Title
To Recognize the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Franklin Park Civic Association
Body
WHEREAS, in 2024 the Franklin Park Civic Association, Inc. (FPCA) is celebrating 50 years of connecting and serving residents and members of the Franklin Park neighborhood in the Near East Area of Columbus since 1974; and
WHEREAS, the ownership for the namesake for their neighborhood, Franklin Park, was transferred to City of Columbus in 1886 by the Ohio State Legislature and was subsequently dedicated as Franklin Park in 1890; and
WHEREAS, in 1987 the Samuel S. Davis Youth Complex for the Performing Arts, which housed the Park Playhouse Teen Community Theatre, was dedicated by the Columbus City Council and the Recreation and Parks Commission providing transformative theater training and performance opportunities for scores of community youth; and
WHEREAS, the Columbus Department of Parks and Recreation has worked with FPCA and the neighborhood area to develop additional recreation amenities in that neighborhood including Academy Park and the Cleo Dumaree Athletic Complex (1990), The Franklin Park Adventure Center (1979), and The Kwanzaa Playground at English Park (1995); and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus, in conjunction with the Model Cities Program, constructed the Model Neighborhood Facility (1980) in the Franklin Park neighborhood and that now serves as the Near East Pride Center; and
WHEREAS, Ameriflora ‘92 led to significant and sometimes controversial changes to the amenities and structures in Franklin and Wolfe Parks; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin Park neighborhood and Franklin Park have hosted and supported the Annual Asian Festival and its thousands of visitors since 1995; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin Park Civic Association has sponsored and supported a wide variety of programs to help neighbors meet and work with each other including its Annual Mingle, Monthly Walking Club, Marathon Cheer Parties, Ice Cream Socials, Potlucks, Egg Hunts, numerous seminars to help seniors age in place, Earth Day clean-ups and Community Gardening programs, as well as soccer, tennis and bicycling programs for neighborhood youth; and
WHEREAS, the Mission of the Civic Association is “to celebrate, nurture, and develop the Franklin Park community for the benefit of all its inhabitants by demonstrating a compassionate understanding of each individual's needs while honoring our history and providing for our future”; and
WHEREAS, the Franklin Park Civic Association has recently applied for and been approved for the designation a a 501(c)3 organization to help it raise funding to support and expand these activities to meet the needs of its growing and diverse neighborhood; NOW, THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby recognize the work of the Franklin Park Civic Association throughout the last fifty years and commends their continued work uplifting voices in their community.