COLUMBUS, OH – On June 30th, I was contacted by a friend who lives in the Hilltop about the new Greyhound bus terminal that had been constructed all but in the dead of night, without any notification to residents who live in the Hilltop neighborhood. My friend had personally inspected the terminal. He was troubled by what he saw. He knew of my 38 years in the commercial industry and asked me to inspect it. The following day, July 1st, I walked the site, interviewed a bus rider, and filmed a Facebook live video which has been viewed more than 2,800 times.
My commercial construction experience consisted of working as a union laborer, quality control representative, superintendent, and safety manager on commercial projects ranging from $50,000 to $355 million.
My immediate reaction was how on earth had any one or more officials of the city of Columbus’s Development Department grant an Occupancy Permit to Greyhound when there were no rest rooms, drinking water or adequate seating? And that the site plans submitted to the city were no where near substantial completion?
I was also told by my friend that the site plans submitted to the city of Columbus for construction of the new terminal included demolishing an existing car wash just to the west of the terminal. The construction plans detailed that new restrooms and the remainder of the seating would be constructed in the car wash area. The car wash is currently being demolished. This was another red flag. The project was nowhere near completion. This is even more evidence that an Occupancy Permit should have never been given to Greyhound to permit them to open the terminal for business.
I filed a formal complaint yesterday with the Health and Development Departments and I have not received a response to my complaint. I demanded that the terminal be closed at once, and that an investigation be conducted as to who allowed the terminal to open under these conditions that violated the granting of an Occupancy Permit.
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