A City of Vision in Transition: Columbia Association President Phil Nelson Talks

Phil Nelson isn’t just the bearded face of a new Columbia Association advertising campaign. He’s the organization’s president at a time when the city is changing and growing beyond the now-aging vision under which it began.

Nelson sat down with Patch recently to talk about his job and the 44-year history of one of America’s unique towns. In this excerpt, he focuses on the redevelopment of downtown Columbia and Columbia Association’s role in the process.

Patch: Does the planned redevelopment downtown change in a big way what the plans for Columbia were to have been?

Nelson: “I think it changes in a big way what Columbia was to have been, or what the ideal focus was. The ideal focus was each village would have a center that’d have their retail shopping needs, but also it’d be a social gathering place. It’d have activities other than just retail and commercial.

“I think a lot of it now depends on what people can afford, as far as housing and travel, and what they will be able to afford as far as social interaction.”

Patch: When you think about what the lakefront downtown looks like now and what it will look like when redevelopment is complete, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Nelson: “That’s one of the things that we’re looking at as an organization that supplies recreational venues and social interactive needs.

“We’d like the lakefront to be tied with Symphony Woods, to be with the pathway system that goes up to the hospital, potentially tying it in with a couple or three village centers to make it easier for people to get around and go to social events. We’d like to see Merriweather Post Pavilion stay very active and tie it all together in kind of a master plan.

“This is the center of the city for us. When you look at the plans for Town Center redevelopment, of 5 million square feet of offices, another million square feet of retail, 5,500 dwelling units—maybe that is the downtown.”

Patch: Is that a good thing?

Nelson: “I think it is, especially if it’s walk-able and if it’s safe.  That’s the key, is making it walk-able.”

Patch: Downtown redevelopment, including the infrastructure, falls under the control of the county government. What responsibilities does Columbia Association have?

Nelson: “I think where we have some leverage is if we’re at the table when decisions are made. If we can’t sit at the table when planning and zoning decisions are made, when development decisions are made, we’re lost.

“But if we’re at the table, we can prepare ourselves for these types of changes … we can make a determination of [whether] we are doing the right things, are we providing the right products, and how do we make sure that we help the county instead of being somewhat of a development burden.”

Patch: What kinds of products?

Nelson: “The physical fitness end of things. Are we adding value to people’s lives? Are we adding value to people’s property? Getting the No. 2 ranking of the most livable city is not just about infrastructure, it’s about recreational venues. It’s about kind of adding to all the components of a complete, viable city. I think we play a major role in that.”

Patch: Where does downtown redevelopment stand? What’s the timetable?

Nelson: “We’re in a recession. Nobody wants to come in and invest a lot of money if there isn’t going to be some kind of a guarantee that development will continue and be utilized by people who want to make a change in the way they live.”

Patch: Does that put you in limbo?

Nelson: “We still see a need, based on the membership, based on people going to our facilities. We’re also looking at what the trends are. Are we seeing a decrease in certain types of memberships? If we are, are we missing something on the other end of the spectrum?”

Part 2, Thursday: Nelson on the changing role of village centers in Columbia. Columbia Association offers recreational, cultural and community services and facilities.