The East Side isn't giving up after the demolition of the Eastland Mall. That was a major theme as a new plan for the Eastland area was unveiled Thursday evening at Barnett Community Center.
The new Eastland for Everyone community plan focuses on eight areas: housing, retail, small business and entrepreneurships, education, community well-being and services, jobs, transportation, community identity and pride and gathering spaces.
Around 1,800 community members helped create the plan over the course of about 16 months.
"There's excitement, there's momentum here building, but we wanna keep that going," said Noelle Britt, the Eastland Area Neighborhood Program Specialist for the Columbus Department of Neighborhoods, as she wrapped up a presentation of the plan in the packed meeting room. "We got here because of you, we're gonna keep moving through because of you."
Longtime Eastland area resident Madelon Stapleton said she came to the meeting hoping to hear some good news.
"I mean we don't even have like a medical clinic on this side of town and like I said, once again, you know, libraries even, grocery stores — there's just so much that's lacking over in that area," Stapleton said. "I just hope they do something positive in my lifetime."
One major feature of the 280-page plan is redeveloping the desolate Eastland Mall site. Community leaders have said that's key to transforming the area.
The plan suggests building affordable and senior housing on the former mall site while creating a neighborhood hub there, with a new community center, library, and transit hub, plus offices and stores.
"What we've heard from the community that folks are OK that it's not going to be the mall that it was right. But they they want to see something that is more productive, more efficient, that meets their needs," Britt said after the event.
An online survey showed residents wanted to see more housing specifically on the Eastland Mall site and near Refugee and Hamilton roads.
The mall, which closed in 2022, is now being torn down. A 2024 court agreement set a deadline for demolition to start before this summer. The city had cited the mall’s owner for multiple health and safety violations at the property, including broken glass, parking areas in disrepair, high grass, weeds and debris.
The plan also calls for beautifying South Hamilton and Refugee roads, improving neighborhood parks and creating safer routes to schools and other areas.
That includes a reimagined South Hamilton Road building an international hub of retailers and restaurants around the Saraga International Grocery store, and a walkable district of housing and businesses.
During the plan-creation process, community members largely said they wanted the area’s needs to be prioritized while redeveloping the roughly six-square-mile area.
That includes more housing options for current and future residents. A study predicts the area will need another 1,000 to 1,500 housing units over the next decade and the neighborhood already has relatively low housing vacancy.
Residents also want to see better access to health and wellness services.
The plan said of none of the three medical facilities in the Eastland area offer full-service maternity care. The area has the third-highest rate of infant deaths in Franklin County.
The Eastland area has about 20,000 residents. It has grown about 9% since 2010. That includes a growing number of immigrants, with more than half from Africa, and many from western Africa.
One-fifth of all Eastland residents live below the poverty level.
While the Eastland area has had its troubles, Thursday's presentation of the plan sought to celebrate the community's wins. It highlighted existing commitments, like Mid-Ohio Food Collective's Eastland Prosperity Center which is slated to go in an abandoned shopping center, Columbus State College's Career Development Center, and a proposed Ohio State University total health center that would offer services like primary care, a pharmacy, and a sexual health center.
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