This is part II of a multi-part series. Read about Ashland’s South Street and its potential here.
LEBANON, Ohio — Take a 161-mile drive down Route 71 from Ashland. Travel through Columbus and towards Cincinnati, and you’ll find a city similar to Ashland in size, population and in some regards, maybe even personality and vision.
The city of Lebanon implemented a plan in 2015 that mirrors what Ashland’s leadership envisions for a portion of its downtown in the coming years.
Parallel to Ashland’s Main Street is a less-traveled, one-way street, featuring the back entrance to popular spots like the Downtown Perk and Uniontown Brewing Company, and approximately half a dozen other small, locally owned and operated gems.
Some, like HoldFast Tattoo and Substance Church, are relatively new to South Street. Others, like Hair Connection and Linder’s Sports Bar and Grill, have long had a presence in Ashland.
All the local owners seem proud of their downtown locations, but admit far fewer people are likely to stumble upon their South Street storefronts than those on Main Street.
About five years ago in Lebanon, a similar street existed. It wasn’t a one-way, but it was a downtown street in need of at least a little enhancement. Like Ashland’s South Street, Lebanon’s Mullberry Street was a popular spot to be. It was lined with businesses, but people seemed to need some encouragement to venture beyond the city’s more prominent Broadway Street.
Perpendicular to Lebanon’s Broadway Street lies Mulberry Street, a two-way street consisting of several storefronts and businesses. And in 2015, a plan was put into motion that would transform the street into an entertainment district.
It wasn’t easy. Not everyone liked it — especially in the early stages — but today, the street remains lined with businesses and continues to draw crowds for festivals, downtown events or just simply a regular Friday night.
How Lebanon and Ashland Compare
Lebanon and Ashland share a multitude of similarities.
To begin, both cities are comparable in size. Lebanon covers nearly 13 square miles while the city of Ashland is about 11 ¼ square-miles.
Their populations also compliment each other. According to the 2010 data from the United States Census Bureau, 20,033 individuals lived in the city of Lebanon while 20,362 persons inhabit Ashland.
Each city holds the county seat in their respective counties. Lebanon is the county seat of Warren County.
One major difference between the two locales is the population of the county. As of 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau accounted for 53,139 individuals in Ashland County, while Warren County counted 212,693 persons.
They compare in their position to Columbus, while Lebanon residents reside slightly closer to Cincinnati than Ashlanders do to Cleveland. Ashland and Lebanon are both an hour and 15 minutes from Columbus. Ashland is just over an hour from Cleveland, and Lebanon is 40 minutes from Cincinnati.
Lebanon’s Entertainment District and Downtown Revitalization
During festivals and other downtown events, Lebanon’s Mulberry Street is closed to allow for communal gatherings without traffic interference.
At times, a stage is constructed at the intersection of Broadway Street and Mulberry Street for performers during these festivals. Each event packs the temporarily closed-off street.
“Mulberry Street is where most of our public events take place and we close the road down for these events,” said Lebanon city manager Scott Brunka. “We average around ten events a year that include the closure of Mulberry Street.”
In 2015, Lebanon concocted a plan to permanently close a portion of Mulberry Street between Broadway and Mechanic Street, the next street over. The city intended to construct a downtown entertainment plaza on the block. The original rendering featured a complete brick-laid walkway for pedestrian usage and included archways and vendors.
Public Wi-fi for the plaza was also a focus for the city.
The plan is similar to Ashland’s vision for South Street — except Ashland’s plan does not include the permanent closure of South Street. Instead, it recommends temporarily closing the street, making an entertainment district for special events in the evening and on weekends.
Ultimately, the downtown Lebanon street wasn’t permanently closed either.
Lebanon mayor Amy Brewer said the city sought to understand the community’s perspective before moving forward with the project.
“We wanted to hear how business owners really felt about things,” she said. “We didn’t want to hurt anybody’s business. There were some people who liked the idea of closing it off, but the majority did not support it, especially the businesses.
“There was a lot of discussion about what to do. We got some public input by all of the businesses that would be impacted by it, and we decided as a city to not close it down, which I think was a really good decision on our part.”
Because of the negative feedback from business owners on Mulberry Street, the city of Lebanon elected to make some changes to their entertainment plaza plans.
Instead of permanently closing the block on Mulberry Street, the city installed removable bollards at several crosswalks, which created a hybrid entertainment district. The street can now be closed and opened depending on whether or not the day’s agenda included a downtown event.
Bollards were always in the plan, but they weren’t originally intended to be removeable.
“You can see how many stores, restaurants, candy stores, all of these things – it’s one of the main reasons why we didn’t want to close it off fulltime because it would truly negatively impact the marketability and peoples’ businesses,” Brewer said.
The city also decided against laying the entire road in brick. As a substitute, they laid bricks at several of the intersections of Mulberry Street.
Bump-outs on the sidewalks of Mulberry were also installed to create a larger outdoor space for businesses. This allowed for eateries such as Villaggio’s Pizzeria & Vino to establish outdoor eating areas.
“The gateway arch will be installed in a few months, which will be the final component of the streetscape project,” Lebanon city manager, Brunka said.
A city planner for Lebanon, Greg Orosz also acknowledged the public’s perspective of the Mulberry Street plans.
“The city elected to keep the street relatively similar to its current configuration,” Orosz said. “We have completed some cosmetic improvements, and an arch is scheduled to be installed this year, but the road is still open to traffic.”
Though the plan for Lebanon’s downtown entertainment plaza was revised, the businesses and community expressed their support for the city putting the alteration in place.
Up next, Waylon O’Donnell will dive deeper into Lebanon’s project. Stay tuned Thursday and Friday mornings.
This reporting was completed in February and early March, prior to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s recommendations and orders advising against travel.
