Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city officials held a groundbreaking Oct. 19 on a new $18 million police substation at Easton Town Center.
At the same time, Columbus City Council held a hearing in which Council President Shannon Hardin discussed restricting the Ginther administration's budgets because the city's police and fire divisions blew through their 2026 overtime budgets.
The city has come under fire for other budget concerns. Over the summer, Ginther’s office announced it had scrapped plans to build a new municipal courthouse due to the price of construction, and the fire union and others have raised concerns about the Division of Fire’s aging equipment.
Ginther said despite the city’s tight budget, the new Easton substation being
built at 3395 Easton Way is needed and construction must proceed because Easton Town Center is a crucial economic hub for the city. The income tax, property tax and sales tax generated there is crucial to the area’s success, he said.
The city must “protect our collective investment,” Ginther said.
“This is one of the largest job centers outside of Downtown, and it continues to grow, and we want to continue to create jobs and have people visit and spend money here,” Ginther said.
Ginther announced plans to build the substation as part of his 2025 capital budget proposal. The budget proposal set aside $14 million for the substation at the time. The 2025 capital budget proposal has not yet been approved by City Council amid growing political tensions since Hardin announced plans to challenge Hardin's reelection bid in 2027.
Ginther said several years ago, Easton Town Center offered the city almost four acres of land on Easton Way for free if the city agreed to build a substation there. He called it “an extraordinary offer” in prepared remarks before the groundbreaking ceremony.
“Think about that a moment – a private partner recognizing a community need and offering valuable land to help us meet that,” Ginther said.
The Easton substation will replace police substation 6 at 5030 Elry Road. The police division has “outgrown” the old substation, Ginther said.
Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant said at the groundbreaking that the old station, built about 50 years ago, does not reflect current policing practices.
“These substations were built many, many years ago, and the way that policing has evolved has pretty much made them not efficient anymore,” Bryant said.
Bryant said the new substation will make it easier for police to work closely with the community because it is designed for people to be able to meet comfortably.
Bryant said vehicle break ins and thefts have frequently been a problem at Easton, like many retail areas, but have been on the decline due to the efforts of both Columbus police and Easton’s private security.
On Aug. 27, 2023, a 15-year-old boy was shot to death at Easton and two 13-year-olds were charged in connection with the death. The gunman was 14 when he was later sentenced in 2024 to youth prison for involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification and classified as a serious youthful offender.
Easton has also sometimes made headlines for rowdy teen behavior such as large fights. Bryant said the location of the substation right on Easton Way may help to deter those sorts of disturbances.
The substation is also a more central location for the Zone 1 officers who will work out of it, Ginther said. Zone 1 covers northeast portions of the city.
The substation will open sometime in 2028, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said.
Public safety and breaking news reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New police substation to protect Columbus' 'investment' in Easton
