St. Peter’s Lutheran Church may be able to open a new, 16,623-square-foot gymnasium by this time next year.
The $5.5 million multi-purpose recreational facility, to be built east of the church and school complex at 719 Fifth St., was unanimously approved Wednesday by the Columbus Plan Commission.
The two-level, stand-alone building will include basketball courts and a track, a fitness and play area, men’s and women’s locker rooms, and a concession area. The facility will be bounded by Chestnut Street to the west, California Street to the east, Fifth Street to the north and Fourth Street to the south.
Formal plans that reflect recent changes in traffic flow and parking still have to be drawn up and filed at Columbus City Hall. Once that is done, the church will also have to apply for and receive a county building permit, as well as submit its plans to the Department of Homeland Security.
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However, city-county planner Jeff Bergman said the church needs no more approvals from city government to move ahead with the project.
While construction timetables have not been formally set, architect David Force said he would like to see groundbreaking in late February or early March, with completion in the fourth quarter of 2019.
A similar proposal was withdrawn from consideration amid several concerns expressed in February.
When Wednesday’s meeting started, commission members and planning staff still had address parking stalls encroaching into the right-of-way along California Street and possible conflicts with public utility maintenance.
However, most concerns were resolved when Force agreed to allow the building itself to be situated further west toward Chestnut Street.
Commission member Zack Ellison offered two motions that would allow vehicles, including buses, to enter the recreational facility off Fifth Street, which is what Force and his site manager, J.R. Robinson, were requesting.
Neither of Ellison’s motions gained sufficient support from the other eight voting members, however. Two commissioners who attend St. Peter’s, David Hayward and Brenda Sullivan, had recused themselves from voting.
Commissioners Frank Jerome, Barry Kastner and Dennis Baute said they could not support any plan that allows an entrance off Fifth Street, however. Their concerns were largely based on safety concerns, architectural precedents and potential future renovations.
After Force suggested he was willing to consider another option based on commission concerns, a 15-minute break was called to allow the architect and city planners to draw up a quick rendering.
When the meeting was reconvened, a new proposal was introduced that allowed vehicular access to be available off California Street at a location 90 feet south of Fifth Street. Another entrance would be placed near Fourth and Chestnut streets, Force said.
In addition, the new option will allow two-way access with no restrictions on which way traffic would move in and out, as well as 90-degree parking spaces, Bergman said.
Although this option might eliminate a few of the 74 proposed parking spaces, both parties agreed that would only be a minor inconvenience.
After commission members unanimously approved the hastily drawn option, an enthusiastic round of applause broke out among church members in the audience.
But Wednesday’s approval will likely prompt Bergman to ask the Columbus Board of Public Works to make the intersection of Fifth and California a four-way stop.
That change was already planned to accommodate an extension of the People Trail system that will cross California Street at Fifth Street, and run along the north side of the gymnasium property, Bergman said.
For nearly two-and-a-half hours, commission members questioned both Force and Robinson on a variety of concerns and possibilities that exceed normal questions brought up during these types of hearings and meetings.
Following the meeting, Force agreed with Bergman that the area warrants extra concern because Fifth Street has evolved into a showcase of exceptional architecture.
“I’m both a product of Columbus and an architect,” Force said. “I’m very aware that it’s important to Columbus, as well as to St. Peters, for this facility to become a part of that architectural legacy.”
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A fundraising campaign for the multi-purpose recreational facility at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church is ongoing.
The campaign is known as Together We Live 2.0, which is hoping to raise $5.89 million over three years.
Contributions will be used for construction, equipment, furniture, a new parking area and new building operating expenses.
More details are available at the St. Peter’s website at stpeterscolumbus.org
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