WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) — Law enforcement agencies across Franklin County conducted on Thursday what they called a “Crime Blitz”.
Over 24 hours, officers were on the streets being proactive in their response to crime. Their goal was to be out on the streets making their presence known.
“If you come into Whitehall, there is probably a police officer watching what you are doing,” Sgt. Jon Earl said. “Our crime stats are lowering due to these blitzes. Our main thing is getting the word out: Hey, you don’t know when we’re going to be doing one of these. Don’t come into the city of Whitehall and commit crimes.”
The day started with a meeting to lay out a plan of action. Everyone, even K-9 officers, were involved. Once they hit the streets, it didn’t take long for a hit.
Discover plans $16 million investment into customer care center
The Columbus Blue Jackets is awarding Whitehall, Ohio with a $250,000 grant to construct a community street hockey rink, the team said in a news release Thursday. Construction will begin in early summer, and the rink is expected to be completed by fall.
“We are truly excited to partner with the City of Whitehall on this project and what it will mean to the families, particularly kids, who will have access to it,” Katie Matney, executive director of the Blue Jackets Foundation, said in the release.
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The grant will also be used toward developing sports programming, like Try Hockey for Free clinics, staff training and equipment in Whitehall, according to the release.
Through the partnership, the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation said it will work with the city to offer free education resources to address STEM learning and academic achievement.
Matney applauded the foundation’s past work to bring the Thomas Knox Memorial Roller Hockey Rink to Westerville in 2018 and touted the Whitehall grant as a way to introduce more people to the game of hockey.
Guy Fieri may soon be opening a restaurant right here in Columbus.According to a permit under review by the City of Columbus, a restaurant from the Columbus-born restauranteur and celebrity chef is opening at Scioto Downs, 6000 S. High St.
The applicant, Dublin-based construction company Pepper Construction, cites work that will include interior demolition and build out, and new finishes on a "Guy Fieri restaurant."
Neither Scioto Downs, a casino concept by Caesar's Entertainment, nor Guy Fieri's team have responded to inquiries on the concept or opening timeline by Wednesday afternoon.
Fieri has 17 "Flavortown hot spots," including taco, barbecue, pizza, chicken and burger concepts. Many of his approximately 90 international restaurants are located in casinos, stadiums, malls and cruise ships.
Discover Corporation's Whitehall Support Includes Sponsoring Community Events!
Not only is Discover investing in Whitehall for its new customer care center, it's also sponsoring community events like Whitehall's upcoming Food Truck Festival on July 29 & the TNT Basketball Tournaments at John Bishop Park. Below is a link to see the amazing photos of these games & the wonderful community participation. Whitehall is only the 2nd community in the country that Discover has chosen to invest in jobs & community, sponsor events, etc. The first community was in a south Chicago suburb, Chatham. Discover hopes to do the same community investments in other cities like Whitehall & Chatham across the country.
RIVERWOODS, Ill. (BUSINESS WIRE) Discover executives joined City of Whitehall leaders, local and state legislators, business owners, and non-profit organizations Tuesday afternoon to break ground on Discover's new customer care center in Whitehall. A wall was demolished as part of a groundbreaking ceremony, signifying the start of construction.
Renovations to the 103,000-square-foot building on Broad Street are scheduled to be completed by 2024 with hiring starting this month. The company is investing more than $16 million for construction, training and hiring.The Whitehall customer care center will serve as one of Discover's five 100% U.S.-based customer care centers across the country and will also include a community center that will be available for public use.
The new space is in addition to Discover's data center in central Ohio and would amplify the company's workforce presence in the state, where it already employs 2,100 people largely in the Columbus region. "Investing in Whitehall and bringing jobs to communities that need them most is good business. This move allows us to focus on community development, offer incremental jobs, tap into new and more diverse talent, and support local businesses, said Dennis Michel, senior vice president, operations transformation, US Cards, at Discover. "Moving to Whitehall is also a homecoming for us. It is just four miles away from our original facility at the Eastland Mall site where our commitment to Central Ohio first started more than 35 years ago."
Discover has committed to hiring employees from Whitehall and nearby communities giving Whitehall residents and residents from surrounding communities potential job opportunities closer to home. "Breaking ground on the new customer care center with Discover could not have been a more welcome step forward with our new partners," said Kim Maggard, Mayor of Whitehall. "Even though Discover only recently joined the Whitehall community, they've already begun incorporating themselves into our events and programs. I can only imagine their impact once they're fully up and running.
