In 2015, the Toledo Mud Hens were halfway through the completion of a $21 million project to redevelop old buildings in Toledo’s Warehouse District into what is now known as Hensville. Ten years later, the organization is ready for an expansion.

The project will convert North St. Clair Street between Monroe and Washington streets into a “festival street.” The expansion will link Fifth Third Field, Fleetwood’s Tap Room, and Hensville Park and create a dynamic entertainment plaza for fans.

“The goal for the festival street is to unite local businesses and amenities with Hensville,” Bill Goodyear, project manager for the Toledo Mud Hens, said at Tuesday’s Toledo City Council meeting.

According to a presentation supplied to council, the total investment is “projected to exceed $3 million” and will be developed into two phases. Phase one includes upgrades to North St. Clair Street with curb bump outs, gateway signage, and vehicle security gates. The back portion of Fleetwood’s Tap Room patio will be converted into stairs leading to Hensville Park.

In the second phase, lighting will be implemented along that portion of North St. Clair Street. A roof structure will be constructed for the side patio and front entrance of Fleetwood’s Tap Room to provide shelter from the weather, while maintaining an open atmosphere. The project will also expand the interior bar and add an exterior bar on the patio. The phase will also include the opening of the center field of Fifth Third Field to allow fans to flow onto North St. Clair Street.

“The goal will be to open up center field at Fifth Third to allow guests and visitors to flow from center field onto the festival street to take part of the multiple festivities,” Mr. Goodyear said at the meeting.

Part of the project will be financed through the Ohio One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund. The project was awarded $250,000 in June, which will be put toward the gateways.

Pending city council’s approval, the city will spend about $50,000 on the relocation of the curb on North St. Clair Street at Monroe Street to prevent traffic from entering the festival street and ensuring safety during events. The money will come from the Tax Increment Financing fund, which captures the incremental property tax revenue downtown and reinvests it into public infrastructure improvements.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Mr. Goodyear said the company is still searching for funding for the second phase of the project.

During gameday activities, the portion of North St. Clair Street between Washington and Monroe streets is already closed. Brandon Sehlhorst, economic development director for Toledo, said the gates will ensure safety while also creating a sense of community. North St. Clair Street will continue to be a public street, owned and managed by the city.

“Now, if you go down there and the road is closed because of the gameday activity, there’s just a ‘road closed’ sign with a little gate that you would seen on a road closure,” Mr. Sehlhorst said. “So this will be more substantial and decorative and also create a sense of place.”

Mr. Sehlhorst said the city has been in discussions for more than a year with the company about improvements to North St. Clair Street.

“As we kind of proceeded through design, we recognized quickly that we needed to make some improvements to the southeast curb of the North St. Clair intersection with Monroe Street,” Mr. Sehlhorst said. “So we intend to reimburse them for that expense so that we can move forward with the installation of these gateways late this spring, early summer.”

A spokesman for the Mud Hens declined to comment further but said the company is hoping to unveil the gateways this spring or summer. An official date has not been announced. Phase two is not expected to begin until 2026 and is estimated to be completed in 2028.

Mr. Sehlhorst said the city is still working with the company to study improvements that are being proposed to North St. Clair Street as part of Phase 2.

“We have basic cost estimates, but they are in [the] detail design [phase] now, so we have made no commitments on behalf of the city to assist with phase two,” Mr. Sehlhorst said.

Mr. Sehlhorst said for the past 10 years, Hensville has been a major catalyst for development downtown, but specifically Summit Street. He cited ProMedica’s headquarters relocation and the renovation of the Park Hotel and the Glass City Convention Center.

“Any activities that we can continue to provide throughout our city, and in particular downtown, is just so incredibly important to our economic competitiveness,” Mr. Sehlhorst said. “Not only does the actual event bring visitors downtown and kind of create that vibrancy, but it’s what we’re seeing residents move downtown for.

“It’s what we’re hearing from businesses that move downtown: that they want to be close that action on a regular basis,” he said.

First Published April 2, 2025, 8:17 p.m.