Liberty District redevelopment plan sparks debate. What’s next for Columbus neighborhood?

Some community leaders and residents are disgruntled about the Columbus Consolidated Government’s plan to redevelop the Liberty Historic Heritage District.

CCG hosted public meetings Feb. 24 and Feb. 26 about the plan. ” Columbus city manager Isaiah Hugley and Neil Clark, principal architect at the Columbus-based firm Hecht Burdeshaw, fielded questions and feedback from residents.

The Liberty Historic Heritage District is bounded by Third Avenue and Sixth Avenue north of Eighth Street and between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue south of 11th Street.

CCG previously attempted to propose a comprehensive revamp of the Liberty District several times since its decline in the 1980s. Past efforts to rebuild have failed. Redevelopment plans have been abandoned due to tense conflict among city officials and community leaders.

These public meetings were no different. What was supposed to be a discussion about the possibilities of new development in the Liberty District turned into tense face-offs with over 30 residents in a packed conference room at the CCG Annex Building , regarding parking, affordable housing and cultural preservation of the district.

What’s in the proposal?

The redevelopment plan of the Liberty District is comprehensive, building new businesses and housing options to the area and expanding the city-owned Liberty Theatre. The proposal has undergone edits responding to feedback from the public meetings. Clark emphasized his willingness to work the community’s feedback into the plan.

“We welcome your criticisms,” Clark said at the Feb. 26 meeting. “We welcome your praise. We welcome your suggestions.”

The proposal shown at the Feb. 24 meeting detailed the building of a grocery store, loft apartments, townhomes, retail stores and a neighborhood park. Clark said this proposal is meant to envision what the future of the Liberty District could look like.

“This master plan is to try to begin to envision a way to get that land out of the city’s hands, into some private development and turn this area back into a tax-producing district,” Clark said.

Edits of the plan presented at the Feb. 26 meeting showed an expansion of the Liberty Theatre, detailing a 1,200-seat increase from the previous 300-seat capacity and an outdoor amphitheater, toward Seventh Avenue and Eighth Street. It also showed a future parking deck, replacing a former plan of surface parking, between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Street.

Clark told the Ledger-Enquirer that, after the city council’s approval, the timeline for this project would involve a 30-60 day completion for the master plan, followed by six months for city development and rezoning.

This master plan does not include definitive development plans or have any developers publicly attached to the proposal. However, city manager Isaiah Hugley confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer that developers have expressed interest in investing in the area.

The city also is moving forward with funding projects described in the proposal. According to Hugley, the city hasset aside $4 million for the construction of a paved plaza in front of the Liberty Theatre, one of many beautification projects included in this proposal. A construction timeline of the new plaza has yet to be released.

Citizen pushback

Nobody in the audience spoke in favor of the proposal at either meeting.

At the Feb. 24 meeting, five local pastors from some of the six surrounding churches voiced their concerns about the master plan eradicating their parking spaces. They said the master plan would make their aging congregants walk multiple blocks to go to their churches.

The Rev. Pastor Arthur Mitchell of Friendship Baptist Church, spearheaded the discussion of these concerns. Mitchell expressed his discontent with the plan and the cultural erosion it can cause.

“I’m all for growth, but there should be funds allocated to the preservation of the historical landmarks and areas identified in the 2003 Liberty District Project Plan as assets, specifically the historic Black churches, primarily in the area,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell told the Ledger-Enquirer he is concerned new housing developments risk gentrifying the neighborhood. Parishioners at Friendship Baptist Church skew older, with many of them in their 60s and 70s. With less accessible parking, Mitchell said, he is concerned about keeping the church open.

“When you want to turn Sixth Avenue into Broadway street, it completely changes the landscape, especially without adequate parking for churches located in the Liberty District” Mitchell said. “Not all housing is good housing, when it comes at the expense of existing historic churches.”

Mitchell emphasized he is willing to work with city officials and developers to ensure the cultural preservation of the neighborhood.

“If you’re developing something that’ll show how we can revitalize and preserve our historic infrastructures, and you’re willing to collaborate with us to enhance plans and increase our footprint, adequate parking for sustainability and growth, I’m all for that,” Mitchell said.

Other residents were disgruntled by the master plan, concerned how the new development would change the character and feel of the neighborhood.

Connie Weaver, a lifelong resident of Columbus, left the Feb. 24 meeting dissatisfied. She told the Ledger-Enquirer she isn’t optimistic that the changes will revive the Liberty District’s vitality.

“I’ve been here all my life, and ain’t nothing you can do to it that resembles the kindness, the family, the atmosphere like how it was,” Weaver said.

The lively Liberty District that Weaver remembers was back in the district’s glory days in the 1950s and 1960s, when the area was a thriving with Black-owned businesses, restaurants and residents. The district started to steadily decline after the Liberty Theatre closed in 1973.

Weaver explained how she felt Black communities in Columbus consistently were pushed out of their neighborhoods with new developments, and she is concerned this proposal would be another case of this happening again.

“Black folks have to go so far backwards to even get one step, and they just keep moving us around like we don’t matter,” Weaver said.

At the Feb. 26 meeting, Clark displayed the updated proposal with modifications to add a surface parking lot for churchgoers. However, the inclusion of the parking deck on the other side of the district sparked another discussion about cultural preservation and gentrification.

Clark reassured residents that new developments in the Liberty District must be approved by the Columbus Board of Historic & Architectural Review, which helps to prevent cultural erosion from historic areas. Clark mentioned plans to have a mix of affordable and luxury housing incorporated into the proposal to prevent price gouging.

“To get this back to a neighborhood, a lot of pieces have to be in motion, and a lot of what this master plan is intended to be is trying to spark interest,” Clark said.

Toward the end of the Feb. 26 meeting, Reverend the Rev. Richard Jessie, executive director of restoration for Friends of Historic Claflin, suggested an effort to create a Liberty District culture and historic foundation, modeling after similar Columbus nonprofits like Uptown Columbus and Midtown Inc., to work closely with the city on the redevelopment.

“I’m asking the city to give us 90 days,” Jessie said. “That’s all we need, 90 days to come back with a plan that will work in conjunction with what you proposed.”

Further plans to establish the foundation have not been announced.

Moving forward

Regardless of pushback, city officials have hope their plans will become reality.

Clark told the Ledger-Enquirer that new development such as new senior housing being built on 9th street surrounding the Liberty District and the city’s renewed investments such as the paved plaza in the area give him hope that this plan will be implemented.

“If you look up Sixth Avenue, you see more and more people who are willing to buy buildings, put their money into them and turn them into usable properties,” Clark said. “The more that happens, the more it looks like the time to do something with the Liberty.”

Residents and city officials agreed to have a third public meeting before presenting the master plan to the Columbus Council. The date of this public meeting has not been set, but deputy city manager Pam Hodge told the Ledger-Enquirer on Tuesday that it will conducted in April.