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Whitehall is on the Rise! Franklin County home values are set to rise a record average 41% in this year's reappraisal, led by a 68% leap in Whitehall.The increase, fueled by a booming housing market, doubles the previous record of 20% set in the county's last reappraisal, in 2020. "The raw number is eye-opening," said Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano, whose office conducted the reappraisal and who forecast the historic jump this spring. "Knowing what the market has looked like, it’s very consistent. We continue this perfect storm of population booming, and housing that hasn’t kept up with demand, creating pressure on prices."
Columbus is one of the hottest industrial markets in the United States, according to a new report from Colliers. The report named Columbus a top 25 industrial market based on inventory, absorption, rent, supply, vacancy and construction activity, among other factors. It tracked more than 75 industrial markets in the U.S., and noted that the top 25 are "heavily concentrated" in the Midwest.
********* * Zach Woodruff, Featured in the Columbus Business Journal *
Zach Woodruff, who grew up on Mayflower Blvd, is Whitehall's City Administrator. He started his career serving
the citizens of Whitehall at 20 years-old when he was started serving on the City Council. Since then, he has helped Whitehall become a renewed, viable suburb who's future looks excellent! He said in a recent Columbus Business Journal "...at my core I really am about public service. I’m self-driven because I really believe Whitehall’s best days are ahead of us. I love the community that I grew up in and I want to ensure that Whitehall is any family’s, any individual’s, first choice to live, work and raise a family."
*Columbus Blue Jackets installs a street hockey rink at John Bishop Park*
* Town & Country is in the Mall Hall of Fame *
Eastland, Westland, Northland are all 'history' but since 1949, people are still shopping at Whitehall's Town & Country! This article is from 2019, but I thought it was fun to read!
Discover plans $16 million investment into customer care center
in Whitehall
RIVERWOODS, Ill. (BUSINESS WIRE) Discover executives joined City of Whitehall leaders, local and state legislators, business owners, and non-profit organizations Tuesday afternoon to break ground on Discover's new customer care center in Whitehall. A wall was demolished as part of a groundbreaking ceremony, signifying the start of construction.
Renovations to the 103,000-square-foot building on Broad Street are scheduled to be completed by 2024 with hiringstarting this month. The company is investing more than $16 million for construction, training and hiring.The Whitehall customer care center will serve as one of Discover's five 100% U.S.-based customer care centers across the country and will also include a community center that will be available for public use.
The new space is in addition to Discover's data center in central Ohio and would amplify the company's workforce presence in the state, where it already employs 2,100 people largely in the Columbus region. "Investing in Whitehall and bringing jobs to communities that need them most is good business. This move allows us to focus on community development, offer incremental jobs, tap into new and more diverse talent, and support local businesses, said Dennis Michel, senior vice president, operations transformation, US Cards, at Discover. "Moving to Whitehall is also a homecoming for us. It is just four miles away from our original facility at the Eastland Mall site where our commitment to Central Ohio first started more than 35 years ago."
Discover has committed to hiring employees from Whitehall and nearby communities giving Whitehall residents and residents from surrounding communities potential job opportunities closer to home. "Breaking ground on the new customer care center with Discover could not have been a more welcome step forward with our new partners," said Kim Maggard, Mayor of Whitehall. "Even though Discover only recently joined the Whitehall community, they've already begun incorporating themselves into our events and programs. I can only imagine their impact once they're fully up and running.
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* MASSEY'S PIZZA Documentary is featured on YouTube *
Massey's Pizza is featured on this YouTube documentary. It was filmed in the Whitehall Massey's pizza restaurant that I'm sure every Ram has enjoyed Massey's pizza. Phil Chin, WYHS 1970 is on the video. Enjoy!
Massey's Pizza is still in business, but we say... * Good Bye to Keller's Stewart's Root Beer Stand's building *
The root beer stand opened up in 1958. In the 1960's it was the hub of families drive-in meals, sports teams after games; teens working & meeting in the back parking lot on their motorcycles. (Some girls had burns on their legs from the exhaust pipe, riding behind their boyfriends' motorcycles). Many of us baby boomers worked our first jobs at the root beer stand! I remember making $.85 per hour in the mid-1960's. As you can see, the police station wasn't built during the majority of the years that the root beer stand's years in operation.
This property, at the corner of Mayflower/Yearling Roads will be made into a parking lot for the police station.
RIP MR & MRS. KELLER
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Photos taken January 10, 2023
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, 1957-2023
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Plans to convert original Port Columbus terminal into aviation hall of fame are taking off
It might be difficult to see from the outside, but progress is being made to restore the original Port Columbus Airport Terminal into the Ohio Air and Space Hall of Fame and Learning Center.
The group working to renovate the 93-year-old building at the southeast corner of John Glenn Columbus International Airport plans to include flight simulators for those interested in aviation careers.
