The Charleen and Charles Hinson Amphitheater which opened August 31, 2021
NEW ALBANY, A JEFFERSONIAN MARVEL Writen by Amelia Jeffers
Much has been said about the influence of Thomas Jefferson and his architectural sensibilities on the masterminds behind the development of New Albany nearly 30 years ago. Most reports have rightfully emphasized the aesthetic that recalls his nearobsession with classical forms and affection for a country lifestyle that appreciates fresh, clean air, beautiful meadows, and a bright blue sky. With miles of that ubiquitous white four-board horse fence and row upon row of majestic brick Georgian homes, it’s easy to mistake a drive through New Albany for the Virginia hills or a quaint old English village. Nearly overlooked has been the patient, methodical, and collaborative leadership that has exercised incredible restraint - demonstrating more than a few parallels to Jefferson’s approach at Monticello, a project to which he dedicated more than 40 years of his life. While other central Ohio suburbs have undergone multiple life cycles of development, catering to the style of the moment or shortterm concepts that provide a quick return on investment, New Albany seems to have been guided by the idea of slow and steady wins the race. “We talk a lot about the idea that we only have one chance to get it right,” Mayor Sloan Spalding shared with me in a recent interview. “Thankfully the New Albany community has been able to do just that, through decades of collaborative efforts between the City of New 66 slmag.net
Albany, our residents who serve on city boards and commissions, the New Albany Company, and a multitude of other private and public partners that put the strength of our community first.” Nearly 30 years ago, retail giant Les Wexner and Columbus real estate development legend Jack Kessler began assembling the land and a “dream team” of renown architects and planners that would result in one of the most desirable suburbs in the United States. In what can only be described as a rare, if not unique, public-private collaboration, their New Albany Company worked in concert with civic leaders, village planners and national thoughtleaders in the areas of landscape design, architecture, and urban planning to design an aspirational blueprint that would centralize public resources at the confluence of major thoroughfares - in direct opposition to the widespread urban sprawl in most other suburbs where schools and other not-for-profit structures utilize cheap farmland at the periphery of town. While it was before he took the reins, New Albany Company’s Director of Planning, Tom Rubey talks about the initial planning process, “They really focused on key fundamentals and made sure to allocate enough land for those - setting a foundation around which commercial development and greenspace could go, and really resulting in some things that no one knew would be possible.”
