COLUMBUS BUILDS CHARACTER

Top of Mind

COLUMBUS SENTENCES ITS NEW COURTHOUSE TO LIFE WITHOUT CONSTRUCTION

After years of planning, design work and public funding, Columbus has officially canceled its proposed Franklin County Municipal Court building.

The eight-story courthouse was supposed to rise at South High and East Mound streets, replacing an aging court complex that city officials had spent years describing as overcrowded and outdated. Construction was expected to begin this fall, with the new building opening around 2030.

Then the estimated cost reached $335 million.

When the project was first proposed in 2018, it was expected to cost approximately $200 million. Inflation, construction prices and the general experience of trying to build anything larger than a backyard shed pushed that number up by more than $135 million. Mayor Andrew Ginther now says the city will renovate the existing courthouse and neighboring James A. Karnes Building instead.

That renovation is expected to cost approximately $260 million, which would save the city at least $75 million. Ginther says the savings could support parks, sidewalks, recreation centers, public-safety equipment and other neighborhood projects.

On paper, that sounds sensible. Spending $260 million is, technically, cheaper than spending $335 million.

The messier part is everything Columbus did before reaching that conclusion.

Voters approved bond packages that included money for a new courthouse. The city allocated hundreds of millions of dollars, approved the building’s final design, filed demolition permits and began preparing the site. Crews had already started work around the Karnes Building before the city pulled the plug.

The Franklin County Municipal Court says it invested years of staff time and resources into planning the facility and was deeply disappointed by the decision. The court must now continue operating in the same complex officials previously argued was no longer adequate.

Renovation will not necessarily be faster, either. The new courthouse was expected to open in 2030. The renovated court spaces may not be completed in phases until 2034 or 2035.

Saving $75 million could absolutely be the responsible decision. But it is fair to ask why Columbus spent years developing a voter-approved project before fully confronting what it would cost.

The city did not simply reject a proposal. It designed the building, funded the plan, prepared the land and then looked across the street at the old courthouse and decided it still had a few good decades left in it.

Scarlet Letter Trivia

How much does a commercial building permit cost in Columbus?

A. $250 base fee covering the first 500 sq. ft., plus $3.00 per 10 sq. ft. after. Foundation-only permits are capped at $25,000.

B. $500 base fee covering the first 1,000 sq. ft., plus $4.50 per 10 sq. ft. after. Foundation-only permits are capped at $40,000.

C. $650 base fee covering the first 1,000 sq. ft., plus $6.00 per 10 sq. ft. after. Foundation-only permits use the same pricing and are capped at $50,000.

D. $1,000 base fee covering the first 2,000 sq. ft., plus $8.00 per 10 sq. ft. after. Foundation-only permits are capped at $75,000.

COLUMBUS STATE’S FREE-COLLEGE PLAN DROPS OUT EARLY

For roughly two weeks, Columbus State Community College had a plan to make tuition free for new high school graduates throughout Franklin County.

Then it did not.

In July, the college proposed a 10-year, 1.9-mill property-tax levy that would have generated approximately $95 million annually. The money would have eliminated tuition for new Franklin County high school graduates and reduced tuition for other county residents.

The idea was ambitious and easy to understand. Central Ohio needs nurses, manufacturing workers, technicians and other skilled employees. College remains financially out of reach for many families. Columbus State wanted to create a broad, affordable path between graduating high school and beginning a career.

The funding method was less charming.

The levy would have cost homeowners approximately $67 annually for every $100,000 in property value. For a home valued at Franklin County’s median of $288,000, that came to nearly $200 every year.

That is not an enormous amount compared with the cost of college, but it arrived while Franklin County homeowners were already staring at higher valuations and a growing collection of property-tax bills. Ohio lawmakers are also under pressure to reform the state’s property-tax system as residents continue raising concerns about affordability.

Columbus State’s Board of Trustees initially delayed its decision on whether to place the levy on the November ballot. Days later, the college ended the effort entirely. President David Harrison said the school remained committed to affordable, career-focused education but concluded that this was not the right moment to move forward.

The proposal’s collapse does not necessarily mean the idea was bad. It means free college became much harder to sell once the property-tax bill arrived.

The decision also leaves questions about the future of Columbus Promise, the existing program that provides free Columbus State tuition and additional support to graduates of Columbus City Schools. The program currently offers free tuition and a $500-per-semester scholarship for up to six semesters.

Columbus State managed to fit an entire election campaign into less than two weeks: announce free college, calculate the homeowner cost and decide everyone had probably heard enough.

The goal remains compelling. The challenge is finding a way to pay for it that does not begin with asking Franklin County homeowners to check their latest property valuation.

COLUMBUS STATE IS TURNING A PARKING LOT INTO SOMETHING STUDENTS CAN USE.

Not every Columbus State project disappeared this summer.

The college and YMCA of Central Ohio are moving ahead with plans for a new YMCA on the downtown campus. The approximately 50,000-square-foot facility is expected to include a gymnasium, fitness areas, wellness studios, an indoor track, aquatic facilities and outdoor recreation space.

There will be pickleball courts, naturally. No modern development may legally proceed without them.

But the most important feature is not the pool, gym or suspended running track. It is the childcare.

Eligible Columbus State students would be able to use free drop-in childcare for up to five hours per day. That could allow a parent to attend a class, complete a lab or meet with an adviser without arranging and paying for an entire day of daycare.

For community-college students, that kind of flexibility matters. Many are balancing school with jobs, children and other responsibilities. A missed class is not always caused by a lack of motivation. Sometimes a babysitter cancels, a work schedule changes or the complicated machinery holding someone’s week together simply stops cooperating.

The facility is expected to open in fall 2028 and would be funded primarily through a student recreation fee of up to $65 per semester. Students voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal in 2025, although only a small portion of eligible students participated in the election.

Students began receiving access to YMCA locations throughout Central Ohio in summer 2026, two years before the planned campus facility opens. The new building still depends on final project approvals, but it is further along than a simple campus wish list.

It will also replace part of the large surface-parking footprint surrounding the downtown campus. That alone feels like a minor Columbus miracle.

There are reasonable questions about the student fee, limited voter participation and final construction costs. Still, the YMCA is designed around a real problem: students cannot finish their education when basic needs consistently pull them away from it.

In a week when Columbus canceled one major building and Columbus State abandoned another ambitious proposal, the YMCA offers a more encouraging ending.

The city may not be getting a new courthouse. Franklin County graduates are not getting universal free tuition. But a downtown parking lot could become childcare, recreation space and a place that makes staying in school a little easier.

Around here, we will take the win.

Trivia Answer C. $650 base fee covering the first 1,000 sq. ft., plus $6.00 per 10 sq. ft. after. Foundation-only permits use the same pricing and are capped at $50,000.