A project to repurpose FairOaks Mall, Donner Center and the surrounding area has been placed “on pause” as the city and Columbus Regional Health evaluate how to navigate economic and public health uncertainties due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The project, which seeks to transform FairOaks Mall into a community wellness, recreation and sports center, and determine new potential uses for Donner Center and connectivity with the surrounding areas, will likely be delayed at least a few months because of anticipated drops in tax revenue.
City officials previously had expected to break ground on the project sometime in early to mid-2021, but would now just “love to be able to do something by the end of 2021,” said Mary Ferdon, executive director of administration and community development for the city of Columbus.
“(The pandemic) has affected the timetable, and we are kind of unsure of the economic outlook obviously due to the unknowns around COVID and the length and duration of any economic downturn,” she said. “So that has certainly affected the timetable. Our goal had been (to break ground) sometime in early to mid-2021, but we can’t meet that timetable now. We’re still analyzing the revenue forecasts and how that’s going to affect our major revenue sources, which are property tax and (income) tax. The timetable has been changed, but at this point we don’t know exactly when.”
“The project is on pause, but it is still a project that we’re going to move forward with,” Ferdon said.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
