March 17, 2011
Cooper Park
GVS rethinking terms with developer By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers German Village Society officials are reassessing whether to seek a goodneighbor agreement with Arshot Investment Corp. over the redevelopment of Cooper Stadium. During its monthly meeting March 7, the society’s board of trustees passed a resolution to seek a covenant that
would protect the community from noise and other issues associated with Cooper Park, the proposed racetrack complex in Franklinton. Without the accord, trustees said, they would consider publicly opposing the park. After a flurry of conversations the day following the meeting, however, trustees rethought their position, said board president Brian Santin.
“I don’t know if we’re going to continue to pursue it because what it may potentially imply is that by virtue of signing the agreement that we are in favor of the development,” he said. “And so we are re-evaluating our formal position.” Arshot had reached a binding accord with the Southwest Civic Association on several issues relating to the racetrack. In return, the civic association
and the Southwest Area Commission publicly supported the proposed facility. So the GVS had sought to reach a similar, albeit independent, agreement with the developer. German Village resident Jay Smith, a commercial real-estate broker, agreed to begin discussions on behalf of the society. Arshot will not consider a separate agreement for German Village, ac-
cording to spokeswoman Lisa Griffin. Also, Arshot would make no additional provisions to the original agreement without the consent of the Southwest Civic Association, Griffin said. “We were looking forward to sitting down with them and hearing their questions and concerns, as we have with any group that would want to learn See TERMS, page A2
Summer concert series canceled By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Eric George/ThisWeek
(Above) The German Village Society’s streetscape committee is considering ways to improve the South Third Street corridor, such as burying utility lines and removing asphalt to expose bricks underneath the street. (Below) Potential improvements also could include benches and decorative planters.
Society eyes complex Third Street plan By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers
sion, said Yolita Rausche, the historic preservation consultant who has been involved with the Third Street planning but has not been hired to guide the project. The funding, if approved, won’t be available until 2016, Rausche said. So, the committee must further define what it considers essential improvements, she said. There are further wrinkles in the process. One is that most improvements must go through the German Village Commission, the architectural review board that will assess changes to the street. Jay Panzer, chairman of the commission, said the group is not yet formally involved but expects a great deal of deliberation. “Getting the master plan together is the first step in a very complicated process,” he said. “Third Street is not only different from end to end, it’s different from property to property.” Finding revenue streams is a complicated compo-
German Village wants a lot — and needs to do a lot — to improve South Third Street. The effort to beautify and fix the roadway between East Livingston and Reinhard avenues has been kicked into high gear, as a historic preservation consultant recently told neighborhood officials that a key grant would be made available next year. The German Village Society’s streetscape committee, in a master plan approved last summer, named about a dozen scenarios for enhancing the stretch of roadway, from burying utility lines to installing decorative planters to removing the asphalt on Third Street and renovating the brick underneath. A timeline must be met if the community wants transportation-enhancement funds through the U.S. Department of Transportation. Those funds will become available next March through the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commis-
See THIRD STREET, page A2
The plug has been pulled on Jammin’ in the Park. What was supposed to be a three-destination concert series — with Schiller Park as one of the stops — has been canceled because of costs and scheduling conflicts, said Aaron Leventhal, who planned the performances. A pop-rock show was proposed for June in Schiller Park. Leventhal said he couldn’t strike a deal with Actors’Theatre of Columbus, which is guaranteed use of the stage from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Another performance was scheduled for July in Goodale Park. But that event became cost-prohibitive, with the city charging a minimum of $2,000 in rental fees and licensing, he said. “I was overwhelmed with the cost,” he said. A third show was slated for the Fort Hayes Career Center. All performances were to be free and open to the public, while also serving as a fundraiser for several nonprofit organizations, including the German Village Society. “My goal was to use it is as a model to grow to eight or 10 of these for the bicentennial year,” he said, referring to the city of Columbus’200th anniversary party, slated for next year. Leventhal, who lives in German Village, was in charge of the local Oktoberfest for a number of years. He also owned High Street Magazine, which he recently sold. He said he still intends to fund summer student scholarships for Directions See CONCERTS, page A3
End of an era
Cason retires as executive editor of ThisWeek newspapers By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Friday, March 18, marks the end of an era at ThisWeek Community Newspapers. Late that afternoon, vice president and executive editor Ben Cason will shut down his computer, gather his cell phone
and coat and quietly stroll out of the newsroom the way he has every week since 1993. However, come Monday morning, for the first time in 18 years, he won’t be leading a newsroom discussion on politics or the NCAA basketball tournament. Cason announced his retirement to Ben Cason
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ThisWeek staffers March 11, concluding a career that spanned the height of the Watergate era as an editor at The Washington Post to building one of the nation’s most re-
spected community newspaper organizations. Under Cason’s leadership, ThisWeek Community Newspapers have won hundreds of state, regional and national awards for journalistic excellence. More importantly, general manager Stephen Zonars said, Cason won the loyalty of hundreds of thousands of central Ohio readers.
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“Ben has been the heartbeat of ThisWeek Community Newspapers for 18 years and his contributions are immeasurable,” Zonars said. “On his watch, the readership of our papers has grown by more than 200,000 people, which may be the most honest reflection of
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