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PrintDublin: Lifestyles
Healthy, wealthy and wise
Dublin's 100+ miles of multipurpose trails connect most of the city's neighborhoods.
Courtesy City of Dublin
There are many attributes that go into making a community healthy. An enthusiastic arts community, an array of city-sponsored events, a sense of residential pride, a rich history and a strong economy supported by lively shopping and dining scenes all are important to the well-being of a city. The health of its residents also is vital to a thriving community. In all those respects, Dublin is certainly in good shape. But exactly what characteristics make Dublin the vibrant city that it is?
It starts with providing activities, attractions and events that bring visitors in and keep residents from moving out. “I don’t leave very often because I feel like there’s so much to do here in my own backyard,” says Mary Jo DiSalvo, an events administrator with the city. And of all people, she would know.
Annual attractions
In a city known for its Irish culture, it’s no surprise that St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in Dublin. In fact, U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the city’s St. Paddy’s parade as number six on its list of the 10 best St. Patrick’s Day parades in the country. Not bad for a suburb with a population of around 40,000.
An annual tradition since the mid 1980s, the mile-long parade now boasts more than 130 entrants. Bands, floats, bagpipers and the Grand Leprechaun take to the streets after a pancake breakfast sponsored by the Lions Club. On the menu? Shamrock pancakes and green syrup, of course. The 2012 parade will be held March 10.
Even bigger than St. Patrick’s Day is the famous Dublin Irish Festival. Celebrating its 25th anniversary on the first weekend of August 2012, this three-day event features seven stages with performances of traditional Irish music and dance by entertainers from Ireland and the U.S.
The festival began in 1988, when the Columbus Feis, an Irish dance competition, moved from Columbus to Dublin High School. The Dublin Irish Celebration Committee secured Coffman Park to hold an Irish gathering following the Columbus Feis, and the festival was born. Today, attendance has grown to around 100,000 people over three days.
DiSalvo says the event is “like Ireland, except smaller. . . .We do want it to be culturally authentic.” With the plethora of Celtic music, dance, games, sports and cultural exhibits, it’s safe to say the festival achieves that goal.
Of course, Dublin’s annual calendar has more than just a pair of Irish fetes. The city’s Independence Day celebration also is highly anticipated. Held on July 4, the event includes activities that appeal to all ages. “We like Independence Day to be a very family day, with independence at the core,” says DiSalvo. From a fishing derby and family activities at Coffman Park to an evening concert and a stunning fireworks display, there’s a little something for everyone. Past concerts have included local and nationally known performers, including Arnett Howard, Kenny Loggins, Boys II Men and even the Village People, says DiSalvo.
Later in the year, Dublin’s community rec center gets creepy with the Halloween Spooktacular in late October. Activities include crafts, fortunetellers, hayrides, a haunted trail, a hay maze and a “Trunk or Treat” trail where local businesses hand out candy.
In December, the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony brings the community together for carols and a visit with Santa, elves and live reindeer, along with hot chocolate and musical performances. The evening culminates with Santa and city council members lighting a 40-foot-tall Christmas tree. The 2011 ceremony will be downtown at the corner of Bridge and High streets on Dec. 1.
Fairway festivities
There’s one event in Dublin that has achieved an even greater level of fame: the annual Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. A PGA Tour invitational, the Memorial Tournament was started in 1976 by famed golfer Jack Nicklaus and has a decidedly philanthropic purpose. The tournament gives back to the community through charitable contributions to local nonprofits such as Nationwide Children’s Hospital, among others.
“The Memorial and the city of Dublin have had great participation since the beginning,” says Dan Sullivan, executive director of the tournament. “You could say that both have grown up together.”
Nicklaus designed the Muirfield Village course himself, just two years before the first Memorial Tournament. The course featured a revolutionary design and was the first in the world designed with the spectator in mind. Nicklaus incorporated grassy mounds and amphitheaters, which have since become a model for other tournament courses worldwide.
In 2013, Muirfield will have a new bragging right as it becomes the third course in the country to host the biennial Presidents Cup. “Muirfield Village Golf Club was awarded the event in recognition of its long history of hosting international events . . . the fact that Jack Nicklaus has been a part of many Presidents Cups as a captain and is the founder of Muirfield Village Golf Club, and the understanding that Dublin and the region have a long history of supporting professional golf,” explains Sullivan.
