Columbus designates millions to Easton substation after Hilltop's faces delays ...Middle East

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – After Columbus allocated millions for a new police substation in Easton, Hilltop residents are urging the city to make progress on their substation, which has faced delays.

Columbus City Council passed a $2.9 billion capital improvement budget on Monday, which designated $14 million to construct a new Columbus Division of Police substation in Easton, located at the corner of Easton Way and Sunbury Road.

“The vision for this substation will be much more of a space for our community as opposed to office space for our officers,” a spokesperson with the Columbus Department of Public Safety said. “This will be a place community members can meet with detectives, hold block watch meetings and collaborate with law enforcement.”

The design work for the Easton station, completed by Columbus-based Mull & Weithman Architects, is underway and carries a price tag of $1.62 million. Construction is expected to cost a total of $14 million – an amount covered by the capital improvement budget. 

The Easton substation will serve as a replacement for Substation 6, located at 5030 Ulry Road in the Upper Albany neighborhood. A spokesperson with the Columbus Department of Public Safety said the station, built in 1974, is “out of date and too small” to serve the area’s needs. 

The plan for the Easton station has been in the works for multiple years, with the shopping center donating 3.8 acres to the City of Columbus in 2022. An Easton spokesperson said the station will “help serve the needs of a growing corridor of the city.”

The substation will not just serve Easton, but the entire sixth precinct, which encompasses much of the northeastern portion of Columbus. 

"There are more jobs in Easton than any other area of our city, besides downtown," Mayor Andrew Ginther said at a news conference. "The safer and healthier and stronger we make Easton, the safer, healthier and stronger we make our entire city."

As city officials boasted the new substation as a way to make Columbus safer, some Hilltop residents expressed frustration that the substation they were promised has not yet come to fruition. 

Ginther announced plans to replace the Hilltop's substation, located on Sullivant Avenue, in 2021, and funding for the project was included in the capital budget for 2023. City leaders planned to complete the substation in April; however, construction has not even begun. Ginther attributed the delay to the complications in purchasing the land needed for the substation from the state of Ohio. 

Lisa Boggs, a longtime Hilltop resident and community advocate, said she has been pushing for a new substation for about 10 years.

“We've been talking about this for far too long,” Boggs said. “We need to be able to come together with our officers in a space that is inviting to all of us and show that we care about our officers and our community.”

Boggs said the existing substation is “dilapidated” and not readily accessible to residents. The station is more than 50 years old, has ceiling damage and has flooded multiple times, Columbus police previously told NBC4. It also has limited bathroom and locker space for female officers and limited space for its community liaison officer to meet with residents.

“We need to be able to come together with our police officers to take care of some of these issues that we're facing on Sullivant Ave.,” Boggs said. “It's a complete wreck and we need help and we need it now.”

Boggs painted a picture of those issues, including violent crime, homelessness, vacant properties and prostitution. 

“What problems are we having in Easton? Maybe some thefts," Boggs said. "We're having full blown violence over here in the Hilltop. We need our substation first before they break ground for Easton.”

The city's current plans include beginning construction on the Hilltop substation in the fall, and nearing completion by the end of 2026, according to a spokesperson with the Columbus Department of Public Safety. Meanwhile, construction for the Easton substation is supposed to begin in February and be completed by July 2027, city documents say.

While the Hilltop faces violent crime more frequently, Easton has experienced violent incidents over the years, including the fatal shooting of a teenager in 2023. Columbus police Assistant Chief Nick Konves said in 2024 that crime at Easton was one reason why the location was chosen, along with its more central location within its precinct. 

Despite some residents' frustrations, Dean Smith, a member of the Greater Hilltop Area Commission, said he is grateful for the city’s “continued commitment” to building a substation on Sullivant Avenue. 

"While delays can understandably be frustrating, it’s important to remember that municipalities often manage and fund multiple capital improvement projects simultaneously, each moving through different phases," Smith said. "Timelines for large-scale projects can shift for a variety of reasons, many of which are outside any one community stakeholder’s control."

Smith said he is encouraged by the city’s continued support of both the Sullivant Avenue and Easton substations. 

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