Franklin County commissioners yesterday unanimously approved a $2.6 million loan, to be repaid over 30 years, to develop the Central Park of Gahanna atop the old Bedford landfill.

"It's been worth nothing until now. It was a blight and an eyesore," Commissioner John O'Grady said. "Now we will create a multimillion-dollar investment that will drive jobs, and tax dollars will be coming to Franklin County."

The project, on nearly 200 acres across the Outerbelt from Port Columbus, will cost about $14 million, with funding from a dozen sources. A nine-hole golf course is expected to open there next spring. An office park could follow.

The county's money completes the funding.

"Everybody wins," Commissioner Marilyn Brown said. "We create jobs. We reclaim the land."

In other business, commissioners approved $15,000 to support First Night Columbus, a New Year's Eve celebration Downtown. And they chipped in $150,000 to buy seasonal flu vaccine and pay for a public-awareness campaign with the Franklin County Board of Health and Columbus Health Department.

bcarmen@dispatch.com

Franklin County

commissioners loaned $2.6 million for the

reclamation project.