Rediscovering the Natural Beauty of the City's Root
The City of Gahanna owes its existence to the waters of the Big Walnut Creek. The original village was founded along its edge in the mid-19th century, and an old grain mill was essential for the village's early economic success. Through a collaborative effort with the citizens of Gahanna and consultants instrumental in San Antonio, Texas's Riverwalk Plan, City leaders led the effort to clean up the Big Walnut and create unique passive recreational spaces. The project has not only added beautiful public spaces to our city, it has attracted many revitalization projects in neighboring Olde Gahanna. While today's Gahanna may not rely on the Big Walnut to power its businesses, the City has definitely re-established a connection to the creek. Today, it continues to "power" a sense of community and economic development as businesses are learning the value of locating next to such a great natural amenity.
Creekside Park
The completion of Creekside Park is known as Phase One of the City's broader vision of Olde Gahanna revitalization. The Park was a $1.2 million project, which included a $250,000 Nature Works grant from the Franklin County Greenways Initiative. The grant money was used to improve the quality of the creek and restore it to its natural meander. Building the primary feature of the park--the waterfall pictured above--and the Creekwalk that runs from the northern tip of Creekside Island to the southern edge of Olde Gahanna were the other components of Phase One. Large limestone boulders were used to create natural seating near the waterfall and along the Creekwalk in a series of "Council Rings," meant to resemble the Indian tribal council meetings that once took place in the area.
A design philosophy of connectivity between Creekside Park and Olde Gahanna guided Phase One and is responsible for the current success of the park and neighborhood. These photos reveal how pedestrians can easily travel from Mill Street and even the heavily traveled Route 62 to Creekside Park. The park has just the right balance of accessibility and exclusivity that invites a stroll down to creek-level to explore the wonderful scenes along the Creekwalk.
In addition to these great connections to the Mill Street/Route 62 intersection area, Creekside Phase II was finished in 2008--a project that will redirect the Big Walnut toward Mill Street and create a new lagoon and plaza area adjacent to Mill Street. Phase II will completes the vision of Creekside Park as the highlight of Olde Gahanna.
Click Here to continue the Creekside story.