Gahanna's Creekside Is Changing Tables This Fall, Before the Plaza Itself Changes

On Friday, August 7, people could pay a water bill at 200 S. Hamilton Road for the last time. Ten days later, City Council held its final meeting there, starting with a 6:30 p.m. reception before the 7 p.m. session. By the end of August, City Hall, the police division and the Senior Center were all working under one roof at the new Gahanna Civic Center, 825 Tech Center Drive.

Gahanna's civic address has moved east. Every public event between now and Thanksgiving still happens in the older parts of town, mostly at Creekside and Academy Park. Those are the same two public spaces the city has queued up for its biggest redesigns. This season, both sites look the way they always have, while the restaurants around Creekside are already changing.

Government moved east, and the events stayed put

The Civic Center brings City Hall, police headquarters and the Senior Center together in a building of about 138,000 square feet, as WOSU reported at the August 25 dedication. Police services left 460 Rocky Fork Boulevard on August 17. The Senior Center held a farewell celebration at 480 Rocky Fork Boulevard on August 21, and programs started at the new building the week of August 31.

Here is where the city's fall events are actually happening:

Even the empty City Hall has a date on the schedule. The city's August newsletter lists the former building on Hamilton Road as the site of an October 17 shred and recycle event. The city's move announcements set out when each office would leave its old building. They don't say what happens to the former City Hall, police or Senior Center properties afterward. For now, the old City Hall's one listed public event is a Saturday of paper shredding.

Goblin Fest returns to a park with a $7.5 million plan behind it

The Great Gahanna Goblin Fest, presented by KEMBA Financial Credit Union, returns to Academy Park on Friday, October 23, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The city's announcement lists hayrides, live entertainment, storytelling, s'mores and trick-or-treating, and every activity is free.

Parking is the detail to plan around:

• Offsite parking is free.
• Onsite parking at Academy Park costs $5 per vehicle and has to be bought in advance.
• The city says onsite spaces are limited and will sell out.

Academy Park covers 107 acres, which makes it the largest park in the Gahanna Parks and Recreation system. It has seven baseball diamonds, two basketball courts, grass fields, a shelterhouse, a playground, and access to the Mountain Bike Trail. The city's August newsletter calls the coming renovation "one of the largest park improvement projects in Gahanna's history." It's a $7.5 million project that is "expected to break ground in 2027." Planned upgrades include a new shelter house, more parking, better lighting, and a new playground with inclusive rubber surfacing, paid for with an Ohio EPA grant.

Expanded parking is aimed at exactly the part of Goblin Fest the city says will sell out. A city request for proposals for construction oversight, released in March, said the park would be closed to the general public during the work. That same document planned around a notice to proceed in late July or August 2026, with substantial completion 14 to 18 months later. The August newsletter's 2027 groundbreaking means the timeline has already slipped once. For this October, the shelterhouse, the diamonds and the hayride route are the ones families already know.

Creekside's restaurants are turning over first

Creekside's dining row is changing faster than its plaza. Blue Agave, the Mexican restaurant at 64 Granville St., closed abruptly on May 1. Within three weeks, 614Now reported that Durbar Nepali and Indian Cuisine had confirmed its second location for that address. Durbar's first location is at 7621 E. Main St. in Reynoldsburg. According to 614Now, the restaurant's announcement described the Gahanna space this way:

"Larger space, dedicated patio seating, and a stronger focus on dine-in atmosphere while maintaining the same authentic Indian flavors and service standards."

On October 9, Columbus Business First reported that Durbar Indian Cuisine is now open in Gahanna, describing the restaurant as a Reynoldsburg spot for both Indian food and Himalayan "soul food." The patio Durbar's announcement promised arrives just as patio season ends, so the dining room will carry the first several months.

Just up the block, Micheli's Osteria + Wine Bar is set to open at 101 Mill St. "later this fall," according to 614Now's August 25 report. It's a casual family restaurant modeled on spots in Florence. Before signing a single lease document in public, Micheli's showed up at Creekside's own events. It served roasted porchetta focaccia sandwiches at Taste of Gahanna with the Gahanna Chamber of Commerce, ran out of food, and also attended the Creekside Blues and Jazz Fest to meet people. No opening date has been announced yet.

The rest of this year's new restaurants landed away from the creek. Gold Cudgel Hot Pot opened at 97 N. Stygler Road in April and, per NBC4, stays open until 2 a.m. daily. Soul 2 Go held its grand-opening weekend May 1 through 3 at 134 N. Hamilton Road. DHC Chicken opened its second location at 109 N. Hamilton Road in May. Over the same stretch, Creekside lost one Mexican restaurant and is getting an Indian restaurant and an Italian wine bar in return. It's a smaller count, but both newcomers are built around sit-down meals in the district where the city holds its biggest gatherings.

Holiday Lights, in a plaza the city has put out to bid

The Holiday Lights Celebration takes over Creekside on Sunday, November 22, from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Visit Gahanna says Santa is due by 6 p.m. to light the tree and start the fireworks. The city calendar lists Creekside Plaza at 117 Mill Street as the location.

The city plans to change that plaza too. Gahanna's Creekside FAQ describes two projects running together. One is flood protection: a clay cap along the creekbank, infrastructure work in the parking garage, and temporary flood walls. The other is a plaza redesign with an amphitheater, an interactive water feature, better accessibility, and a stronger link to the lower trail along the creek. On May 8, 2026, the city posted a request for proposals for a construction manager to handle the flood work and the plaza and trail redesign at the same time. The city's bid page still lists it as open "until contracted."

The FAQ said the project was in preliminary design and that flood-protection work was expected to begin "in the fall of 2026." It also says the effect on events will become clearer "once the construction schedule and logistics are determined." The FAQ gives no start date for the work. Neither the city calendar nor Visit Gahanna's listing for November 22 mentions construction, and both still place the tree lighting and fireworks at Creekside Plaza. An amphitheater and a water feature would change how that space works for events once the redesign is built.

How to spend the next six weeks in Gahanna

Put together, this fall's calendar works as a tour of the places on the city's to-do list:

1. Campfire at the Park on October 14 at Rathburn Woods or October 21 at Trapp Park, both 6:30 to 8 p.m.
2. The shred event at the former City Hall on October 17, the one public event the city lists for the former building.
3. Goblin Fest at Academy Park on October 23, with onsite parking reserved ahead of time.
4. Citywide Trick-or-Treat on October 29, 6 to 8 p.m.
5. Dinner at Durbar on Granville Street, and a walk past 101 Mill St. to see whether Micheli's has opened.
6. Holiday Lights at Creekside Plaza on November 22, with Santa due by 6 p.m.

City Council now meets at 825 Tech Center Drive. Its first session there was September 8. Council business on Creekside, Academy Park and the former buildings on Hamilton Road and Rocky Fork Boulevard now happens in that room.

Wondering how a new Creekside plaza, a rebuilt Academy Park or a reused City Hall site could change the streets around your home? The team at Home Connections Group follows Gahanna's projects meeting by meeting and can walk you through what's been announced and what's still being decided. Let's Get You Home.