The Corridor is one of the most racially diverse riparian corridors in Central
Ohio and has a unique history with a past marked by both oppression and liberation. This waterway, and several sites along it, served as stations for
the underground railroad and enslaved people fleeing the South. Free people later settled in the area which gave Africa Road its name. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Hanford Village was a thriving self-governed black town, but like many of these neighborhoods across the nation, was devastated by racist policies that enabled the I-70 interstate to slice through this community.
‘Elevate Alum Creek’ acknowledges this history and identifies course-correcting and targeted interventions that will proactively address the impacts of ill-conceived infrastructure barriers while reconnecting to the creek’s ecology to create social infrastructure that benefits surrounding communities for our future generations.

It does so by:

•    Elevating and enhancing green and blue assets along Alum Creek to better serve and enhance human, ecological, and biological health, and diversity.

•    Elevating the history of Alum Creek, including its role as a significant route to freedom for people escaping slavery.

•    Elevating community-serving institutions and enhancing the connections between residents and resources, as well as voices of the diverse adjacent communities by proposing authentic opportunities to co-create the future.

•    Elevating opportunities for local employment and economic mobility while incentivizing development that does not lead to displacement