Day care considered for Clintonville funeral home

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.”