South of Main Blockwatch

Letter to Councilman Mentel II

Man Street Development

489 Linwood Avenue
Columbus, Oh 43205
October 11, 2005


The Honorable Michael C. Mentel
Columbus City Council
90 W. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Dear Councilman Mentel,

As another follow up to our discussion regarding 1179 E. Main Street, I talked to Joel Teaford, Executive Director of the Columbus Neighborhood Design Center. He was very enthusiastic about some type of design competition for this parcel and indicated that he has quite a few contacts for this kind of activity. He even suggested an arrangement with the Ohio State University. The students would receive credit, the neighborhood would receive a choice of designs, and Columbus City government would add yet another niche in its already positive relationship with OSU.

The recent design charette for the Whittier Peninsula was featured in the October 9, 2005 Sunday edition of the Columbus Dispatch. To quote one of the judges “You’ve got to find the right developer…If you’ve got the wrong jockey on the horse, you’re not going anywhere.” From one of the participants “I think it’s a great way to explore different ideas…We’d do it again”.

We (LWSMB) believe that good design ideas and the right marketing approach will indeed generate a positive response from developers. We also believe that careful planning at the onset of a project will prevent problems and even embarrassments later on in the process. We certainly don’t want another South of Main or Michael Ross fiasco. They are gone but the neighborhood continues to pay the cost.

Again looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,


Kathleen Bailey
President LWSMB

Cc: Mark Barbash, Dept. of Development
Walter Chappelear, LWSMB
Joel Teaford, Columbus Neighborhood Design Center