THEN AND NOW: MALLWAY PARK

Submitted by Karen Williams. Edited by Kristin Greenberg.

where is this?

Both of these photographs are taken from the stairs of Upper Arlington’s Fire Station #71 on Arlington Avenue. What is captured in these photos are within the boundaries of Guilford Road to the north (left of the picture) and Waltham Road to the south (right of the picture). S Mallway Drive is visible, and N Mallway Drive to the left is just out of range.

1970s.

May 2022.

Information on: JONES MIDDLE SCHOOL

The school in the background of both pictures was the original Upper Arlington High School. The center section welcomed students for the first time in 1924 and was simply titled “The New School” in the 1924 yearbook.  In the fall of 1956, a school at 1650 Ridgeview Road opened its doors for grades 10-12, and this building on the Mallway was renamed Jones Junior High School for former biology teacher and principal, J.W. Jones. With the beginning of the 1983-84 school year, the district transitioned to the middle school system. Jones Middle School has been this building’s name ever since.

What has changed?

Veterans Plaza.
At the time the 1970s picture was taken, Arlington’s War Memorial was approximately 30 years old. According to the January 5, 1945 Tri-Village News, prior to the construction the memorial’s renderings were on display in the window of Kunkler’s Drug Co. at 2064 Arlington Avenue which today houses Reform Pilates.

The original pillars were built in 1946 through a community fundraising campaign. Display plaques serve as a roll call to honor those veterans from Upper Arlington who fought in WWII. The original war memorial was renovated in the summer of 2020 and was completed that fall. The dedication - delayed due to COVID-19 - took place on Saturday May 29, 2021 over Memorial Day weekend. Today it is called the Veteran’s Plaza on the Mallway.

Notice the difference in plaque placement between the two images. On Veterans Day (November 11) 1990, the Korean and Vietnam War plaques were added to the pillars.

In the 1970s image, the eternal flame sits atop the archway overlooking the plaza. According to an article in the January 16, 2018 Columbus Dispatch, the gas “Flame of Freedom” added in 1969 was extinguished during the 1970s energy crisis. In 1990 a campaign to relight the flame failed. The flame is better viewed in this 1970s photo donated by Robert Wagner.

Latitude and Longitude Marker.
In the foreground of both images is the benchmark that pinpoints the village’s exact location by using lines of latitude and longitude. The word “village” is etched in the marker and visible in both pictures. It was erected in 1931, shortly after the 1930 construction of the original municipal building (now Fire Station #71). Due to the growth of the village, it was incorporated as a city in 1941. In the 1970s the benchmark is dark, aged and worn. Today it is polished and radiates its natural copper tone of a rustic orange-red.

The area around the war memorial, the benchmark and the WWI memorial was surrounded by concrete pavement in the 1970s picture. In 2011, the city underwent the Arlington Avenue Reconstruction project when benches, landscaping, new street lights were added and the brick pavers replaced portions of the concrete. The streetlight in the 1970s picture is a stark contrast to the original streetlights that dotted the Old Arlington landscape. The current photo shows how new black one is more in tune with the time period.

WWI Memorial.
Next to the Latitude and Longitude Marker and under the flagpoles is a small memorial to honor those who gave their lives in WWI.  It was given to the Village by the American Legion Upper Arlington Post NO. 443 on September 7, 1936. In the 1970s the metal base was natural, but today the base is painted red.

CoGo Bike Station.
At the right border of the current image, one can see the City of UA sign and the CoGo bike installation. Originally installed at 2108 Arlington Ave. in October 2018, the City moved the CoGo bikes in late 2019 to the south end of the sidewalk of Upper Arlington’s Fire Station #71 away from the businesses on the Mallway.