ready to Read
the library for eight years, echoed that sentiment. “It’s so rewarding,” she said. “It’s an awesome A closer look experience.” Ready to Read is aimed at parents and careReady to Read is aimed at parents and givers of children from birth to 5 years of age. It caregivers of children from birth to 5 years is intended to give them the tools they need to of age. It is intended to give them the help prepare their little girls and little boys to be, tools they need to help prepare their little as the name implies, ready to read by the time girls and little boys to be, as the name they start school. implies, ready to read by the time they The Northland program was the third and final start school. one established last year through grants from the Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation, acCorps, which began operating in November. “It cording to Harshbarger. The first one was aimed is, I guess, sales, in that we have an idea and we at the Weinland Park and Parsons Avenue areas want to sell it to the parents, but we believe in it, and the second was in the Linden neighborhood. and that makes all the difference.” Her assistant, Vazquez, who has worked for See READY TO READ, page A2
When Dave Southan became a member of the Clintonville Area Commission nearly seven years ago, graffiti was, at it is today, a problem in the neighborhood. Through connections he made with members of the University Area Commission, Southan got involved in a program that paired adults with juvenile offenders ordered to do community service for “tagging.” After a 20-foot “mural” of a woman’s face, her long, dark hair containing the signatures or “tags” of the youths who had created it, appeared on a building south of Studio 35 on Indianola Avenue, Southan was asked to supervise a young boy ordered to cover it up. The youth was reluctant to do so because the “mural” was the work of others, Southan recalled. “ ‘We have a code. This is art,’ ” Southan said the youth informed him. “I said, ‘No, this is graffiti. It’s vandalism, and it’s criminal.’ ” The boy spent the next two hours applying enamel paint with a roller to cover up what even Southan admitted was a beautiful piece of artwork — if it weren’t for the tags. “He was not happy about it and he complained about it the whole time,” Southan said. Last week, that boy, Seth King, now an adult, was sentenced by Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Harland H. Hale to 540 days in jail for vandalism of buildings in Clintonville, the Northland area, the University District and elsewhere. The judge suspended 180 days of the jail time, ordered the North Linden resident to perform 200 hours of community service and said he will be on probation for five years. According to The Columbus Dispatch, Hale said during King’s sentencing hearing that first-time adult graffiti offenders normally draw 10-day jail terms. See TAGGER’S JAIL SENTENCE, page A4
Northland Alliance board may expand By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The nonprofit Northland Alliance will celebrate its 10th birthday next month, and current chairman Dave Cooper feels it might be time to bring some new faces on board as members of the board of directors.
Expanding the board and bringing more people in could help make the organization representative of more than primarily the business interests of the community, according to Cooper, a past president of the Northland Area Business Association and owner of the Ink Well on East Dublin Granville Road.
“In order to broaden the base of what we were working on we felt we needed more people from various areas,” Cooper said. The nonprofit alliance was founded in March 2001 in the wake of the closing of Northland Mall. According to the founding documents, working in partnership with the Northland
Community Council and NABA, its purpose is to: • Combat urban blight, neighborhood decline and urban sprawl • Preserve green space and protect waters and the environment • Create, improve and beautify pubSee NORTHLAND, page A4
Bonnie is up for adoption at All Tails ‘R’ Waggin in Pataskala. Her brother recently found a home but she is still waiting. To see a video of Bonnie, visit www.ThisWeekNews. com. For more information on adopting Bonnie, visit alltails.com or call (740) 927-0555.
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Seth King vandalized the Northland I-71 sound wall January 2010 with his SEED graffiti.
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