Tag Archives: Columbus Ohio development projects

Today in History Prohibition Party Convention

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This occasional series will focus on interesting or important dates in Columbus history, with today’s being the 1919 Prohibition Party Convention.

February 22, 1872
A convention of the Prohibition Party was convened at the Opera House to discuss ways in which to enact legislation banning the manufacturing and sale of alcohol. Such conventions had taken place at least 8 times in the previous 40 years, but was the first such event since 1869. The 1869 event in Chicago formed the Prohibition Party itself, so the Columbus event could be described as the first convention of the new political party.

The event was attended by about 25 delegates from 12 states. Those in attendance included Gideon T. Stewart, then a prohibition candidate for Ohio governor. Stewart gave the welcoming speech. In it, he described the prohibition movement as an attempt to “protect the interests of humanity” and that due to the government’s involvement in the sale of liquor, was “fast verging towards the precipice over which other governments have swept to destruction”.

cool link prohibition party convention

Gideon Steward around 1900.

Stewart was elected as the party secretary during the convention. The 1872 convention was also the first the party nominated candidates for US president.

During the event, it was ironically noted that Columbus itself benefitted greatly from alcohol sales, and functioned as “one of the foremost benefactors of the world” in that regard. Columbus did have multiple breweries at the time- most in the Brewery District, of course- but it cannot be verified if Columbus was indeed special in either its alcohol consumption or sales compared to other cities.
In 1919, the Prohibition Party was ultimately successful in establishing nationwide prohibition by assisting in the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. This victory, however, proved somewhat pyrrhic in nature as the 18th was repealed by 1933 and the Party suffered a long-lasting blow to its reputation. It was never again quite able to gain such a prominent role in leading national public policy. For a political movement driven by such a singular issue, it is perhaps surprising that the Prohibition Party is still in existence today, though its influence even as a 3rd party is now virtually non-existent.

The modern logo of the Prohibition Party.



Things Developers Say

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On occasion, city leaders and developers say some absurd, ridiculous and hilariously tone-deaf comments regarding development and other urban issues in and around Columbus. And sometimes, as is the case with this example, those comments will highlight the often underwhelming results compared to the rhetoric.

15 years ago, the southeast corner of West Henderson and Reed Road was filled with a family-owned Italian restaurant called Da Vinci’s Ristorante. The restaurant had sat at the location since the mid-1970s and had become something of a local institution for the area.

For reasons that have been lost if ever reported, Da Vinci’s was closed and torn down in the spring of 2006. The family, it seems were either tired of the restaurant business, or had decided that a prominent location such as theirs could be a better money-making operation if it was redeveloped. Hence, Arlington Pointe, the current development on the site, came into being.

In a Dispatch article from that time, the developer- Ruscilli Real Estate Services- talked about the development in somewhat glowing terms.
“We wanted something that had more of a streetscape appeal,” said Ruscilli Real Estate President Tim Kelton. “There’s a lot of parking in the back and a hallway in the center. We wanted the shops and restaurants and everything very close to Henderson Road to fit into the neighborhood better.”

And what exactly did this development with lots of “streetscape appeal” look like? Yeah, it was just a standard strip center, the same kind that has been built 100,000x over across Ohio and the country, and now dominate the suburbs.
Things developers say Columbus, Ohio
Do the shops look close to Henderson? They are set well back from Henderson, actually, and a large parking lot wraps the entire way around the building. In fact, there is more parking fronting Reed and Henderson than there is in the lot behind the building, as can be seen from the aerial.

Like so many of these suburban strip centers, getting to the shops and office space by any means other than a car was completely ignored. In fact, the development caters to cars so thoroughly that it actually has its own mini-off ramp from Henderson.

Now, there are sidewalks around, but the chances that anyone actually uses them in what must be an unpleasant, loud and dangerous walk seem slim.

Ruscilli did get one thing correct, though- the project did fit in with the area given that the vast majority of neighboring development is much the same.

You can peruse the Proposed Development for upcoming projects.