A new park will eventually call the quarry land at the corner of Dublin and Trabue roads home, reports Evan Weese for Columbus Business First.
Mr. Weese writes:
A sprawling limestone quarry in west Columbus will be turned into scenic parkland surrounded by mixed-use development under a joint plan by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks and Wagenbrenner Development.
[...]
The 607-acre site is bounded by Dublin Road to the north and west, the Scioto River to the east and Trabue Road to the south. It is in the city of Columbus and the Hilliard school district.
According to the article, Metro Parks is eager to revitalize this space.
In Project QT, as it's being called, a portion of the 607-acre quarry along the Scioto River will be turned into a regional destination for outdoors enthusiasts: Climbing on dramatic limestone rock features, mountain biking and hiking on rugged terrain, and kayaking in emerald green quarry basins.
“This is an amazing resource. The older quarry sections have had 50 years to restore themselves,” [said] Tim Moloney, executive director of Metro Parks, ... “It’s a landscape that most people have never seen – that bare rock, that extreme environment. This site is screaming to become a park.”
Project QT, as planned, will take several years – and multiple phases – to complete.
The first phase of public parkland will encompass 62 acres of unused quarry northeast of Trabue and Dublin roads, west of Upper Arlington. ...
Wagenbrenner will begin mixed-use development on 79 acres fronting the Scioto River and Trabue Road, wrapping the park's east and south sides. A new road will run along the park's eastern boundary.
[...]
A second phase will create 138 acres of additional parkland to the north. Wagenbrenner is still working out details of the ownership of the Metro Parks portion but both sides are committed to putting a public park there.
Also in future phases, private mixed-use development is expected to span two miles of riverfront.
Metro Parks, eyeing the land for a decade or more, hopes to have some of the park space available by 2019 or 2020.
“We want to do something sooner than later,” Moloney said. “(Just) find a small area to introduce people to this space, whether it’s a scenic overlook at the waterfall.”
Moloney said site remediation and infrastructure – roads and utilities must be added – are driving the timetable.
[...]
Columbus and Hilliard may be extending bicycle trails to reach Project QT, so cyclists could “ride from downtown to Plain City,” Moloney said.
No matter the timetable, this new park and mixed-use development will be well worth the wait.
As Mr. Reese reports:
“We’ll have a park within five miles of every front door in Franklin County [as a result of this project],” [Moloney] said.
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