Local coalition pursues cleaner High Street

Belinda Heiman/The Lantern As part of a new High Street cleaning initiative, South Campus Gateway purchased a sidewalk sweeper that will vacuum trash from Chittenden Avenue to Lane Avenue during the day Thursday to Monday. The notoriously cluttered and littered neighborhoods near High Street will receive a face lift in the next few months.

The effort to improve the area is led by a coalition of university and local leaders comprised of the Underground Student Government, University Community Business Association, South Campus Gateway and Campus Partners.

"It might seem very small, but it's very critical," said Jeff Kaplan, university vice president.

"If we all step in and do a little bit, we can accomplish this."

The initiative was announced during a press conference Monday at the downtown headquarters of Huntington Bank, a member of the University Community Business Association.

The past weeks have been an informal trial period for the initiative.

"I'm personally amazed, not only with the improvement visually and the impact that the work has had in the past couple weeks, but also how quickly it has changed the behavior patterns of people in terms of littering," said Doug Aschenbach, interim president of Campus Partners. "Very quickly, we've seen that a clean environment causes people to react differently and behave … in a manner that is more respectful to the neighborhood."

Aschenbach, who has been a major proponent of the project, developed a budget for the one-year pilot period, projecting a cost of $60,000.

Each of the partners was asked to donate $12,500 to the project. University Student Government's contribution of $10,000 was drawn from the Coca-Cola funds, which supports campus projects.

Undergraduate Student Government President Peter Koltak said the main condition of his organization's participation in the trial was the promise of an aggressive effort by the university to find a permanent source.

"This is an incredible program and we need to have it on a permanent basis because you can really see the difference it's making," Koltak said.

As part of the initiative, South Campus Gateway purchased a sidewalk sweeper that will vacuum trash from Chittenden Avenue to Lane Avenue during the day Thursday to Monday. The university also offered a maintenance staff to sweep the remaining litter, remove illegally posted handbills and spray weeds.

"It just makes this area of High Street much more aesthetically pleasing," Koltak said.

Although the recent trial period was only three weeks, some High Street pedestrians have already noticed the change.

"The difference is very noticeable; the street looks free of litter, and I haven't seen any flying trash today," junior Max Eskreis said.

Senior psychology major Erika Rosen agreed.

"I think it's an incredible thing to try and beautify the area we live in," she said.

"We should respect and treasure our neighborhood, and this effort is fantastic."

Sara Ferne can be reached at ferne.2@osu.edu.