Gahanna: An Innovative Past, A Sustainable Future

Gahanna, Ohio is a progressive and diverse community with a rich history and a bright future.  For many years Gahanna has been among the leading communities in Central Ohio for residential, commercial, and industrial development.  Known as the Herb Capital of Ohio, Gahanna has been the recipient of numerous community and economic development awards including being designated by Money Magazine as one of the Top 100 Best Places to Live.  Public sector leadership has continually recognized the type of development needed for the City to prosper.  Whether it was expanding the industrial business base after rapid growth in the residential population or revitalizing the core of downtown Gahanna when the City had grown its territorial boundaries.  Gahanna public sector leaders have strategically made investments that have secured the city’s long term success and sustainability. 

An Innovative Past

In the late 1970s, Gahanna’s leadership recognized the need to guide and direct development within the community.  Then a city of approximately 16,000 people, Gahanna’s residential population was rapidly growing and due to its prime location near the airport, major highways, and railway, the City was in a position to grow its industrial sector.  In 1978, the City took an unprecedented action and invested $2.25 million to purchase 103 acres of land in the southern portion of the City known as The Industrial Zone (TIZ).  The issuance of revenue bonds to invest in land and related infrastructure was designed to stimulate private investment in industrial facilities and to increase new job opportunities.    

Gahanna PD Pays respects to Cpl. Jacob A. Tate, USMC

GAHANNA, Ohio (January 11, 2011) - Members of the Gahanna Police Department, led by Chief Dennis Murphy, gathered in front of City Hall to pay their respects and render honors to Corporal Jacob A. Tate, United States Marine Corps, as his remains passed through Gahanna by motorcade to a North Side funeral home.  Cpl. Tate graduated from Gahanna Christian Academy.

Tate, 21, was killed Jan. 2 during combat operations in Afghanistan. He was based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. 


Photos by Brian Hoyt, City of Gahanna (RELEASED)


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Columbus Dispatch Editorial: Filling in... As cities face trim event expenditures, volunteers will be vital

Editorial: Filling in

As cities face trim event expenditures, volunteers will be vital

The Columbus Dispatch

January 7, 2011  

The hard fact that most cities will have less, if anything, to spend on fun and frivolity in the coming year could have an upside.

In communities that manage to muster volunteers and private contributors to keep civic traditions alive, those parades, festivals and other fun events will be even more meaningful.

Many communities already have cut back on such nonessential spending in the past two years. For 2011, with the strong likelihood that state funding to local governments will be slashed, more have cut city-sponsored celebrations from their budgets.

To keep them going, event organizers are seeking new sponsors and putting out the call for volunteers to take tickets, sell concessions, man the arts-and-crafts table and all the other tasks that make for a fun community event.

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Emerald Ash Borer – What You Should Know

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive insect first discovered in Detroit, Michigan in 2002.  It attacks all varieties of ash trees.  EAB is now found throughout Ohio, which is under quarantine to help prevent its spread.  EAB has recently been found in, and is spreading throughout The City of Gahanna.

What to look for: Once infested, trees may show little sign of the pest for the first year or two.  The larval stage of EAB feeds under the bark of trees, cutting off the flow of water and nutrients. They emerge as an adult the following year leaving a D – shaped exit hole (PIC).  Adults are dark metallic green, ½” in length and 1/8” wide (PIC).   The EAB flies from early May until September.  Ash trees that become infested with EAB typically die within five years. 

Parks & Recreation Foundation Donation Made in Bob Toopes Memory

Pictured from left to right: 

Lee Tucker, Chair of the Parks & Recreation Foundation,

Ruth Toopes, Teri, Toopes, Dave Toopes

By Mike Musser,
Recreation Superintendant

Show Your Class.  These words touched so many students who passed through the halls of Gahanna-Jefferson Schools for many years.  They were the words of teacher, Bob Toopes.  Bob dedicated so much of his life towards the shaping of young student’s minds both in and out of the classroom.  That is one reason why his untimely death in 2009 was felt by so many.