Six things Clark County residents have to look forward to in 2021

As we take on a new year, here is a look at some of the big things happening in Clark County in 2021:

1. Coronavirus vaccine rollout to the general public

COVID-19 vaccines will be available to all adults who want one by mid-2021, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Springfield Regional Medical Center was among the first 10 hospitals in Ohio to receive the first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 15. The shipment contained 975 doses of the vaccine that were all given to front-line health care personnel over the course of that week.

Last week, the Clark County Combined Health District, and other local health departments across the state, received 500 doses of the vaccine for emergency medical service personnel.

Around the same time, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the groups included in Phase 1b of the state’s COVID-19 vaccinate distribution plan. Members of this group include Ohioans ages 65 and older, people who work in schools and those with severe inherited or developmental disorders.

According to a statement from the CCCHD, Clark County is still in Phase 1a of vaccinations, and that is projected to continue into early 2021.

Members eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1a include: EMS responders/urban search and rescue, long-term care facility staff and residents, Local Health Department (LHD) point of dispensing personnel, correctional facility and medical staff, coroner/morgue staff conducting autopsies, home health staff and clients, group home staff and residents, residential care facilities, Federally Qualified Health Care Center, healthcare practitioners, urgent care centers, school nurses, dialysis centers, dental providers, hospice staff, pharmacists and ancillary healthcare staff.

“When the vaccine is available for eligible groups, the Clark County Combined Health District will make the information available,” the statement said.

Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Charles Patterson said previously everyone should “just be patient.”

“There is a vaccine coming. We are within a couple of months of starting to be in a place where most of our at-risk individuals in our community are fully protected with the vaccine,” Patterson said. “By July we should have significant progress in getting back to what we all call normal, whatever that new normal is going to be.”

2. Clark County and Springfield will combine 9-1-1 dispatching services

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office will begin providing dispatching services to Springfield, New Carlisle and nine townships in the county in 2021.

Dispatchers, employed by Springfield, will operate under the sheriff’s office according to a deal reached between the county and city in late November.

The city’s 10-year contract for communications and dispatch services will begin at the start of 2021.

Services will be located at a $5 million facility being built on Home Road in the former Clark County Department of Job and Family Services Children’s Home. The current 3,800-square-foot facility will be repurposed as an office and training while a 3,300-square-foot addition will house all 9-1-1 dispatch operations.

The center will house dispatch services for all Clark County township emergency management personnel excluding Green Twp.

Operations at the center will likely not begin until a couple of months into 2021 due to the length of time it will take to install new equipment.

3. New schools opening

Construction projects on three multi-million dollar school districts - Clark-Shawnee, Greenon and Northeastern Local Schools - remain on schedule throughout the coronavirus pandemic and as students return to classes through in-person, hybrid and online learning.

The Clark-Shawnee Local School District sites are expected to open in the fall of 2021. The elementary building is on target to open for the start of the next school year and the middle/high school renovations are expected to be completed by the fall of 2021.

The school is being built across the street from Shawnee High School.

Greenon Local Schools’ new $50 million kindergarten through 12th-grade school complex is expected to open in the fall of 2021.

The new school will be located at the northeastern corner of Rebert Pike and Enon-Xenia Road and is being built on the current site of the Indian Valley Intermediate School. However, Indian Valley remains open during construction but will close once the new school opens, as well as Enon Primary and Greenon High School.

The new school will be divided so that students of different age groups won’t intermingle. One pod will house the center of the building, the other is for elementary-age students in grades kindergarten through sixth and the third pod will house the remaining students.

4. Redevelopment on the south side of Springfield

After Kroger’s decision to close their South Limestone Street location in March, the City of Springfield has been working to come up with a solution for the food desert.

While nothing is set in stone, at a meeting in early July, the city agreed to begin working with Dillin LLC to design a plan to redevelop the former Kroger building.

As part of the letter of intent, Dillin LLC president Larry Dillin will work with the city in its search for interested parties who may buy or lease the former Kroger building.

At the July meeting, Dillin said his goal for redeveloping the South Limestone property will be about more than just redeveloping or “flipping” the Kroger building. Instead, he said he wants to focus on redeveloping Springfield’s south side as a whole.

Dillin presented the city with a plan he called “Springfield 4 Corners.” The plan featured renderings of the Kroger building redesigned as a “food mart,” complete with a garden and spaces in the front of the building for food trucks to park as well as stone signage on the corner of Limestone reading “Historic South Springfield.”

5. Volkswagen truck unit to close on Navistar acquisition

A multi-billion dollar acquisition of Navistar international by Volkswagen’s truck unit is expected to close by the middle of 2021.

Over the fall, a definitive merger agreement was reached between both companies. The plan is that Traton SE, Volkswagen’s truck unit, will purchase the remaining shares of Navistar that it did not already own for $44.50 per share or a total of $3.7 billion.

Traton SE already has a 16.7% stake in Navistar. It first proposed acquiring Navistar in January, making an initial offer of $35 per share in cash. That offer was later increased to $43 per share in September.

Representatives of both companies said in a news release over the fall that Navistar and Traton have benefitted from a strategic alliance that started in 2017 and that the transaction will build on that success.

Navistar employs more than 1,000 people in Clark County and has a manufacturing facility in Springfield, which builds medium-duty trucks as well as cutaway vans for General Motors.

Mike McDorman, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Greater Springfield, said they want to see continued growth at the Springfield plant and will work quickly to establish a relationship with Traton.

6. Clark County Fairgrounds to receive $3 million in renovations

The Clark County Fairgrounds will receive a roughly $3 million facelift over the next three years, beginning in 2021.

The renovations to the fairgrounds will include upgraded gates with fencing and landscaping at the entrance and adjacent area north of Interstate 70 on Ohio 41, a pedestrian drop-off location, a new fair office and space for the development of a hotel, restaurant and retail use.

The upgrade will also include a retention pond designed to improve drainage and fix flooding issues.

According to the county, the site of the former Army National Guard armory provides an opportunity for development and additional frontage along Ohio 41 for hotel and retail.