August 7, 2011
WAC seeks resident input on park name Commission members hope naming campaign will remind city of park plans By CARLA SMITH ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Westland Area Commission is seeking suggestions from the public when it comes to naming a new neighborhood park. The proposed park is located south of Alton Darby Road along West Broad Street — the same location where soccer fields and a playground were to be
developed this year and a regional recreation center is to be built in the future. So far, the city of Columbus has done nothing with the site. Commission chair Linda Pitts said even though development of the park site has been delayed, she wants to get the community involved now in naming the park. “With the way things are going, we know the park won’t be done by the end
of the year,” Pitts said. “I was hoping residents could come up with a name that resonates with the community. Those who have lived here longer than my 12 years may have some historical suggestions.” Pitts said residents can submit their suggestions in person by dropping off names at the Westland Area Library, 4740 W. Broad St. in Lincoln Village Plaza. Residents can also log on to the
Westland Area Commission’s Facebook page and submit their suggestion that way, she said. Alton Prairie Park and Sunset Park are among the suggestions that have been submitted at the library, Pitts said. On Facebook, residents have suggested naming a park after longtime commission member Jo Ellen Locke, who has played a vital role in getting recreational needs fulfilled in the Westland area.
“We have not had a big response yet, but the suggestion box at the library has been drawing some attention,” Pitts said. In addition to collecting suggested names for the park, the commission is also looking for residents to vote on what type of playground they would like to see at the site. There are three suggested plans, all of which can be viewed on See WAC, page A2
Building repairs keep SWCS busy By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Photos by Eric George/ThisWeek
(Above) Charles Brookover, drives Maude and Sailor to pull a horse-drawn mower to cut hay at Slate Run Living Historical Farm July 26. (Below) Brookover secures the horse-drawn mower after cutting hay.
Slate Run Farm celebrates 30th anniversary By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Thirty years is only a drop in the bucket for the Slate Run Living Historical Farm, which was originally founded as a family farm more than 200 years ago. The farm, now owned and managed by the Franklin County Metro Parks, celebrated its 30th anniversary of educating the public the weekend of July 29-30. “We’re really happy to pass another mark in time,” program manager Ann Culek said. “This farm was originally given as a land grant in 1810, so 30 years is just a small slice of time for this piece of land. The Metro Parks bought the land around 1976 and opened it as a living history farm in 1981.” The purpose of the Metro Parks-run farm is to educate people about Ohio’s agrarian roots and to reconnect visitors with an understanding of the food system. Crops are still grown and harvested, livestock is raised and all of the buildings are maintained as they were in the 1880s, according to Culek. Visitors are invited to participate in farm chores and take part in period activities, such as arts and crafts projects, that were a part of daily life on an 1880s-era Ohio farm. “Twenty-five years ago, there were no housing developments between here and Columbus, but now that’s not the case, so we get fewer and fewer people with a background in agriculture,” Culek said. “It’s nice to get people to touch a cow or see peas growing. We offer a chance to get people outside — and a quiet place for families. There’s no electricity and no video games here.” Franklin County Metro Parks spokeswoman Peg Hanley agreed. “It’s a short drive from Columbus, but a long way back in time,” Hanley said. “Once you walk through the gate and take that lane back from the parking lot you just sort of slow down and you disconnect from your technology. I’ll see people on cell phones and other devices in our other parks, but I don’t see much of that at the farm.” Hanley and Culek both said that the farm offers families a chance to reconnect with each other. “I see people come with their families
Though students might not be thinking about returning to classes just yet, the South-Western City School District has been busy making repairs in preparation for the start of school. SWCS usually spends about $1 million on its summer permanent improvements. This year, the work includes roofing repairs for various buildings and a new temperature-control system at Darby Woods Elementary School. Funding for the projects comes from the district’s permanent improvement levy, approved in May 2005. The 2 mills bring in about $4.5 million per year, said Sandra Nekoloff, district executive director of communications and community relations. The largest portion of this year’s expenditure went to partial roof replacements at six sites, totaling about $410,000, said Mark Waller, coordinator of property services. Roof repairs were done at Stiles Family Resource Center and Bostic Center, while partial roof replacement was done at Finland Elementary, J.C. Sommer Elementary and Pleasant View Middle schools. The projects’ completion date is Aug. 16. J.C. Sommer’s roof “was leaking quite a bit,” while other roofs had minor leaks, Waller said.
Winter weather is particularly rough on roofs. Finland Elem e n t a r y ’s roof problems were exacerbated by the winter. The district has a roof section replacement schedule that cycles over a 25-year period. Roofs have 20-year warranties. About $185,000 was spent on heating, ventilation and air conditioning at Darby Woods Elementary and Buckeye Woods Elementary schools. About $125,000 of that went to replace the control system that regulates Darby Woods’ temperature and diagnoses any possible problems within the system. Other improvements included asphalt paving, masonry repairs, siding repairs, shelving and casework, fence repair at Franklin Heights and Westland high schools and flooring projects at Stiles, J.C. Sommer, North Franklin elementary schools and Franklin Heights and Grove City high schools. Everything has been going according to schedule, and many of the projects have come in under budget, Waller said. “I’m really pleased with the progress that we’ve made,” he said.
Workshops offered for owners of older homes By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
and they sit on the back porch of the old farmhouse talking about when they grew up on a farm, or their grandparent’s farm, and it allows the families a chance to share that with their kids and to connect over those memories,” Hanley said. The farm is run year-round by a staff of eight with maintenance and administrative support shared with the Slate Run Metro Park, as well as 40 volunteers and their families. Funding for the farm comes from Metro Park levies, and Culek said that it couldn’t operate without dedicated volunteers. “We ask volunteers for 60 hours a year but we’ve had up to 1,000 hours,” Culek
said. “Volunteers have been an important part of this since the beginning. We’ve had people who have volunteered here for over 20 years.” Culek herself has been with the farm for the last 23 of those 30 years. Individuals interested in volunteering can fill out a form online at www.metro parks.net or visit the farm. A schedule of the farm’s seasonal hours, as well as activities the public can participate in, are also listed at the metro parks website. The Slate Run Living Historical Farm is at 1375 State Route 674 North, Canal Winchester.
No house stays pristine for long. Wood rots. Foundations subside. Paint peels. Metal rusts. Shingles slide. Many other unpleasant and potentially expensive things can go wrong with the parts and pieces of a house. At the half-century mark, even the best-built home is going to show its age and require some tender, loving care. Because much of the local housing stock falls into that category or is even considerably older, the Columbus Landmarks Foundation has embarked on a local preservation initiative. The next in a series of “Old House DIY Workshops 2011” will be held on Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Community Properties of Ohio training facility, 933 E. Gay St. For $5, owners of older homes may attend a session from 9 to 11
a.m. to find out how to identify and resolve common maintenance issues. The fee for a session on wood restoration that afternoon from 1 to 5 costs $10. During the latter hands-on workshop, attendees will learn how to stabilize rotted wood, use wood consolidants and epoxies and prepare restored wood for painting. The workshops, titled “Nuts and Bolts: the Basics of Home Maintenance,” are being put on with funding received from the United Way of Central Ohio and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, according Columbus Landmarks Foundation executive director Kathy Mast Kane. “The premise being that if we, as owners, learned to do this routine maintenance and inspection, we prevent major expenses down the road and make home ownership more attractive,” Kane said last week. Nathalie Wright, a field repreSee WORKSHOPS, page A2