Iconic Kadie the Cow could be on the moo-ve. What to know
Columbus landmark Kadie the Cow could be moo-ved from its location at Manchester Expressway to city-owned land downtown.
Uptown Columbus Inc. President and CEO Ed Wolverton outlined a plan at Tuesday morning’s council meeting to restore, repaint and move Kadie to land along Bay Avenue between 10th and 11th Street. The nonprofit would work to raise about $32,800 for the efforts and create an endowment fund to maintain Kadie for the next 10 years, he said.
The city would retain ownership of the replica bovine while not putting any money towards the project. If fundraising efforts fail, Kadie would remain in her current spot, Wolverton and City Manager Isaiah Hugley said.
Wolverton said the 20-foot-tall fiberglass dairy cow would be right at home downtown, and the move would relieve city taxpayers from funding her upkeep.
“There are a number of installations that Kadie would actually help support, in terms of being next to the playground, the splash pad, the riverwalk and the Dragonfly Trail,” he said. “There is a synergy that happens with this particular location.”
The move is supported by Bob Kinnett of the Kinnett Dairies family.
The Kinnetts had Kadie erected in front of their 2925 Manchester Expressway dairy plant in 1967. It was one of the last independent dairies in the southeast before the family sold it in 1998 to Parmalat, an Italian company. Best Buy brought the property in 2003 and announced in 2019 it was relocating its store.
Kadie’s future was uncertain for a time, but the Columbus Council approved an agreement in May 2019 allowing the city to have permanent access to maintain Kadie at her current location, at no cost to the city.
Kinnett first suggested the city move Kadie downtown after the cow was vandalized in 2020, WRBL reported. The proposed spot for Kadie’s relocation is close to the dairy’s old corporate offices.
“The idea that Kadie the Cow continuing to bring joy to the kids and families of Columbus and to tourists visiting Columbus would please us greatly,” Kinnett said. “Columbus attracts so many people. ...I think she will provide joy to a lot more people and be of a lot more benefit to the broader city of Columbus if she is Uptown.”
Councilor Charmaine Crabb said she wouldn’t like to see Kadie moved downtown. In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Crabb said she was working to create an endowment fund that would support Kadie’s upkeep regardless of its location. Kadie is currently located in Crabb’s district.
“(Kadie) could be the catalyst for economic development in this area,” she said. “I would hate to lose her and have her get lost in the minutiae of Uptown when they have so much going on. I’d like for her to be able to say here.”
The Columbus Council could vote to move Kadie during its April 19 meeting, Hugley said.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 11:39 AM.