Despite the chaos engulfing the beginning of the new semester, it’s nearly impossible to notice the transformation on East College Street behind the Apollo Theater. Just past the Cable Co-op, a bulldozer and other construction machinery can be seen at the site of the old Buick dealership and remodeling facility.

The first tangible evidence appeared during the summer of the long-planned East College Street Project, a $12 million development that has been in the making since 2001. Oberlin alumni Ben Enzinga and Josh Rosen, OC ’00 and Naomi Sabel, OC ’01, are the driving forces behind this project. They had the idea for the East College Street project when they were still Oberlin students. Upon graduation, they formed Sustainable Community Associates and started the work involved in making this project happen. Now, at the start of a new academic year, SCA is doing the brownfield remediation work for the site to prepare it for residential and commercial space.

Around the start of second semester, in the first quarter of 2005, is the estimated groundbreaking date for the East College Street Project. At the site will be approximately 40 mixed-income apartments, half of which will be for sale, the other half for rent. This mix will ensure that residents and College students both can be included in the new development and make it a truly economically- integrated housing complex. On the ground floor will be 15,000 square feet of retail space. As of now, Sustainable Community Associates is still talking with several businesses about using this space. However it is used, the retail space will be a great opportunity for local entrepreneurs to help strengthen the downtown business district in the face of big box development, such as the proposed Wal-Mart.

The time that has been invested in this project is evident. Now that the groundbreaking date is only a semester away and physical changes are already happening to the space, the East College Street Project is shaping up to be more than the simple idea it once was. It started as three students on the brink of graduation asking what the town of Oberlin needed. They identified this need and have followed through with their idea admirably.

The planning involved has been painstaking and meticulous. Investors have been brought in to finance this $12 million project and, at present, SCA is in the process of closing their loans. Building designs have been looked over and SCA has partnered with McCormack Baron, a development company that specializes in urban development. McCormack Baron’s CEO, Richard Baron, is an Oberlin alumnus as well, class of 1964.

Now, looking at the construction equipment ripping up the concrete of the old parking lot, it appears as though the actual construction will take place. The completion of the project will signify a success for the College as well as the town of Oberlin. The town will obtain a diverse housing facility and the College will have tangible confirmation that Obies can act on their convictions.

The completion of the project is estimated for the first quarter of 2006. Rax Restaurant will be closing in December, surviving long enough for students to snag one last sandwich before Winter Break.

But as the sun sets on Oberlin’s venerable roast beef emporium, Oberlin students can be confident that this new development is under driven management and will be a better replacement in both variety and quality.

–Editor-in-Chief, Douglass Dowty
–Managing Editor, Faith Richards
–Commentary Editor, Casey Ashenhurst

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review editorial board—the Editor in Chief
and Commentary Editor—and do not necessarily reflect the view of the staff
of the Review.