City helps fund new nonprofit grocery store
FOOD ACCESS /
Money from the Hollywood Casino Columbus is helping a Franklinton nonprofit group build a long-needed grocery store in the still-struggling neighborhood.
The Columbus City Council on Monday approved $150,000 from the Westside Community Fund to help pay for the grocery store to be run by Lower Lights Christian Health Center at 1160 W. Broad St. Lower Lights plans to build a 5,000-square-foot nonprofit grocery store and cafe at the site, selling fresh produce and other items.
Fifteen jobs will be created at the store, which should be open by late October, said Ann Schiele, Lower Lights’ chief strategy officer.
“We are very excited. We are moving right ahead,” Schiele said. “We’re delighted the city chose to support us.”
Councilwoman Priscilla Tyson said access to fresh food will contribute to better health for people who live in Franklinton.
“It will provide improved food access, which I’m excited about, on the west side of Columbus,” Tyson said before the council approved the funding. “This food will be able to add great value to the community.”
The total cost of the project is $1.5 million. Lower Lights has obtained private financing for the development and is raising money to help pay off that debt, she said. So far, $700,000 has been raised, including the $150,000 from the city fund.
The city and Penn National Gaming, owner of the casino on Georgesville Road near the Westland Mall site, agreed to create the West Side Community Fund to help pay for development and charitable projects in that part of town as part of a settlement agreement in 2011 to resolve annexation and utility issues.
Both the city and Penn National agreed to contribute $2.5 million to the fund each year for five years.
“We greatly appreciate the support of the Westside Community Fund” for the nonprofit store, Dr. Dana Vallangeon, Lower Lights CEO, said in an emailed statement. “We are excited to provide resources for the residents of Franklinton, where access to affordable, fresh, healthy foods is desperately needed.”
Lower Lights bought the building in 2009. The site is where Anthony-Thomas Candy made its treats from 1970 to 1994.
The prices people pay at the store will be based on their income. If a grocery or cafe customer lives at below 200 percent of the poverty level, the cost will be lowered.
To make it work, though, Lower Lights must be able to attract customers who pay full price. There will be no free food, Schiele said.
Franklinton is developing in spurts and specific pockets, such as East Franklinton near Downtown, where projects such as the eight-building, $50 million River & Rich development with its 230 apartments, and Kaufman Development’s $70.8 million development with office, retail and residential space, are making splashy headlines.
But many Franklintown residents remain poor, officials say, and the neighborhood desperately needs access to a new grocery. Aldi has a store at 1331 W. Mound St. on Hilltop South, just south of Interstate 70 from the Franklinton neighborhood.
Trent Smith, executive director of the Franklinton Board of Trade, said he believes that if the Lower Lights grocery store project is successful, others grocers might become interested in Franklinton.