A black metal arch on Broadway Street now marks the northern edge of Toledo's Old South End, a multicultural neighborhood that has long struggled with empty storefronts and crumbling homes, but in recent years has started showing signs of rebirth.
"We really wanted something to welcome people into the Old South End, and let them know they're entering an amazing neighborhood," said Councilman Theresa Gadus, who spearheaded the more than $100,000 city-funded project. "This is a symbol for everything that's coming for the south. We're working on the Broadway Mile plan, there's a focus on neighborhood growth in this area, on our parks.
"We're really channeling all of our energy from downtown straight into the Old South End," she added.
Community leaders and a bipartisan mix of politicians including Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) were in the neighborhood Wednesday for the arch's dedication.
Beforehand, Mr. DeWine toured a nearby house that had been fully gutted and renovated by the nonprofit Historic South Initiative, and heard about other work the group is doing to rehab and repair homes.
The nonprofit's leader, Chris Amato, explained to Mr. DeWine how with the help of a steady flow of lawmaker-appropriated funds his organization has helped fix up dozens of homes. It now aims to expand into other community development areas such as renovating downtrodden commercial spaces and increasing the number of education options.
Not far from the Eastern Avenue home, officials plan to build a solar field on vacant property between the Maumee River and railroad tracks on the neighborhood's southern edge. Ms. Kaptur helped secure $1.5 million for the project, with another $500,000 in federal funding going toward a SeaGate Food Bank rooftop solar project, which is also located in the neighborhood.
The plan is to raise $100,000 a year for Historic South’s community development efforts from the project's electricity sales.
Ms. Kaptur said a good example of what the coming solar farm will look like is the field of panels at Jeep Parkway and I-75. That project produces about 2.2 megawatts of electricity that are purchased by Dana Inc. to help power its assembly plant.
Another coming project for the Old South End is an overhaul of Broadway Street, the neighborhood's main artery.
Steve Seaton, president of the Broadway Corridor Coalition, said the Broadway Mile project calls for transforming the street through the neighborhood's business district. This includes adding bike lanes, more green spaces, public art, and traffic calming measures.
"The gateway [arch] is truly going to be an entrance to a transformed street," he said, noting the goal is to complete the project design a year from now and start construction in 2024.
"Cities, neighborhoods, different places have these," Carl Wagner, chairman of Historic South's board, said of the new arch. "There's an area in Columbus, Short North, that has a nice one. But they're wonderful welcomes to neighborhoods."
So far, many of the most visible changes to the neighborhood have involved housing — removing lead paint, fixing siding and roofs, and in some cases fully renovating old homes with the help of various nonprofit and government funds.
In an interview, Mr. DeWine said that he especially wants to focus on lead removal. He said under his administration funding has increased for remediation, "but we need to do more, frankly. Our next budget you're going to see us putting more state money in regarding the lead paint problem."
Mr. DeWine also pledged a larger focus on funding new affordable housing in Ohio. Toledo as a city has long struggled to create new affordable housing projects.
"One of the things we're thinking about doing, and asking the legislature to do, is to create an Ohio tax credit for construction of affordable housing," he said.
Such a tax credit program would pair with the existing federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, he said, and help make projects in certain areas more financially attractive for developers.
First Published August 17, 2022, 9:50 p.m.
