The Columbus Regional Health Foundation will host a public open house and ribbon-cutting later this month to celebrate its move into a new office on the city’s north side.
The foundation recently relocated to the CRH Technology Center at 4580 Central Ave. after previously operating out of the James Stewart Polshek Building that spans Haw Creek, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
The open house is scheduled for Oct. 29 from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce at 4:30 p.m. The event is open to the public.
“Under the new leadership with our new foundation president, Tanya Hand, I think the things that the foundation is looking to do with welcoming people more to the offices for discussions and things like that, they wanted a bigger space, a bit more accessible space than (the previous) building,” DeClue said. “…Moving them out to the tech center building, it’s easy to get in and out of. It’s easy to describe to people wayfinding-wise, and it just kind of creates a better opportunity as far as meeting rooms and office space for them to be able to do a little bit more public outreach than had previously been possible.”
Hand started in her role as CRH Foundation president on June 30. She previously held fundraising leadership roles for the past 17 years, including as chief development officer for the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, as well as several roles over eight years at the United Way of Central Indiana, CRH said in an announcement in June.
The CRH Technical Center opened after the flood of 2008. The hospital system moved much of the information technology infrastructure that had been previously housed in the hospital’s basement and was destroyed during the flood.
Currently, there are no concrete plans for how the office space the foundation used to occupy at the James Stewart Polshek Building. The building still houses some support services for CRH, as well as some mental health services, DeClue said.
Designed by James Stewart Polshek in 1972, the two-story building spans Haw Creek, according to the Columbus Area Visitors Center. CRH’s main campus is located one bank of the creek, while the other bank includes a city park and part of the People Trail.
The building originally housed Quinco Consulting Center and was featured in the 2017 motion picture “Columbus,” starring John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson.
“It’s fairly moderate office space over on that first floor, and so, for now, I don’t think there’s anything concrete,” DeClue said.
