The Columbus Dispatch

Day care considered for Clintonvil­le funeral home

- By Mark Ferenchik mferench@dispatch.com @MarkFerenc­hik

A children’s day-care center is being proposed for a shuttered Clintonvil­le funeral home that preservati­on groups had listed as an endangered historic site.

Plans for the former Southwick-Good & Fortkamp Funeral Chapel, 3100 N. High St., will be discussed at the Clintonvil­le Area Commission meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Columbus Metropolit­an Library’s Whetstone branch, 3909 N. High St.

The building contains the Clinton Chapel, which dates to 1838 and was a stop on the Undergroun­d Railroad, according to the Ohio History Connection. Escaped slaves hid in the church’s basement.

Mark Smith of CD Advisors, which represents the daycare operators, said the building would be renovated, but the historic structure would not be altered.

“There will be minimal alteration for this site,” said Smith, who declined to identify the day-care operators.

He said there is a lot of demand for a day care in the Clintonvil­le area.

Nearby residents were worried that apartments or condominiu­ms would be built on the site near Walhalla Ravine. The funeral home closed in 2017. SGFWN LLC owns the site. The agent for the company is Susan Southwick-Good, a member of the family who owned the funeral home.

In October 2017, Preservati­on Ohio listed the Clinton Chapel as among its most endangered sites in Ohio. The chapel became a private residence, then a speakeasy during Prohibitio­n in the 1920s. In 1938, R.L. Southwick bought the building and opened a funeral home.

The Columbus Landmarks Foundation also put the building on its most endangered list last year. Matt Leasure, Columbus Landmarks’ advocacy chairman, said he had not heard about the new plans.

“We’re excited to see a project that preserves the historic building,” he said.

Libby Wetherholt, a Clintonvil­le area commission­er, said a day care would be great.

“I don’t think it would cause any big concerns with folks,” Wetherholt said. “We’ve all wanted to save the building.”

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