Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon said the city is addressing concerns with tenants at NexusPark after last month’s city council meeting.
Mother Bear’s Pizza co-owner Mark Hajduk told the city council that foot traffic has been non-existent due to lack of programming at the fieldhouse, located on the NexusPark campus.
The city and Columbus Regional Health converted the empty shopping mall into a health and recreation facility with retail spaces.
Hajduk said since his initial walk-through more than two years ago, only one business has opened.
“Where's our voice? Where's our venue? We understand that the city and CRH invested millions of dollars in NexusPark, with all due respect, we invested millions of dollars in this community and this facility as well,” Hajduk said.
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Ferdon said the city lost a big contract last year, but more events are being booked.
“We always knew it would be a three-to-five-year window before we would be, you know, fully activated,” Ferdon said.
The fieldhouse opened in March of 2024.
Ferdon said they’ve also added more than 100 parking spaces and developed better traffic strategies for big events.
