At the southern end of Bruck Street, one will find a quiet industrial complex which is the home of Franklin International. They’ve been in the adhesives business since 1935. Most recently, they’ve launched a line of “green” adhesives known as “GREENchoice”, offering the most eco-friendly line of construction-related adhesives ever. Even their packaging is made from recycled materials. Franklin’s “Titebond” line is one of the exclusive sponsors of PBS’s “New Yankee Workshop”.
Since the Merion Village/Hungarian Village area is their home, might we find a way to have them contribute more to the area?
Many years ago in Minneapolis, Honeywell’s offices were located in a neighborhood that was in severe decay. Honeywell “adopted” the neighborhood, and assisted in its redevelopment. From street repair and maintenance to home renovation, Honeywell, over the course of a few years, helped to recover the neighborhood. Much of this work was a result of Honeywell employees complaints about personal safety while coming to and from work.
While I doubt this is a concern here, there’s still a great opportunity for Franklin International to adopt Bruck Street as the gateway to their world headquarters. It’s not a grand boulevard, and certainly not wide enough to become that. It would be, however, a great path for Franklin to highlight how it’s products are used in every-day construction and renovation projects.
A project for the New Yankee Workshop? Perfect for attracting attention for the neighborhood. A corporate sponsorship to restore the cobblestone street? Ideal. How about their assistance in creating a uniform street-lighting campaign along Bruck Street that would replace utilitarian lights with something that offers a defining look? Perhaps Franklin International could help with local efforts to improve 4th Street with similar ideas.
4 responses so far ↓
Susan Halpern // 1 November, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Actually the plant is located in Steelton, the area just south of Hungarian Village (it is also known as the Reeb-Hosack area. But your idea is a great one, and it is in Franklin International’s best interest to help improve the area. Thanks for starting the discussion.
michaelreed // 1 November, 2007 at 10:24 pm
http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/110107/GermanVillage/News/110107-News-445619.html
Merion Village and Schumacher Place residents can peek into the possible future of their neighborhoods during presentations of the Amended South Side plan tonight and next week.
Bob Leighty // 2 November, 2007 at 10:14 am
And yeah, Franklin International is a great company and asset to South Columbus. As Susan said, it is in Steelton Village, also known as the Reeb Hosack area. If you want to talk with folks who are already active in the community down there, you might want to contact Jo Anne St Clair, a City of Columbus employee who runs the Neighborhood Pride Center at the South Side Settlement House. Her info is 645-5220, jastclair@columbus.gov.
Bob Leighty // 2 November, 2007 at 10:15 am
There’s a lot of good info in the draft South Side Plan Amendment, I encourage folks to read it and give their feedback to Devayani, the City planner who is the primary author of the document. Highlights of the plan and a link to the draft plan are at http://merionvillage.org/bannerads/southsideplan.html?91,31 . The draft plan will be presented at our November 7 Merion Village Association meeting, 7 p.m. at the Merion Village Information Center, 1330 South Fourth Street. You are welcome to attend. Please let me know if you have questions or want any more information.
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