With that prestigious honor comes yet another distinction: Muirfield will be the first club in the world to have hosted three of the golfing world’s most prominent international competitions, having hosted the Ryder Cup in 1987 and the Solheim Cup in 1998. “That is a significant accomplishment,” says Sullivan. “The Presidents Cup will give our community the opportunity to show the rest of the U.S. and the world what a great community we have in Dublin, Greater Columbus and the state of Ohio.”
The event, Sept. 30 through Oct. 6, 2013, is expected to draw more than 150,000 fans and more than 600 million television viewers worldwide.
For golf enthusiasts who would rather play than watch, Dublin has no shortage of options. With three public courses, a driving range at Sports Ohio and four private clubs, duffers are sure to find a tee time.
Going green
Dublin also has plenty of green spaces of a different sort. With 52 parks totaling nearly 950 acres—which include wooded areas, riverfront spaces, playgrounds and athletic fields—Dublin visitors and residents are never short on outdoor activities. According to Fred Hahn, Dublin’s director of parks and open space, the city council passed an open space ordinance in the early days of Dublin’s development that required residential developments to set aside land for public use.
One of the intents of the ordinance was to have a variety of recreational amenities within walking distance, no matter where you are in Dublin. “Basically, the idea is to allow people to pursue whatever outdoor activities they prefer,” says Hahn.
The parks system is designed to provide activities to residents 12 months a year. In the winter, folks can visit one of the parks’ outdoor ice-skating rinks or designated sledding hills. There are even designated wildlife areas for watching winter fauna. In warmer months, adult and youth sports leagues abound, as does activity along the riverfront and in wildlife areas. The parks are designed to allow people to pursue their own personal interests, without having to sign up for a formal class or activity.
Perhaps Dublin’s most unique outdoor feature is its extensive multipurpose trail system. Their goal is relatively simple, according to Hahn: to connect every destination point in Dublin. While the system is still a work in progress, the goal gets closer every year; the paths now stretch just past the 100-mile mark.
The trails often are referred to as bike paths, but they are used by a variety of travelers. People on roller blades, pushing strollers, going for a run or just taking a leisurely stroll all share the road, so to speak, with cyclists.
“There are very few cities in the world that have the bike paths and the ability to get around that we do,” says Scott Dring, executive director of the Dublin Convention and Visitors Bureau. “You can get to anywhere in the city via bike path, which I think is tremendous.”
A healthy focus
It’s no surprise that a city that focuses so heavily on providing its community with recreation options also is adamant about healthy lifestyles in general. What is unexpected, however, is how this relatively small city is helping pioneer some incredible health trends and technologies.
For many Dublin residents, a healthy lifestyle begins in the Dublin Community Recreation Center. The rec center is split into two separate areas: one devoted to physical activity, and the other focused on community facilities. The community side of the building includes public computer labs, WiFi, a teen lounge, babysitting services, a community hall that can be rented by the public and the Abbey Theatre, a performance space that hosts shows by local groups and also can be rented for private events.
The physical activity portion of the center is a mecca for health and fitness enthusiasts. There is a complete cardio and free weight area that includes aerobics and spinning studios. The full-court basketball and gymnasium facility has an elevated walking track on its second floor. A competition pool provides space for lap swimmers, while a leisure pool features a kid-sized slide for smaller splashers. And, of course, the facility is fully equipped with locker rooms, showers and the like.
A new, city-wide initiative called Healthy Dublin launched Oct. 2, 2011, with a health fair at the recreation center. Community residents were offered free health screenings, including screenings for allergies and skin cancer. A number of kids’ activities and a farmers market were among the 35 vendor booths. And residents were encouraged to register at healthydublin.org.
Healthy Dublin is an initiative formed through a partnership among the city and a number of community members, including Dublin Methodist Hospital, the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Dublin branch, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Dublin City Schools, Washington Township, HealthSpot and 411Fit.
This community-based health and wellness program is focused on individual tracking and improvement, with features such as an interactive website; health screening scheduling; health, exercise and nutrition goal-setting; networking; community health challenges, workshops and events, and even a points-prize system for completing challenges.
