Fencing is up around the former Martin Luther King Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library at 1600 E. Long St.
The building, which has been empty since the branch moved into a new, larger space two blocks down the street, will hold a new health-focused community center.
Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center is heading up the project – to be called the Healthy Community Center – and funding the renovation.
The new center will hold a demonstration/teaching kitchen and several multipurpose rooms that will be used for community meetings, larger gatherings or events, and programming like fitness and yoga classes.
A café will also be part of the new center. It will be open to the public and offer “a variety of culinary options…for residents of the Near East Side to enjoy while using the center as a gathering space with indoor and outdoor seating,” according to a brochure about the project.
Wexner Medical Center spokesperson Marti Leitch said that the center is scheduled to open in “early 2024, [and] in the coming months, we’ll be taking requests for applications to run the café.”
Columbus Underground also asked Leitch about OSU’s plan to build a new rehabilitation hospital in the neighborhood, at the corner of Taylor Avenue and Atcheson Street. That plan, which would require the demolition of the historic Henderson House, was met with concern by community members and historic preservation advocates when it was presented to the neighborhood in February.
“We removed the rehabilitation hospital project’s zoning application from the Near East Area Commission February agenda and have had ongoing productive engagement with community members on the project,” Leitch said. “We highly value the feedback we have received at recent listening sessions, and we are taking our neighbors’ comments under thoughtful consideration…we are grateful for the insights we have gained from the community.”
For more information on the new center, see wexnermedical.osu.edu/healthy-community.
