Columbus OH June 22 2021

Columbus City Council on Monday is expected to approve a real estate agreement to purchase a Downtown site that will become the new Municipal Courthouse as well as a $100,000 request for additional security at city parks.

Plans for construction of a replacement Franklin County Municipal Courthouse on the site of the James A. Karnes Building located at 410 S. High St. and the adjacent Dorrian Commons Park  were first reported by The Dispatch in January 2020.

And the second ordinance, if passed, will grant Columbus Recreation and Parks Department interim director Paul Rakosky the authority to hire additional security officers for pools, community centers and other locations operated by the department.

That legislation comes on the heels of a mass shooting at an unauthorized DJ music event  in Bicentennial Park last month, which ignited impassioned calls for public safety after 16-year-old Olivia Kurtz was killed and five other teens were wounded.

After years of discussing whether Columbus would renovate the more than 40-year-old Franklin County Municipal Courthouse, city council members will approve an agreement with the county to purchase the Karnes Building and Dorrian Commons. The park has been closed off for years by fencing.

The two sides reached a memorandum of understanding in March outlining the terms of the contract and are now moving forward with the agreement. The city will spend $7 million to acquire the site for the future construction of a new facility to house the Municipal Court, the Municipal Court Clerk’s office and other city offices associated with the court.

The city will make the first half of the payment on or before March 1, 2022 and the second half on or before September 1, 2024.

The new building will be located at 410 S. High St. and future construction will span across the underused Dorrian park and land occupied by the Karnes Building south from Mound to Fulton streets.

In bulldozing over the park, the new Municipal Court building would be renamed after Michael J. Dorrian, the late county commissioner — “a fitting tribute,” county commissioner John O’Grady told The Dispatch in January 2020.

The current Municipal Court building, at the northwest corner of South High and Fulton streets, would be renovated and used as future office space for the county, probably to include sheriff’s office operations now housed in the Karnes building, O’Grady said then.

Mitigating the city’s violence has been a top priority for Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and the city council, which is the impetus for an ordinance Monday that would provide an extra $100,000 for city Recreation and Parks Department to contract with multiple security companies to provide security guard services on an as-needed basis at pools, rec centers and parks.

The parks department works closely with Columbus Division of Police to hire officers as security, but the needs of parks and recreation are exceeding the number of Columbus police officers available, according to the department.

After the city reached 90 homicides last week, the city parks department’s mission to provide alternative activities for youths in a safe environment is even more heightened.

Kerry Francis, chief communications officer for city’s parks department, explained that last summer and in 2019 Columbus police were able to fill all the security slots at each of the department’s pools. But the uptick in violence this year and increased demands on the division have strained resources.

“With everything going on we requested the money to supplement their shifts with a private security firm,” she said. “Again just having a security presence at our pools is so important to make sure our kids have a fun, safe time.”

The $100,000 will be drawn from the city’s general fund and appropriated by council to the parks and rec operating fund.

dispatch.com

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