Money Money Money.
Must Be Fun, Eh?

Harrison West has come a long way in the last 10 years. Much of the progress we’ve made has been due to our neighborhood’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) arrangement with the city of Columbus. The TIF has resulted in a windfall of money that we have used to build Harrison Park, but more money remains for us to spend on neighborhood projects.

It is important that we spend the money that is available to us this year and in the coming years, so at our March meeting, we will host a lengthy discussion about neighborhood priorities and will try to develop a list, in order of importance, of the items that we would like to target with our TIF funds.

We will bring to the table the TIF priorities that were outlined in the Harrison Park History document, but we have also brainstormed some additional items that we would like to add to the discussion:

1. add a small-boat portage (canoes, kayaks) at the west end of either West Second Avenue or Quality Place
2. extend the bike path behind the Superior Beverage building
3. build a promontory for viewing the Olentangy River
4. install a plaque in Harrison Park acknowledging the support of donors and volunteers who made the park possible
5. add a planting bed around the welcome sign in Harrison Park
6. install improvements to Side by Side Park
7. replace benches, trash cans and/or install other improvements in Harrison West Park
8. plant bulbs and/or understory trees along the Olentangy River
9. add “www.HarrisonWest.org” to our neighborhood welcome signage
10. install a butterfly garden, purple martin houses and/or bat houses along the Olentangy River
11. hire professionals to help clear honeysuckle and other invasive species as well as dead or dangerous trees along the untouched portions of the east bank of the Olentangy River
12. install arbor vitae or other evergreens along the west bank of the Olentangy River to abate noise from SR 315
13. replace small stretches of bad sidewalk
14. re-sign the neighborhood to better control truck traffic
15. stripe cross walks and stop bars at major intersections and major pedestrian and bicycle routes
16. replace pole-mounted street lights with acorn lighting like that found in Harrison Park
17. bury utility lines wherever possible
18. add light-post banner arms along key thoroughfares and hang banners from them to announce upcoming events in the neighborhood
19. purchase vacant land to be used as neighborhood green space
20. improve the south entrance to the neighborhood with art, flowerbeds, etc.

These are just a few possible uses for the TIF money that’s available to us right now. We encourage everyone in Harrison West to offer their own ideas by commenting on this article, by coming to the Harrison West Society meeting on March 21 or by sending an e-mail with your ideas to Rob Harris, Harrison West Society President.

Print Friendly