Wednesday, December 5, 2007

DONKEYS FIND NEW STABLE

This is really great news since the current headquarters is really awful from both the outside and inside. I need to drive by the new location but I wish it was more centrally located in downtown. I believe this location overlooks 70/71.

Redfern states the need for the new accommodations very well- a new building will reflect the growing resurgence of the Democratic party in Ohio. I hope that the new headquarters will be open to having progressive groups use the new space for meetings and gatherings (if party rules allow).

Democrats buy new, bigger HQ Downtown
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 2:16 PM
By Joe Hallett

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Buoyed by a rebirth after the 2006 statewide election, the Ohio Democratic Party has purchased a new Downtown home, nearly tripling the size of its current headquarters at 271 E. State St.

State party Chairman Chris Redfern said today that the party will move its staff of 38 to the 29,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by the Salvation Army at the corner of Fulton and Grant streets on Dec. 14.

Redfern said the building was listed for sale at $2.2 million and the party paid $1.6 million. The party will use money from its state building fund, which can accept corporate contributions, to pay the mortgage. A single corporation cannot contribute more than 10 percent of the total cost of the building under Ohio law.

“We believe we’re now the most successful state party organization in the nation, and if you are, you need to have a building appropriate for that,” Redfern said.

Through much of the 1990s and early 2000s, the Democrats were on life support as Republicans controlled all branches of government. But the party made a comeback in 2006 by winning four of five state executive offices and picking up seats in the General Assembly and Congress.

Redfern said the party will sell its current headquarters after the November 2008 election. Meanwhile, it will make the building available for rent to Democratic presidential candidates during the primary election campaign and to the party’s eventual nominee through the rest of the 2008. The party bought the building from the Ohio AFL-CIO for $825,000 in 1998 and still owes just under $600,000, Redfern said.

The new headquarters, wheelchair accessible unlike the old one, contains a commercial kitchen and will be used for a variety of party functions, including state central and executive committee meetings and fund-raisers. The party has had to rent buildings for such functions until now. The new facility also has twice as many parking places as the old.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

looking at the intersection of Grant and Fulton on MSN maps, this building/location looks really disappointing. its less centrally located, and looks like a generic 70s style box office building