Demolition got under way today on the Douglas Alternative Elementary School site in the Olde Towne East neighborhood.
The Columbus Board of Education voted in January of 2020 to sell the 3.9 acre Douglas site and Columbus City Council signed off on the plan to purchase it in July of the same year. Columbus Recreation and Parks purchased the property, as well as the 11 acre Stockbridge Elementary School site at 3350 S. Champion Ave., for the appraised value of $1.99M ($1,650,000, for Douglas and $340,000, for Stockbridge, as approved by the Columbus Board of Education in August of 2020).
The building was located at 51 S. Douglas Street and is slated to become the new Fran Ryan Center (formerly named the Broad Street Arts and Senior Creative Campus) for the city’s Recreation and Parks Department. It was former councilmember Fran Ryan’s dedication to the wellbeing of seniors in our community, various housing initiatives, and much more that earned her the designation.
The parks department said on the project’s update page that the existing building would not be able to be reused. The new building will house the Golden Hobby Gift Shop (currently at 549 Franklin Ave), as well as the maker and wellness spaces of the Martin Janis Senior Arts Program. It will also offer new programs and amenities open to all residents and include a park.
“This state-of-the-art facility will house creative programming and wellness activities for Columbus’ older adult community while providing them with a place in which they can gather to share and create new experiences,” said Columbus Recreation and Parks Department Director Bernita A. Reese at the October 21, 2022 groundbreaking event.
Construction on the Fran Ryan Center is scheduled to begin in Spring/Summer of 2023 and plans to be completed by Fall of 2024.
Demolition photos by Anne Evans.
If you’d like to keep up with updates on the Fran Ryan Center, visit columbusrecparks.com.