North Columbus News

During the fall 2024 Roads Scholars Day on Friday, The Ohio State University highlighted partnerships with organizations on the Near East Side of Columbus. Presented by the Office of Outreach and Engagement, the semiannual seminar takes faculty, administrators, and community partners through a region of Ohio to discuss current and future collaboration.

“Our purpose is to explore the Near East Side. To get to see great institutions, great facilities like this,” Jason Reece, Ohio State’s vice provost for urban research and community engagement, said during the first stop at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center Healthy Community Center.

Located at 1600 E. Long St. on the former site of the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Martin Luther King branch, the center opened this spring and offers an array of wellness activities free of charge to the community.

After the library moved to its current location at 1467 E. Long St. in 2018, Ohio State acquired the building and conducted extensive conversations with stakeholders to assess the community’s needs, said Javonte McDonald, director of the Healthy Community Center.

“Every space, everything that you see in here, all of the things that we do all came to fruition through those conversations that we had for the community members,” McDonald said. “We are focused on nutrition and cooking, wellness, community engagement, sustainability and wellness.”

After visiting the center’s teaching kitchen, exercise studio and community garden, Roads Scholars attendees participated in an information session about programs designed to increase residents’ access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Julialynne Walker conducted a tour of Near East Side landmarks and spoke about her work with Bronzeville Urban Growers. The organization is a network of area residents who maintain urban gardens at various sites in the community, which was once known as Bronzeville and is now the King-Lincoln District.

Walker said Bronzeville Urban Growers work with a variety of organizations to provide space for urban gardens including Ohio State’s Healthy Community Center and African American and African Studies Community Extension Center as well as faith-based organizations.

“Part of what we’re doing with food security is working closely with churches,” Walker said. “They have been community centers but they’re all dealing with aging populations... Almost all of them have land [to accommodate urban gardens].”

The next stop was Lincoln Theatre at 769 E. Long St., where Lincoln’s Executive Director Suzan Bradford and Program Director Quianna Simpson led participants on a tour of the historic venue.

The theater originally opened in 1928 as a venue serving Columbus’ Black community but closed in 1974 due to highway construction dividing the area causing numerous establishments to close. Thanks to a partnership led by then-Mayor Michael Coleman along with city officials and community organizations it reopened in 2009 after a multimillion-dollar renovation.

The Lincoln maintains partnerships with Ohio State promoting arts throughout region Bradford stated: “We sit in very innovative creative space that changes both our local communities globally... We know art can do that.”

Roads Scholars Day concluded at African American & African Studies Community Extension Center located at 905 Mt Vernon Ave celebrating grand reopening last March following nearly $2 million renovations reconfiguring building adding classroom spaces updating technology Monica Stigler program manager mentioned: "Encouraging professors teach classes here if intersecting engaged scholarship inviting across departments university-wide"

“We also have partnerships Fisher College Business other departments within Arts Sciences happy announce spring academic year start having classes back CEC students take”

In addition serving extension OSU's campus hosting events such recent Columbus Women Girls Fest providing meeting spaces accessible research materials all Stigler added "We work closely partners Near East Side creating synergy."