Columbus Council approves Liberty District plan. What’s next for redevelopment?

The Columbus Consolidated Government city council unanimously approved the Liberty District master plan during Tuesday evening’s meeting.

This allows construction for the district’s streetscapes and splashpad projects to begin. The streetscapes project will renovate Eighth Avenue, the entrance of the Liberty Theatre. The location of the splashpad is pending. Construction timelines are yet to be determined.

CCG’s planning director Will Johnson told the Ledger-Enquirer that the streetscapes project and the Liberty Theatre’s renovations were the catalyst for further development in the Liberty District.

“Now, it’s time to do something with all this property that has been assembled and put together by the city,” Johnson said in a phone interview.

Funding for this project will come out of the city’s SPLOST (Special Purpose Location Option Sales Tax) funds, according to deputy city manager Pam Hodge. The city allocated $4 million for the streetscapes project and $700,000 for the splash pad.

The Rev. Richard Jessie, executive director of Liberty District Inc., told the Ledger-Enquirer that the council’s approval will allow for progress in revitalizing the district.

“There’s a lot of people that are not pleased with how things have been handled in the past,” Jessie said. “I’ve told them ‘Let’s overcome those [past] things and see if we can make things better.’ We should focus on what it’s going to take to restore that part of town in a way that all of us will be happy about and be proud of what we did. It’s going to take a lot of work.”