July 28, 2011
Whittier roadwork continues through August
A REAL PALETTE PLEASER
By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Photos by Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
(Above) Jim Wiggin of German Village paints during the annual German Village Art Crawl on Macon Alley on July 23. (Below) Michele McFadden of German Village looks at pieces of jewelry created by Teresa Morbitzer.
By the time Scott Heimlich found out about the road project on East Whittier Street, it was too late. The work had already started. The owner of Barcelona restaurant, smack dab in middle of the construction, said the response from the city of Columbus was vague and the city didn’t inform anyone in advance of changing traffic patterns. “We’re dealing with it,” he said. “Because of the lack of information, we didn’t know what we were getting into.” The project involves the replacement of water lines and fire hydrants in the area. As part of the work, the city has made Whittier one way eastbound between Mohawk and Ebner streets to accommodate construction. The city determined that two-way traffic could not be safely maintained on Whittier because of the narrow street, said Laura Young Mohr, spokeswoman for the Columbus Department of Public Utilities. The $840,000 project, which includes other repairs in the area and has taken away some on-street parking, began July 18 and is scheduled to conclude at the end of August. Repaving work will follow. The city is using two types of drilling methods — a traditional open-cut system and horizontal directional drilling, the latter being trenchless technology meant to minimize the disruption to brick streets. For any brick removed that cannot be salvaged, it will be replaced with other historic bricks. Open-cut construction will be used for project locations with asphalt pavement. See ROADWORK, page A2
Headliner in Maennerchor Frank Fetch Park finale inspired Bee Brunch draws attention to new hive by folk music By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Nina Bagley, who runs a local apiary, is responsible for the maintenance of the new beehive at Frank Fetch Park in German Village. For a video about the hive, visit ThisWeekNews.com
Nina Bagley is abuzz over her latest project: a beehive in Frank Fetch Park. The local apiarist is responsible for the maintenance of the hive, installed in May in the German Village park. The hive, actually a box, contains 150,000 bees, which pollinate local flowers and plants and bring nectar back for the honey. “I always say they’re keeping the ecosystem in balance,” Bagley said, noting that the hive is frequently inspected by a county official who reports to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. To sweeten the pot, Bagley will give the German Village Garten Club honey from the hive to make sweets for the first Bee See BEE BRUNCH, page A2
By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers Michael Fracasso says his musical style is hard to pin down. The singer-songwriter says he draws from a wide range of influences, including Stephen Foster, Woody Guthrie and Tom Petty. “I kind of embody that whole Americana movement,” he said. “That would be me because I kind of include everything in Michael Fracasso what I do.” The musician, who is based in Austin, Texas, will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 30, at the Columbus Maennerchor, 996 S. High St. He will See FINALE, page A2
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Officials: New greenhouse will save conservatory time, money By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Franklin Park Conservatory’s support greenhouse, the crowning piece of a three-project capital campaign, opened over the weekend. Officials say the 9,300-square-foot facility will provide much-needed efficiency for the conservatory, which formerly had to move plants off-site
throughout the year, costing staff time and money for rental space. The greenhouse will become the botanical warehouse and growing facility for plants used in several conservatory exhibitions and displays, such as bonsai plants, orchids, poinsettias for the Christmas season and plants that provide fruit nectar for the Blooms & Butterflies exhibit held from March through September.
You have a hole in your house.
Located between the picnic shelter and the community gardens, the $1.3million greenhouse has several “green” features: permeable pavers, a retractable roof that allows for natural ventilation and rain barrels that will catch runoff precipitation. A blackout room will use insulating curtains to artificially shorten the day to simulate the light and dark schedules of specific varieties of plants. Moveable plant tables will be more
flexible, freeing up more space. The building, however, is not open to the general public. Bruce Harkey, executive director of the conservatory, sees a lot of potential with the addition of the greenhouse. “Having new facilities creates new opportunities at the conservatory,” he said. Conservatory officials also realize the possible need for additional greenhouse space.
“I think it meets our needs right now but in a few years, we’ll need more,” said Garry Clarke, director of planning. The greenhouse opening marks the completion of the $23-million capital program at the conservatory, which included two 5,000-square-foot additions to the John F. Wolfe Palm House and the community-gardening campus. The See GREENHOUSE, page A2
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