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italian village park renovation
[A Walk in the Park…Coming
Soon!]
Concerned citizens are taking action to revitalized Italian Village’s park
All of the parks in Columbus are supposed to be
overseen by parks and recreation, but when annual budget cuts
occur, certain, smaller parks tend to suffer. Italian Village’s
park is one such space that has felt these budget cuts over the
years through a decrease in staff, maintenance and plant
materials. As a result, the park never really took off in the
first place. Now, however, Italian Village residents, business
owners and organizations are coming together to fix this problem
by getting behind the movement to revitalize the park and make
the most of this urban green space. Christie Nohle, owner of Urban Gardener in Italian
Village, says it was a natural fit for her to get involved in
the effort to renovate the park just behind Haiku (800 N. High
St.) off High Street. “I thought it would be a good idea to get involved
with the renovation because there were a lot of people on the
committee that weren’t very savvy to the whole process and how
it all works,” she says. “You can have a grandiose idea, but
when you get down to it, can you afford to raise that much
money? I think I was the reality check. First they thought it
would cost around $500,000. Soon it went to a quarter of a
million, then to a million, and now it’s in excess of a
million.”
Christie says the plan has been in
the works for awhile. “I was not the brain child of
this whole project; somebody started thinking about
it years ago.” Now it’s starting to take shape with
plans drawn out, volunteers ready to help and a
variety of fundraisers coming up. “MSI Architects donated their time to create a
plan for the park,” Christie says. This plan was presented to
the committee and, with a little back and forth regarding
materials, they arrived at a solid plan.” The city has earmarked
$300,000 for the park, which is only a drop in the bucket for
this project that will probably exceed a million dollars.
Christie says because the park has the ability
to benefit many people, they heavily promote community
involvement by trying to get the word out about the project. “Maybe the people living in that area want to
keep the park looking good, but also people that have a vested
interest might tend to take care of it a little better, maybe
not litter, or they might want to donate money if they enjoy
going there. So we try to get the community involved in anyway
we can,” Christie says. She goes on to point out that this park, unlike
the larger Goodale Park or other large parks in the area, will
be a smaller, more serene setting, the perfect place to go and
relax or read a book. They are also hoping to set up a bocce
court in the park. The whole project is in phases.
Christie’s committee comes up with enticing
fundraisers to get people out and excited about
being a part of this ambitious project. The most
recent fundraiser was held above the Surly Girl
Saloon on June 15 where guests got to socialize and
partake in all the food and drink they wanted for
$20, a small price to pay for a good cause. The plan is to have the first phase
underway by spring of 2007. Christie is optimistic.
“Who knows, by then we may have raised more funds so
we can add more to that phase.”
With help from both individuals and community
organizations like the Martha Walker Garden Club, the Italian
Village Society and Victorian Village Society this is a definite
possibility!
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