A Columbus nonprofit and museum is hoping to highlight the accomplishments of native son Granville T. Woods with the trolley salvaged from the recently demolished Spaghetti Warehouse in Franklinton.
Woods, known as the "Black Edison," is credited with creating a power pick-up device, which led to the third rail, helping to power trolleys and subway systems around the country even today. He lived in Columbus from the early 1850s when he was born until he moved to Cincinnati and later New York City as his businesses grew.
The Rickenbacker Woods Foundation wants to use the trolley to honor Woods in a new green space planned behind the Rickenbacker House on East Livingston Avenue. The trolley was brought to the now-demolished Spaghetti Warehouse building in 1978 from San Francisco. It was a fixture in the restaurant for decades serving as a seating option for diners.
President and Executive Director Mike Aaron was able to help save the trolley before the old Spaghetti Warehouse was torn down. Now, Aaron says he wants to install the trolley behind Eddie Rickenbacker's historic home on East Livingston Avenue and dedicate it to telling Woods' story to Columbus.
Aaron told WOSU he hopes the display can help inspire young people in Columbus and the predominately African American community in that neighborhood.
"If Rickenbacker Woods Foundation or this trolley or this historic house museum acts as a mirror to these young people, and they can see themselves in it... then they can recognize, regardless of where you come from, on Livingston Avenue, you can become anything," Aaron said.
Aaron said getting the trolley out of the building was quite the ordeal. He said he was in talks with the company for almost a year about acquiring it. The two parties came to a deal and Aaron was allowed to hire a company to transport the trolley to a storage facility after demolition crews pulled it out.
Aaron said watching the crews strategically pull the trolley out of the crumbling building was a nail-biting experience.
"I don't have children, but maybe it's like watching a newborn get born. You're like, 'Careful with my kid! Just be careful with my kid!'" Aaron said. "But the trolley came out. The pictures are fantastic. It's sitting triumphantly on this mound of bricks to say 'I'm back.'"
The stars aligned during this Black History Month for the Rickenbacker Woods Foundation to get ahold of this trolley and really begin the process of honoring Woods in earnest.
Aaron said they have a lot of ideas for the display. Renderings Aaron showed WOSU include a playground, additional parking for the foundation's headquarters and the trolley installed next to a raised platform with stairs and an ADA-accessible ramp.
One idea includes an interactive visual that Aaron said can transport people back to a time when Columbus had passenger rail in the city.
"One of the cooler ideas that we have is that at the front of the trolley, that there will be an interactive visual as if you are driving through... or riding through the streets of 1900s downtown Columbus on a streetcar," Aaron said.
Aaron said he'd want the trolley visual to explore different parts of Columbus, not just the Driving Park neighborhood. He said they also want to get the trolley a paint job and install a rain shelter overhead to shield it from the elements and prevent rust.
Aaron said having this dedication in the streetcar district and Driving Park neighborhood helps recognize Woods' connection to Columbus. He said East Livingston Avenue was one of the first neighborhoods served by Columbus' street cars.
"It's cool that this was the first streetcar suburb, but there were streetcars all over the city. So maybe you can come here to learn about our streetcars. And who knows? Maybe we will be the catalyst to inspire streetcars to finally return to Columbus," Aaron said.
