Merion Village - Columbus, Ohio

And there’s more new about outdoor space in Merion Village from This Week News:

Merion Village gained the park in 2001 after several neighbors turned the vacant, overgrown land into green space.
Soon after the 4-H group volunteered to tend the park as part of Make a Difference Day, after which the club decided to take on the project on a long-term basis.

This pocket park is located on the corner of Bruck and Morrill.

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.