Ginther teases new Linden Public Safety campus for 2027 completion
With an election just over two weeks away, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther took the opportunity Monday to remind voters that his administration is pouring tens of millions of dollars into a new public safety campus to include a "Real Time Crime Center" in Linden.
While a giant excavator began — ceremonially at least —ripping apart one of the two city-owned buildings at the 757 Carolyn Avenue complex, formerly a former Building and Zoning office site adjacent to I-71, don't expect the project to wrap up anytime soon. Ginther put the completion date sometime in 2027, or roughly around the time of the next mayoral campaign four years from now.
When completed, the campus will include the center — where police will use data and video technology to assist officers in responding to and solving crimes — as well as a new 911 call center, a relocated police substation, an emergency operations center for coordinating natural disasters like tornadoes and floods, and other safety functions.
"Put quite simply, this helps us get on the offense" to preventing and solving crimes, Ginther said, allowing authorities to manage incidents as they unfold.
But the project hasn't exactly been on a fast track.
The announcement of a new real time crime center first came up as a city priority in January 2019, when Ginther was asking voters to support a $1.03 billion city bond package, which would in part support the new center's design even though a location hadn't yet been selected at the time. Ginther announced later that year that he had included $3 million in the capital budget for the center's design.
In spring of 2021, City Council approved $210,000 for a study on how to use the Linden site after the city relocated zoning officials to new offices Downtown.
By October 2021, the mayor had included another $7 million in the city capital budget for the work, part of $766.2 million in new long-term projects, the city announced. But it took until last week for City Council to approve $8.33 million to AECOM for architectural, engineering and construction management services for the center.
"We're right on track and right on schedule," Ginther told reporters at the ceremony Monday. "Design will take place later this year and go through '24 and '25. Then construction through '27."
Asked why the project is taking so long, Ginther responded: "This is something that takes a significant amount of research, collaboration. We have many different departments working together. We're looking at best practices around the country to make sure that we're doing this the right way. This will be a very significant financial investment, and we want to make sure that it's paying dividends to the people of Columbus for decades to come."
The city plans to relocate Police Substation No. 2, at 2077 Parkwood Ave. in South Linden, to the new campus when construction is completed, officials said.
Ginther's ballot opponent in the November 7 election, Joe Motil, said he wasn't immediately prepared to comment on the mayor's latest announcement when reached by phone Monday afternoon.
City officials didn't have a total project budget to share Monday, but City Council member Emmanuel Remy, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said he estimates it would likely be in the neighborhood of $50 million.
But "we won't know that clearly until they have completed the design work," Remy said, which is expected sometime in 2025.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ginther announces two-year design process for new Linden safety campus
