Arvin Headquarters Newspaper Articles

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Neighbors, council favor renovation, expansion
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Arvin HQ: Blueprint tor progress
By Jon Qard
The Republic *^
Plaits by Arvin Industries Inc. to renovate the old Garfield School into corporate offices is drawing favor¬ able reaction from neighbors and city officials.
Raymond Baxter, a resident of 12th Street, said he's looking forward to the remodeling and ex}[>ansiQn of the 90-year-old build¬ ing.
*'I THOENK IT'S all right," Baxter says. *'It'Il look a lot better once they do something with that school."
Tlie Columbus-based company's ambitioiti^ sche^ie for the now- shuttered building includes a Ccj^gdiiiK waterfaiL and repectiag
pond facing Central Avenue and a landscaped plaza between the facility and Arvin*s existing offices. The school is between 12th and 13th streets and Cottage and Central av¬ enues.
Columbus City Council will con¬ sider a proposal Tuesday to reacme the area from a multifamily residential district to a restricted buffer district. The rezoning was recommended by the City Plan Conunission earlier this month.
Councilwoman Lynn Bigley, whose district (the 5th) includes the site of the buOding, calls the former school a "treasure.**
"IT'S   A   BEAUTIFUL   historic
buildingi*' 9igley says. "I anticipate that tjie neigbboirhood vi^li enjoy it
(the renovated building) im¬ mensely.'*
The building, once called Maple Grove School, was built at the and of the 19th century* It was design^ by architect Charles F. I^pmrell, who also designed old City Hall, now the Columbus Inn, on Fifth Street tod other structures in the community.
"I think we could see buildings like this one being lost and, instead, Arvin's going to make it into a us¬ able tworblock area," Bigley says. "I think that's great"
Bigley says Arvin's decisicm to build corporate offices in the neighborhood was an indication of the company's commitment to the community following air-poUution {See AAVIN, Back Page of Saction)