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A center for automotive research and technology rather than an auto racetrack has emerged as the featured use for the redevelopment of Cooper Stadium, former home of the Columbus Clippers.
“It is in effect the epicenter,” project developer William Schottenstein, principal of Arshot Investment Corp., said Wednesday during a Columbus Metropolitan Club panel discussion on Cooper Stadium. “What comes out of that building will be what drives the overall project.”
The center, with possible involvement from Ohio State University, Columbus State Community College and NASCAR racing star Jeff Gordon, would focus on automotive research, including electric vehicles, and train auto technicians. It also would use the proposed racetrack inside Cooper Stadium for auto testing. Schottenstein also said Arshot is convinced it can mitigate noise from the racetrack and comply with Columbus’ noise ordinance.
“The long and short of it,” Schottenstein said, “is it’s not going to have any impact noise-wise.”
That goes against claims by Redevelop Our Area Responsibly, a group of Franklinton, German Village and downtown businesses and residents that has battled the Arshot project since its introduction two-and-a-half years ago. Citing findings from a sound study they commissioned, ROAR members have said noise from the racetrack would hurt the quality of life and property values for those living near the facility.
Arshot commissioned its own noise study, which found the noise can be kept at acceptable levels with the construction of a 35-foot tall wall around the track.
Arshot has an option to purchase the site from Franklin County, which owns the 46-acre site and baseball park that sits on it. It has been vacant for two years because of the Clippers’ move to Huntington Park in the Arena District.
Arshot has submitted a rezoning application for the property to the city of Columbus. Its fate is in the hands of city council, which is expected to make its decision early next year.
Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady, one of the panel members Wednesday, said he supports the project because it meets the county’s goals of reusing Cooper Stadium and creating jobs in the Franklinton area.
Schottenstein said his Cooper Park project would create an estimated 300 jobs – everything from unskilled positions to automotive researchers with doctorates. His company expects to invest $30 million to $40 million in the project.
“These are the types of jobs and development the commissioners strive for in all of the projects we get involved in,” O’Grady said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with where this is headed.”
No ROAR members were on the panel, but a number of them asked pointed questions of Schottenstein, O’Grady and the other two panelists, Southwest Area Commission Secretary Stefanie Coe and Giorgio Rizzoni, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State.
Schottenstein was questioned about media reports that have said Cooper Park would host as few as six auto-racing events a year to as many as 16 to 20.
Six is the more accurate number for race events that would produce noise levels at the limits of Columbus’ noise law, he said, adding
Arshot’s plan also calls for Cooper Park to host events such as extreme sports, car shows, rodeos and concerts.
“Racing would be one of the more limited types of events,” Schottenstein said.
But he also said it would not be “economically viable” to eliminate auto racing from the event mix at Cooper Park, and he wants the facility to be in use year-round.
Other questions from the audience resulted in O’Grady saying tax abatements for the developer may be needed to make the Cooper Park project work. In addition, Rizzoni said there is no binding agreement for Ohio State to be involved in the project but some “friendly conversations” between OSU and Arshot officials have taken place.
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