Photo provided An artist’s rendition of the proposed revamp of The Downtown Entrance Plaza, including a public safety plaza.
The firm enlisted to redesign the downtown entrance into the city unveiled artist renderings on Monday night and discussed associated costs to make it a reality.
Columbus Redevelopment Commission members heard an update from Indianapolis-based Merritt Chase, hired in May 2025 to redesign the area known as The Downtown Entrance Plaza.
The Downtown Entrance Plaza includes the Public Safety Plaza north of State Road 46 and the Robert D. Garton Veterans Plaza slightly to the south— the project is essentially a combination of the two which becomes the Robert D. Garton Plaza.
City officials said the area has been overgrown and underutilized for years. The idea is that the redesigned plaza will tie into ongoing improvements to the riverfront, continued nearby development, and findings of the Columbus Downtown 2030 Plan.
“It’s the first thing someone sees when we come in Columbus as a visitor,” said Chris Merritt, co-founder and principal of Merritt Chase. “But we also think about it as a destination— a signature public space that anybody who lives in Columbus would want to seek out and come to hang out and be in.”
The redesign is expected to cost $3.95 million, and includes native planting gardens, new commemorations for firefighters and police, amphitheater seating, a main community lawn that could be used for events, picnic groves, winding garden paths and the addition of some sort of water feature on the plaza south of State Road 46.
The redesign previously had also included the POW/MIA/Law Enforcement Memorial, but was removed from the project scope at the request of veteran’s groups, Merritt said. The intent is to relocate the memorial to a new site.
The redevelopment commission will consider releasing the funding for the project during their meeting in October, which would then need approval from Columbus City Council members as well because it’s a city expenditure greater than $500,000.
The firm last came before the redevelopment commission in October 2024 to talk through three specific site design ideas informed by Columbus’ history and topography in the river, the field, and the hill. The design that was unveiled Monday was a blend of those three concepts.
When Merritt Chase held a community picnic to get input in the summer of 2024, members of the public asked that the area become safer traffic-wise and more accessible. Community members also expressed a desire for more passive green space, trees and shade, and some type of water element in the plaza, according to Merritt.
As part of the redesign, The Public Safety Plaza would receive two four-foot limestone walls to commemorate police and fire fighters. The content of the inscription on the limestone would be determined in coordination with local stakeholder groups, Merritt said.
In terms of the plaza south of State Road 46, part of the improvements would involve sprucing up plantings in the area, but they also have the intention of making it an ideal space for gathering.
A main community lawn south of State Road 46 would have space for events of about 160 people, and could be a location for a future farmer’s market, a site plan showed.
Just south of the community lawn is amphitheater seating, a plaza with water features and a picnic grove. North of the community lawn is another picnic grove and a native garden.
Notably, the site plan also shows the “Crack the Whip” sculpture being moved to the southeast of the plaza.
The cost of the re-envisioned plaza is roughly $40 per square foot. Merritt benchmarked that against the cost of other plaza projects cities have embarked on in the state.
The Grand Junction Plaza in Westfield cost $35 million or $120 per square foot; Fort Wayne Promenade Park cost $20 million or $100 per square foot; and the Midtown Carmel Plaza cost $4.4 million or $314 per square foot.
According to the current construction timeline, which assumes all the requisite approvals, construction could get started as early as August of 2026, with completion expected for January of 2027.
“Over the next several years, this area of Columbus is expected to experience significant development momentum,” Mayor Mary Ferdon said. “The redevelopment of the plaza is a critical initiative driving progress toward a vibrant downtown core. The recreated space will be a community asset that is beautiful, functional, safe, and accessible for all to enjoy.”
The redevelopment commission in April 2024 approved $400,000 in funding towards construction of the project and $50,000 towards design fees. The project is being led by the Columbus Design Institute, an arm of the Landmark Columbus Foundation.
