ThisWeek CW 12/18/2014
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/12/15/year-in-review-canal-winchester-saw-continued-growth-in-2014.html
The past year was a busy one for the city of Canal Winchester, which saw continued growth in businesses and jobs, residential projects and community events, although parking issues continued to badger city leaders.
New residential options were made available with the addition of nearly 200 apartments along Diley Road as phase one of the Winchester Ridge development. In addition, ground was broken for a 117-bed assisted living facility, The Inn at Winchester Trail.
As residential space grew, so did employment options, including major investments by TS Trim, CAM Logistics and Wyler Chevrolet, as well as several smaller retail investments such as a new Panera Bread and Massey’s Pizza.
Wyler Chevrolet is nearing completion of its new $4-million renovation of the old Bob McDorman Chevrolet dealership on Gender Road while TS Trim added another 95,000 square feet to its manufacturing plant as part of increased parts production for Honda.
“Wyler Chevrolet’s new dealership and every other new business construction in the city all were big accomplishments,” Mayor Michael Ebert said.
Besides these new development and expansion projects, the city also said goodbye to two longstanding development issues.
The old and dilapidated Wendy’s restaurant along U.S. Route 33 was purchased by JSB Home Improvements, which spent much of the year renovating the property and bringing its business to the city.
And after years of using temporary tents and a mobile home-style building, the Westchester Golf Course is completing construction of a 3,500-square-foot clubhouse and a 2,000-square-foot shelter house.
The commercial and residential corridors along Gender Road weren’t the only ones to see investment this year: Canal Winchester’s historic downtown added three new retail shops to the city’s complement of stores and restaurants.
Newcomer Sticks & Stones Studio along with downtown staple Georgie Emerson Vintage moved into the former Bolenbaugh Hardware Building while Simply Local and 27 West & Co. opened along East Waterloo Street.
All of this progress didn’t come without some setbacks, however, including the loss of Bolenbaugh Hardware after the owners chose to retire at the beginning of the year.
The end of 2014 brought the temporary loss of the Canal Wigwam restaurant following an electrical fire the morning of Dec. 5 which has also closed the Ed Jeffers Barber Museum that occupied the second floor of the same building.
With the redevelopment of the Wyler Chevrolet site, the Bob McDorman Car Museum, which had been located at the dealership, reopened in what was once the site of Davis Paints at 45 E. Waterloo St.
“This is something I’ve dreamed of building all my life,” McDorman said. “We’ll have four or five classic cars here on consignment, along with the 38 permanent cars in there.”
The congregations of two Canal Winchester churches — David’s United Church of Christ and David Evangelical Lutheran Church — celebrated their joint 175th anniversaries in 2014, holding community events and services to mark the occasion.
The community also said goodbye in 2014 to one of its most prominent, “no-nonsense” leaders of recent history, Frances Steube, an iconic figure in town.
The Frances Steube Community Center is named for her.
Other events in 2014 included:
* The Franklin County Engineer’s Office announced in January that construction would start in late spring or early summer on a $5-million project to improve a section of Winchester Pike connecting Canal Winchester and Madison Township.
* Canal Winchester Human Services began a capital campaign called One Square Foot at a Time to raise enough money to build a permanent home for itself.
* Extremely cold and wintry weather caused the city to use more road salt than usual; by the end of February, Canal Winchester had gone through about 600 tons of salt compared with a total 460 tons used for all of 2013.
* City council approved changes to Canal Winchester’s commercial parking laws that were designed to keep vehicles from being parked overnight in commercial lots.
* A three-way-stop sign was installed at the intersection of Lithopolis and Winchester roads in response to a traffic study done by the Franklin County Engineer’s Office.
* City council voted in August to apply for an Ohio Public Works Commission grant to help pay for a $1.6-million project to increase traffic capacity at the intersection of Gender and Groveport roads.
* The city held its first Veterans Day observance Nov. 8 that included a free pan- cake breakfast followed by a veterans’ march from the Frances Steube Community Center to Stradley Place, where a brief remembrance ceremony was held.
* Development Director Lucas Haire joined a Columbus 2020 contingent that visited Japan in October to encourage greater international investment in central Ohio.