64 East Walnut Arts Center Proposed By SAVE

SAVE had its organizational meeting at Family Room Coffee on Otterbein Ave. Tuesday night.

A newly formed Westerville citizens group is urging the city to reconsider plans for 64 E. Walnut St. and instead explore converting the city-owned property into an arts venue that supporters say could serve schools, performers, artists, writers and residents across the community.

Supporting an Arts Venue for Everyone, or SAVE, held its first organizational meeting Tuesday night, drawing about 20 people. The meeting came as residents continue to raise concerns about a proposed mixed-use development on the city-owned site near Uptown Westerville.

Organizer Dwight Heckelman said the group is not trying to replace existing arts organizations in Westerville. Instead, he said its immediate purpose is to encourage the city to consider 64 E. Walnut St. as a community arts space.

“This is just for one initiative and one initiative only,” Heckelman said. “And that primary initiative is to try and get an art space at 64 East Walnut.”

Heckelman said the Walnut Street property is well-suited for a public arts use because it already sits among civic and community spaces, including the library and nearby parks. He said the site’s location near Uptown could make an arts center more useful than a venue farther from the city’s historic commercial district.

“The library is there, the parks are there,” he said. “It really fits the nature of that location.”

The group’s discussion focused on two parallel goals: slowing or stopping the current development proposal and building public support for an arts alternative. Heckelman said SAVE wants the city to issue a request for proposals, or RFP, that would allow other ideas for the property to be formally considered.

He said an RFP could establish the city’s goals for the site, including revenue, preservation of the existing footprint, parking and community benefit, and then allow groups or developers to submit competing proposals.

“I’d like to think we have the best idea, but I’m certainly not arrogant enough to think it’s the only idea,” Heckelman said.

Residents at the SAVE meeting raised concerns about traffic, parking, tax abatements, school impacts and the size of the proposed development. Several speakers said the Walnut Street area already faces traffic pressure from nearby schools, the library, Uptown businesses and neighborhood cut-through streets.

Kelly Maxwell, who lives on University Street, said her street is already used by drivers avoiding State Street. She said she and her husband moved to the neighborhood because of its proximity to Alum Creek and Uptown, and she worries the project would damage their quality of life.

“We have our dream home, our tiny little house that has Alum Creek in the back and Uptown in the front,” Maxwell said. “And we’re just looking at that quality of life go right down if this happens.”

Rendering from the developer of the proposed project at 64 East Walnut

The issue also surfaced the same evening at a Westerville Public Library Board of Trustees meeting, although it was not listed on the board’s agenda. Peter Maxwell, whose wife, Kelly Maxwell, attended the SAVE meeting, said three people spoke during public comment about 64 E. Walnut St.

One speaker, Charles Taylor, whose son lives on Park Street near the proposed project, urged the board to oppose the current redevelopment plan and communicate that position to City Council and the city manager. In written comments, Taylor cited concerns about the project’s scale, neighborhood impact, public input, traffic, environmental effects, infrastructure, safety and walkability. He also asked the board to seek a role early in the review of any future alternatives for the property.

The library is a close neighbor to the city-owned property, making traffic, parking and access likely concerns as the proposal moves forward.

Parking was a recurring topic during the SAVE meeting. Some speakers said parking is already strained in Uptown, especially with construction and city employee parking affecting nearby lots. Others questioned whether a traffic study conducted during the summer would accurately reflect school-year congestion.

Several speakers also raised concerns about the site’s proximity to schools and school traffic. Heckelman, a former school board member, said he was not speaking for the schools but would want answers about tax abatements, housing, school-zone traffic and the effect on nearby school operations.

“What my position would be, what’s the tax abatement? Is there housing involved?” Heckelman said. “Does the developer and the city understand the traffic with the bus lot across the street? Do we know we’re next to a school zone?”

Supporters of the arts venue idea said Westerville has long lacked a dedicated arts and performance center. Sarah McKee, a music teacher in Westerville schools who lives on Walnut Street, said the need for performance space predates the current development controversy.

“We have vital arts programs at Westerville schools,” McKee said. “Our community is really art-centered. We are. And this is like a practical need.”

Devon Wells, who runs the Westerville Writers Group, said he recently spent months searching for a regular meeting space before securing one at the library.

“I’ve spent the past two or three months avidly hunting for a regular meeting space,” Wells said.

Wells said that experience showed how difficult it can be for community arts and literary groups to find reliable space in Westerville.

Attendees also discussed public outreach, including petitions, flyers, social media, posters, Fourth Friday events and attendance at future City Council meetings and public forums. One speaker said opponents should keep attending council meetings to show that the pause in the legislative process has not ended public concern.

Heckelman said the period before September gives SAVE time to build support and press the city to consider alternatives.

“Between now and September is kind of the window to build community support,” he said.

The broader debate over 64 E. Walnut St. has become a test of how Westerville should balance development pressure near Uptown with historic character, public land use, parking needs and community amenities. For SAVE supporters, the property represents more than a development site. They see it as a chance to create a public-facing arts venue in the heart of the city.

“This is important for us to say there is something that we do want,” Heckelman said. “So we can offer an alternative.”

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