MANSFIELD — The Imagination District collaboration between Little Buckeye Children’s Museum and the Renaissance Performing Arts Association is receiving a major investment from the state of Ohio.
On Wednesday, Sen. President Larry Obhof introduced the state’s capital budget, a $2.1 billion investment in Ohio’s schools, infrastructure, public services and local community projects.
The budget includes $1 million from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for the Imagination District’s expansion, a collaboration between the Little Buckeye Children’s Museum and Renaissance Theatre to allow for additional local arts and education programming.
The bill is expected to be voted on by the legislature on Thursday.
“It’s a huge shot in the arm to help us on the campaign,” said Fred Boll, executive director of Little Buckeye Children’s Museum. “We can’t thank Mark Romanchuk and Larry Obhof enough for making this happen. Both were players in bringing this to a possibility.”
The Imagination District is a joint venture between Little Buckeye and the Renaissance that will provide multiple arts and education experiences and drive economic growth in Mansfield.
By the project’s completion, it is estimated the Imagination District will serve nearly 220,000 youth and their families, provide for as many as 15 full-time and 25 part-time staff, and have a total economic impact of $7.7 million.
“Once it’s up and running, it will change how people view Mansfield in a very positive way,” said Mike Miller, CEO of the Renaissance Theatre.
Rep. Mark Romanchuk said the $1 million investment is only a small part of nearly $6.8 million coming back to Richland County in this year’s capital budget.
He noted he’s been in communication with Miller and Boll about the project for the past four years.
“I’m hoping this project becomes a catalyst for that part of downtown Mansfield,” Romanchuk said. “I think long-term we’ll look back and we’ll able to say it was a catalyst.”
The goal of the Renaissance and Little Buckeye was to raise $6 million; $4.5 million for the new Little Buckeye museum and $1.5 million for the Renaissance Education Center.
The funds would go towards renovating properties adjacent to the Renaissance’s current location, expanding programming, and establishing an attractive, creative and financially-viable anchor from a series of neglected, derelict buildings.
In November 2019, district organizers had raised 75 percent of the needed funds, raising $4.3 million in less than a year including $1 million from the Richland County Foundation and $25,000 from the Shelby Foundation.
With this money from the state, Miller said this pushes them just over the $6 million mark.
“And we really haven’t done our public campaign yet, so we would still like to reach out to the community on smaller donations that people can invest in the project as they see it coming to fruition,” he said.
The center of the Imagination District is two adjacent buildings on Park Avenue West, which will include the new-and-improved Little Buckeye, an outdoor plaza, a public park, the already-completed Theatre 166 and Renaissance Education Center.
Little Buckeye’s new location, a former office building at 174 Park Avenue West, will be three times the size of the current museum. The new building will offer 100 exhibits in a 35,000 square-foot space.
The Renaissance has nearly completed the renovation of its black box theater space, Theatre 166, and opened its upstairs space for the Pioneer Performing Arts program last fall.
The space was purchased for $89 from the Richland County Land Reutilization Corporation in December 2016, and renovated with $150,000 worth of donations.
The former Rainbow Mortgage building at 154 Park Ave. West was demolished in October 2019. The property, purchased in 2018 by the Renaissance Performing Arts Association, will be converted into a green space plaza as part of the Imagination District.
Boll hopes the new Little Buckeye Children’s Museum will open its doors in late 2021, early 2022, after a six-month construction delay due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Miller also expects to break ground on the green space plaza in the spring of 2021.
In addition to providing multiple arts and education experiences, the goal of the Imagination District is to connect the western edge of the city with the rest of downtown, strengthening the core of Park Avenue West for future development.
“We really see the whole district as the gateway to downtown, the entrance into the revitalization of downtown,” Miller said.