Ron Kaplan, executive director of Ohio Air and Space, said the project cost is $4 million.
Ohio Air and Space raising funds
"We're continuing to raise money for programs and exhibits and staffing," Kaplan said.
Thus far, the group has raised $1.2 million, with the goal of raising another $700,000 to begin the first phase of work, which he hopes to start next year.
"The board has been hard at work to hit the $700,000 mark to get the work started on building," Kaplan said. "We want to get it open as soon as possible."
The group received a $550,000 state grant for the project, and NetJets and FlightSafety became corporate sponsors: NetJets with $125,000 and FlightSafety $100,000, he said.
FlightSafety, a company that provides pilot training and airplane maintenance and other programs, is to also provide two flight simulators for aspiring pilots, Kaplan said. The center also would have two more simulators for the public.
"Any time you can save or preserve anything of historical significance, it can be used as an inspiration and a catalyst to give hope and inspire future generations."
Tuskegee Airmen as part of hall of fame John C. Mitchell, past president of the Ohio Memorial Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Foundation and aviation hall of fame board member, said the story of the Tuskegee Airmen would be part of the center. "What we need to do is show our younger people, letting them know the stories and struggles that went before them," said Mitchell, a retired commercial pilot whose father was a member of the ground crew for the Tuskegee Airmen, based at what is now Rickenbacker International Airport. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military pilots and crews, who began their service during World War II.
Rickenbacker Aviation:Blue Angels preview 2023 Columbus Air Show and new jet in visit to Rickenbacker airport"He used to bring us over to the airport, watch planes take off and land," Mitchell said. The restored terminal would provide a place for young people to do just that, he said.The former terminal at 4920 E. Fifth Ave. was opened July 8, 1929, and served as the airport terminal until the current one was opened in 1958. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.In 2015, Heartland Bank dropped plans to renovate and lease the original terminal and hangar, withdrawing its application for historic tax credits after saying it was not economically feasible to restore the building.
Crews replaced the roof and removed mold in 2016. The Columbus Regional Airport Authority owns the property, and Ohio Air and Space has a long-term lease, Kaplan said. An airport spokeswoman said the Columbus Regional Airport Authority had no comment on the project. The Art Deco-style air terminal has 12,000 square feet and still features the original control tower. When it was opened, it was the easternmost air link in the New York to Los Angeles Transcontinental Air Transport route. Passengers took a train from New York to Columbus, where they exited the train and walked across East Fifth Avenue to the air terminal to fly to Oklahoma. The Great Depression led to the service's elimination. Rebecca Kemper, CEO of Columbus Landmarks, which put the building on its most endangered list in 2015, said Kaplan's group has created a sustainable plan to restore the building, one that she said could have easily been lost. "We're really excited for all the work that they’ve done," Kemper said.
GREAT NEWS for Whitehall! They received a $600K grant from the State of Ohio & the governor was there to present it to the mayor. I heard the the lot where Stewart's Root Beer was will be made into a parking lot for the police dept! I still think we should have a plaque somewhere after it's built with a photo of the Rootbeer stand & the years it operated!
WYHS ALUMNI: L-R Steve Quincel, 1972, Wes Kantor, 1975, Van Gregg, 1971
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* Whitehall Real Estate is White-Hot *
Homebuyers say properties are affordable, convenient. Affordability is drawing first-time homebuyers to the inner-ring Columbus suburb, and they're enjoying the convenience of its location and amenities.
The "State of the City" was March 10, 2021. Mayor Kim Maggard, Police Chief Mike Crispen & City Administrator Zach Woodruff presented the 2021 Annual State of the City , "Building Up Opportunity" on March 10. Here are some highlights: Whitehall grew 11% since the 2010 census to 20,127. Whitehall is one of the most racially diverse suburbs in Columbus with 64% non-white citizens. Over $9M in City, state & federal funding were reinvested in Whitehall streets, bridges, sewer systems, & parks. Whitehall saw a 20% increase in average home sales price. $642,000 of illegal narcotics & other drug assets were taken off the streets. The new Kelley Green hosted 3,500 attendees at 13 Market on the Green farmers market during the summer. To read their impressive online 2021 Annual Report click this link: https://www.whitehall-oh.us/461/Annual-Report
* Whitehall's Impressive 10-Year Economic Comeback Story & Plans * Since 2010, over $114 million in private and public economic investment per square mile has been completed, is in progress or has been committed in Whitehall. This amount of economic investment is unprecedented, and has been an integral part to Whitehall’s comeback story. Learn about some of the major projects underway as part of Whitehall’s decade of development below.