MANSFIELD, Ohio – The hidden gem that is downtown Mansfield won’t be hidden for long thanks to a feature on the WOSU TV show, “Broad & High.”
According to the show’s producer Jackie Shafer, “Broad & High” is a weekly show focusing on arts and culture around central Ohio. However, for the start of the show’s third season, Shafer decided to make more of an effort to get outside central Ohio’s borders.
“We have a bigger viewership outside, so we wanted to get into the farther reaches of our viewing area and shine a spotlight on the great things happening out there,” she said.
Enter, downtown Mansfield. The area was at the forefront of Shafer’s mind thanks to a crew member’s familial relationship with Main Street Books owner, Llalan Fowler.
“My brother-in-law works for WOSU and is working on ‘Broad and High,’ and I guess my husband and I just talked up Mansfield so much that he decided we would work,” said Fowler.
Shafer said through Fowler’s insight and some research on Google, the show was able to pinpoint a few locals to highlight. Including Fowler and Main Street Books, “Broad & High” will also feature interviews from director Scott Schaut at the Mansfield Memorial Museum and co-owner Scott Cardwell of The Phoenix Brewing Company.
“We talked about how we came up with the name, how long we’d been in the business, the history of the building and how we got started, and how we felt about being in downtown Mansfield,” said Cardwell. “Of course we said that being downtown was very important to us and we were very happy to be part of the cool things happening here.”
After spending a day downtown and speaking with shop owners, Shafer noticed a trend emerging for the show.
“The fact is there are these young entrepreneurs and business owners moving back and trying to provide a vibrancy and trying to revive and make it their home again,” said Shafer. “That wasn’t exactly the intent when we went there, it’s kind of how it turned out. We picked out some establishments based on those stories, but it came to me in the edit that they all left and came back.”
That was certainly the case for Cardwell, who spent almost a decade away from Mansfield between the ’80s and ’90s. He recalls driving past the Phoenix’s current building numerous times in years past, and dreaming about someday opening a business in the old building.
“It was meant to be; it’s definitely very special for me to be able to come back home and make a contribution,” said Cardwell. “It’s been a dream of mine to do something back home to make this place a little bit better than when I left it.”
Fowler said the “Broad & High” crew was most surprised at the level of sophistication that currently exists in downtown Mansfield.
“Tourists come here and are shocked at how awesome it is. They have no idea Mansfield was like this, and that shouldn’t be the case,” said Fowler. “We’ve reached critical mass here to make ourselves a destination. I want people to come and enjoy what we’ve been doing here.”
“A lot of folks come through town or know about those places but don’t ever venture into the downtown area,” added Cardwell. “We have seen quite a few folks come through or stop in to have a beer, and talk about how cool the downtown area works. It’s neat to hear that, and this will help spread the word so much more.”
Shafer said the impression she was left with after spending a day in Mansfield was how friendly and accommodating the people are.
“To walk in with a camera, that sometimes intimidates people, but people were really friendly,” said Shafer. “I’ll be back just to hang out soon. People were giving me lots of story ideas.”
Mansfield’s episode of “Broad & High” will air on WOSU at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 5 p.m. on Nov. 8. The episode will also be live online after air on Wednesday.
“I’m excited, but I’m nervous all over again about having to watch myself,” said Fowler with a laugh. “But anything to get the word out about how cool Mansfield is.”
“A lot of folks come through town or know about those places but don’t ever venture into the downtown area,” added Phoenix Brewing Company co-owner Scott Cardwell. “We have seen quite a few folks come through or stop in to have a beer, and talk about how cool the downtown area works. It’s neat to hear that, and this will help spread the word so much more.”
