Columbus City Council has approved funding for some pre-construction costs for renovating the FairOaks Mall project, now known as NexusPark, although one council member continued to oppose the funding.
The city council voted 6-1 to approve the second reading of appropriations for the expenses, with Council President Pro Tem Elaine Hilber voting against the action. The appropriations are for $2.65 million from the city’s general fund.
Hilber also voted against the appropriations’ first reading. She said that while she still supports the mall purchase and likes the project in theory, she has concerns about how Donner Center is not being prioritized and how NexusPark work might coincide with other city projects and increases.
Director of Administration and Community Development Mary Ferdon said at a previous meeting that the appropriations are for concurrent Phases 1A (the fieldhouse) and 1B (includes spaces for parks department administration, support and programming).
The breakdown of the $2.65 million is as follows:
- Perkins and Will architect contract: $1,522,225
- Taylor Brothers Construction Co. construction manager contract: $685,700
- Estimated additional expenses: $442,075
The appropriated funds will be reimbursed when bonds are sold for the project, Ferdon added.
"I think this is a wonderful project," Hilber said. "And I’m very in support of the parks, and I think this would be a wonderful asset for us to have. The concept is wonderful. I would love to see something like this come to Columbus."
However, one of her concerns is that renovations to Donner are not covered in these initial contracts. Ferdon said that this is because the city won’t know what changes they want to make to Donner until they know what the NexusPark piece looks like.
"We need to find out what we truly can do," said Parks Director Mark Jones. "… We need that next step to really see what can happen."
Once construction is about ready to begin, the city will spend more time on Donner, get "community engagement" and examine what Donner Center and Donner Park should look like in the future, Jone said.
Another concern for Hilber was how NexusPark comes at the same time as other projects, maintenance work and increases, such as water and sewer rates approved by the council earlier that night.
Ferdon said at a previous meeting that the concurrent development of the fieldhouse and parks administrative piece will have “limited impact on taxpayers.”
Councilman Tom Dell expressed his support for the project and the appropriations. He said that these initial costs are "seed money" needed to plan out the project and learn more about cost.
"We bought it," he said. "We all thought it was a good idea. Now we need to move it forward."
The city also needs to be able to show community members why they bought the mall in the first place, how the project will work and how it will be funded, he said. Dell, like Hilber, is a Democrat.
Republican Councilman Frank Miller said that they need to get the project in the public eye so people understand it better.
Once developed, the property will be an asset to the whole community," he added.
"Once in a while, I still get the comment, ‘Why did the city buy a failed mall?’" Miller said. "… We didn’t buy a failed mall. We bought an opportunity."
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The city’s goal for the mall project is to finish the schematic design in summer or early fall and move on to the architectural drawings. From there, the city hopes to go out of bonding during the first part of 2022, do construction bids by spring of 2022 and potentially complete work in late 2023.
According to a public release, Columbus Regional Health’s Phase 1 will renovate about 50,000-square-feet of the health system’s total 125,000-square-feet allotment. The majority of services and programs in the facility will be based around preventative care or wellness.
CRH hopes to relocate some related services or practices into the space by mid-2022, with Phase 1 being completed by the end of 2023.
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CRH and the city partnered in 2018 to purchase the FairOaks Mall facility and property at a 25% to 75% split, with the city retaining majority ownership for parks and recreation and sports tourism development. The Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation provided the difference between the selling price and the appraised value.
The purchase was driven by the idea of turning the mall into a community wellness, recreation and sports center, while also determining new potential uses for the Donner Center and connectivity with surrounding areas.
The mall project, newly-named NexusPark, was largely put on hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but planning and work have resumed as of late.
NexusPark is described as a “multi-use health, wellness and recreation campus."
The city stated in a release that the NexusPark campus will include:
- An indoor sports fieldhouse
- Columbus Parks administrative, activity and community spaces
- Retail
- Restaurants
- CRH medical and wellness offices
The overall project will include changes to Donner Center and Donner Park. However, the initial phases do not include renovations to Donner Center, as work at the FairOaks mall site needs to be completed prior to those renovations.
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