The "Compleat" Columbus
More than a documentary . . . WOSU is creating a self-recording history
By Kelley Bell |
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Paul Milligan says, "The Short North is obviously superior - it's where the rest of Columbus comes when they're bored with their own neighborhood!"
John Putnam adds, "The Short North is the epicenter of everything cool."
Columbus back in the day
Photo: Cheryl Petrilla, WOSU
King-Lincoln residents dissent. Alice Flowers thinks "the King-Lincoln district is wonderful because it has the best culture for jazz, and the best music in town. It has well-built turn of the century homes, and a variety of exciting cultural events."
Pat Collins points out that "Victorian Village has the grandest architecture in Columbus."
German Village Society Director Russ Arledge disagrees. He added to the good-hearted home turf pride debate, saying, "Look at this map from 1872. German Village is here, but you can barely find the Short North, and there is no such thing as Victorian Village." He chuckled with a laugh and a wink. "We don't have to worry about whether we're the best or not. We did it first, we did it best, and everyone else wants to be us."
All this neighborhood pride is being fostered by the buzz surrounding a documentary series premiering this month on WOSU television. Columbus Neighborhoods is a six-part historical and cultural documentary highlighting our local communities.
"I am so proud to be part of this project," said WOSU public and media relations manager, Cheryl Petrilla. "When I saw the rough cut of the first episode, I thought I would only be interested in the part about my own neighborhood, the one I had a personal connection to, but now that I've seen it I'm excited about all of them. I think once people see how good it is, they will get hooked on the series, too."
The Columbus Neighborhoods Project will examine neighborhoods in the Short North, Victorian Village, German Village, King-Lincoln, Olde Towne East, Downtown/Franklinton, and the University District. It will profile key people and events from the past, highlight neighborhood architecture, look at cultural and economic trends, and feature present-day residents and local traditions.
The first episode, Columbus Neighborhoods: Short North, will air Monday, March 8th at 8 p.m. and cover the story of one of our city's most vibrant and exciting neighborhoods as it transformed from a run-down and forgotten ghetto to a vibrant center of arts and culture.
"Some of the most dramatic elements of the story in this first episode are about the people who had the vision to launch the first wave of revitalization in the Short North," said director and producer, Brent Davis. "People like Maria Galloway of PM Gallery who explains how it was a really tough section of town back then, and highlights how all these gallery owners and artists came together to start the first Gallery Hop and bring the neighborhood to life."
WOSU became involved with this project as part of the Columbus Bicentennial Planning Commission, looking ahead to the city's big birthday bash in 2012. Their contribution with the Columbus Neighborhoods Project will include the six-part documentary, a series of town hall forums, an interactive website designed to allow visitors to add photos and stories related to their neighborhoods, a series of public storytelling events, integrated classroom study tools, and an entire spider web of online connections leading to information, resources, and organizations all over Central Ohio.
"The beauty of the project lies in its self-sustainability; it is designed to grow for years to come," said WOSU general manager, Tom Rieland. "As people find it, access it, learn from it, and add new data and links, they will be adding to the documentation of our local history."
Rieland explained the scope of the project, citing it as one of the most ambitious endeavors in the history of WOSU public television, and estimated its total cost over its three-year inception period to be around $1.1 million.
"We have raised about $700,000 through partnerships, in-kind contributions, and internal WOSU contributions. It is the most WOSU has ever raised for a local programming project," continued Rieland. "We think it's both a reflection of the quality of the project and our partners, like the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and trust in WOSU that has led to this support [from major sponsors, including State Auto, Chase, and AEP]."
The project is visionary in scope because it goes beyond film presentation and incorporates the process of using the Internet's social networking engines to connect people into an organic, ever-growing, inclusive information hub. With the added web element, families whose histories and stories would otherwise be forgotten can become part of the fabric of our collective memory, creating a much richer, broader, more diverse story of who we are, who we were, and what we are striving to become as a city.
Columbus Neighborhoods: Short North
Airs March 8th, 8 p.m. on WOSU TV
www.columbusneighborhoods.org
Originally Published: March 1, 2010
