Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon recognizes community partners during her inaugural State of the City address at NexusPark in Columbus on Wednesday.
Does Columbus have problems and challenges? Yes. Is Columbus a forward-thinking community with a well-earned reputation for creatively addressing its problems and challenges? You bet. Do we have some prospects and possibilities to be excited about? Absolutely.
You could see some of all of these things in The Republic’s coverage of Mayor Mary Ferdon’s first State of the City address Wednesday at NexusPark. It was a time of celebration for Ferdon and for the community as another ribbon-cutting took place at the sprawling new facility — this time for the spacious Circle K Fieldhouse and McCormick Fields.
Giving her first State of the City address in this venue also must have felt something like a victory lap for Ferdon. Prior to her inauguration as mayor, as executive director of administration and community development for the city, she had worked with her predecessor, Mayor Jim Lienhoop, as a vital visionary in making NexusPark a reality.
And to be clear, Columbus faced a big challenge and potential problem several years ago when the former FairOaks Mall was in its death throes. No one wanted a so-called “zombie mall” in one of the busiest parts of the city. But what could be done about it?
City leaders, Columbus Regional Health officials, and numerous community members did what Columbus does best: They got together and talked about it, brainstormed ideas, hashed things out and ultimately came up with a plan — and a determination to see it through that even a world-stopping pandemic couldn’t deter.
As The Republic’s Brad Davis reported, “Ferdon spoke in the center of NexusPark: ‘… a building that just five years ago housed 12 retail establishments, abandoned stores and was used primarily as a walking venue,’ Ferdon said. ‘With the opening of the CRH facility last month, the fieldhouse and fields officially tonight, and the parks/community space in April — we’re seeing that possibilities turn into a reality we didn’t imagine.’”
Possibilities underscored Ferdon’s address at a time that Columbus has plenty of reasons for optimism. But we also have challenges that the mayor did not shy away from.
Columbus has a shortage of affordable housing and spiraling homelessness. These two things are connected, and as Ferdon noted, a city housing study is underway. Results are due this summer, and we should be optimistic that they will serve as blueprint, if not a foundation, for addressing these basic human needs.
Another problem: Addiction continues at an epidemic level, though even here, there are positive signs. For the first time in years, Columbus and Bartholomew County witnessed a decline — and a substantial one — in fatal overdoses. Again, it took a communitywide effort to get there, but we have. Of course, as Ferdon noted, work remains to be done, but the 36% decrease in overdose deaths from 2022 to 2023 is not just some dry statistic. It represents multiple human lives that were saved in no small part due to community efforts to address the problem.
Meantime, downtown Columbus truly has some challenges, now that it’s clear that Cummins Inc. is selling a large share of office space which, before the pandemic, was the workplace for many hundreds of employees.
“I’m asked frequently what our new normal looks like. I believe that is for us to determine,” Ferdon said. “This is our opportunity to recreate and transform our downtown.”
As Davis reported, Ferdon pointed to the upcoming downtown riverfront project, new housing developments and a Heritage Fund-driven exploration of a performing arts/cultural venue as things that could forge that future. Likewise, the city is exploring the potential reuse of one of those Cummins properties — the former Sears building — as a potential conference center.
“We don’t have a choice,” Ferdon said realistically of the need to reimagine downtown Columbus — “change has been thrust upon us.”
Possibilities, opportunities, problems and challenges. A mayor’s work — and a community’s — is never done.
But we believe our community should take pride in Ferdon’s obvious accomplishments on behalf of Columbus during her years of service to the city, and we take this opportunity to wish her well leading it in the years to come.
