04-15-94 Neighborhood Task Force Sets Forums

TASK FORCE TO HOLD PUBLIC FORUMS ON UNIVERSITY AREA IMPROVEMENTS
     COLUMBUS -- The University Area Improvement Task Force will
hold public forums April 26 and 30 to hear the concerns of
residents, students, property owners and business people about
the quality of life in the neighborhoods around The Ohio State
University.
     The forum on Tuesday, April 26, will be from 4-6 p.m. in the
Conference Theatre of the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St.  The forum
on Saturday, April 30, will be from 9-11 a.m. at Indianola
Presbyterian Church, 1970 Waldeck Ave. at East 18th Avenue.
     "We encourage people to voice their concerns at the forums
and to offer their visions for what the neighborhoods could be,"
said James L. Nichols, chair of the task force and treasurer of
the university.  "We also will provide an update on the work of
the task force."
     The 17-member task force was established in January at the
request of university President E. Gordon Gee who pledged that
Ohio State would work with public and private interests in the
University Area to develop an improvement plan.
     Serving on the task force are members of university
community groups, city government, local businesses, faculty and
staff and student groups.
     According to Nichols, the task force's goal is to develop an
improvement plan by early June that addresses such concerns as
housing code enforcement, crime, street lights, green space and
recreation areas, trash and environmental problems, and business
development.
     During March and early April, the task force sponsored a
series of focus group sessions on the issues in the
neighborhoods.
     This month task force members also are visiting other urban
universities to see how they deal with similar issues.  They
recently toured Temple University in Philadelphia and Columbia
University in New York City.  They will visit Marquette
University in Milwaukee, the University of Chicago and St. Louis
University later this month.
                                #
Contact: James L. Nichols, 292-6261.


[Submitted by: GERSTNER  (gerstner@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 15 Apr 1994 12:03:10 -0500 (EST)]
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