Photo provided An artist’s rendition of the 25th Street entrance to NexusPark.
We’re at the start of what promises to be a big year for NexusPark, one that heralds the long-anticipated completion of an exciting new multi-purpose destination for Columbus and the region.
Multiple ribbon-cutting ceremonies will be taking place in the weeks and months ahead as the vision of repurposing of the old FairOaks Mall becomes reality. This has been years in the making, so celebrations are in order.
The city and Columbus Regional Health partnered many years ago when they both saw potential in a dying mall in the heart of the community at 2380 25th St. Countless other cities have neglected these gathering places. Where this has been permitted to happen, the result of such lingering decay has been detrimental to communities.
It’s to our community’s credit that local civic leaders understood that doing nothing wasn’t an option. And NexusPark was the product of a careful, thorough, thoughtful process that included the active participation of an array of community stakeholders.
That kind of a process is no guarantee of success, but success is never guaranteed. What the deliberate process of building NexusPark did ensure, in our view, is a tangible commitment to community values that will endure for future generations.
NexusPark will be a place for health and for well-being. For youth activities and for community gatherings. For entertainment and socializing. For fun and leisure.
And for celebrating.
Opening celebrations are on the horizon as the public will get first looks at newly completed spaces. The first of these is scheduled for Jan. 24, when CRH will have a ribbon cutting and public open house at 11:30 a.m. Tours of some of the CRH facilities also will be offered.
Additional opening ceremonies will take place for the new Circle K Fieldhouse and parks department spaces, though the specific dates had not yet been set, The Republic’s Andy East reported recently.
The 150,000-square-foot fieldhouse is intended to be “a sports and events venue that will host a multitude of different types of sporting and non-sporting events,” including local, regional and state sports tournaments, as well as potentially hosting trade shows, conferences, graduations and large-scale community events, officials said.
“I think it’s going to be a significant addition to the recreational activities or opportunities that we’ve got, but it will also be a significant economic driver as well,” former Mayor Jim Lienhoop told East.
“Any time that you get people together, people congregated in an area, you get some kind of economic activity. … CRH expects 1,000 patients a day at its clinic. We are told to expect anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people on a weekend to visit the fieldhouse and to participate in some of the recreational sporting activities that will happen there.”
Importantly, this will be a public facility that Columbus residents will be able to use year-round for any number of activities.
That, too, is something for our community to celebrate.