“We’re providing the community with as many resources, education and information as we can, so that they can engage in their own healthy lifestyles,” says Dublin recreation services director Matt Earman. “I think the role of government here in Dublin is . . . making sure our residents have access to some of the best lifestyles available.”
He adds that since many of the businesses in Dublin are locally owned or startups, business owners often can’t afford healthcare costs or effective health and wellness programs. The fact that Dublin is making an effort to provide its residents with healthy lifestyle options benefits smaller businesses that otherwise might have to foot the bill for employee wellness programs.
Thanks to the Healthy Dublin program, the city can develop statistics based on residential feedback that will give insight into the community’s overall health and wellness, as well as information on what types of programs the community needs or wants.
Dublin also has attracted the eye of entrepreneur Steve Cashman. His business, HealthSpot, is based in Dublin and is set to revolutionize the way people receive primary care. Cashman’s product, called the Care4 Station, is a kiosk that provides telehealth services.
The first kiosk was unveiled at the Dublin recreation center’s health fair, and there are more to come in convenient locations such as pharmacies and nursing homes. Patients enter the kiosk and speak to a healthcare provider via a webcam and television monitor. The stations are equipped with scales, stethoscopes, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, otoscopes and other basic medical tools.
Each kiosk is staffed by an attendant, should patients have any questions. When they leave the kiosk, it self-sanitizes with a special light that destroys germs. HealthSpot marketing manager Angie Homan compares the Care4 stations and how they will revolutionize healthcare to the way ATMs changed banking. She anticipates the concept going national, and perhaps even reaching an international scope. Says Cashman, the company’s CEO, “Our mission is to increase access to high quality, convenient and affordable healthcare services for everyone.”
Why start in Dublin? “Ultimately, we needed unique talent with our company, and we felt Dublin was an inspiring environment to create the atmosphere we want, to foster a ‘Google-like’ staff of unique people in a creative office,” explains Cashman.
He says HealthSpot has created a significant number of jobs in the area and has brought in several Fortune 500 company executives. “As we deploy thousands of our Care4 stations around the United States, we want to put Dublin on the map, much like a Redmond or Silicon Valley,” he adds.
The doctors on the other end of the webcam mainly will be from large provider groups that can offer a continuum of care, Cashman explains. The health records can be shared among providers and specialists as needed. And, he says, since a majority of insurers and states already support telehealth as a care option, the insurance process will be similar to visiting a doctor’s office.
Artistic expression
Having a physically healthy community is vital to a vibrant community, but having an intellectually stimulated population also is important. Cue the Dublin Arts Council, the city’s nonprofit arts organization. What began in 1983 as an ad-hoc committee to bring the Columbus Symphony to the dedication of Scioto Park has blossomed into an organization that supports the arts throughout the community.
Staple programs include the Sundays at Scioto summer concert series, in which local bands perform free concerts; Art in Public Places, which commissions public art installations throughout the city; classes and workshops for all ages, as well as a kids’ summer camp; an annual exhibition of work by Dublin students in all grades, and the on-site, year-round Visual Arts Series. The DAC also gives community arts grants to Dublin-based arts organizations such as the Dublin Area Art League, the Emerald City Players and the Dublin Singers. Executive director David Guion calls the DAC “the aesthetic voice of the city.”
One of the DAC’s most unique installations, called Riverboxes, is part of the Art in Public Places program. This interactive project uses geocaching and letterboxing to turn unique pieces of art into “vessels” that participants can seek out. When a vessel is located, the finder can leave a note in a journal that is included inside for future participants to read.
The DAC is developing a self-guided tour for the various Art in Public Places installations, says Guion. Eventually, he hopes to have a smartphone application that would include information about each piece, as well as a Foursquare-style gaming interface.
The newest Art in Public Places installation, dedicated in August 2011, acts as a visual tie-in between Dublin’s past and present. The Simulation of George M. Karrer’s Workshop re-creates the blacksmith shop of one of Dublin’s early residents, and was created to commemorate Dublin’s 2010 bicentennial.
Downtown delights
Of course, no city would be complete without a lively downtown scene, and Dublin isn’t lacking. Historic Dublin, which includes Bri-Hi Square at the corner of Bridge and High streets, features an array of locally owned dining spots and retail shops.
The city’s dining scene includes Brazenhead, with authentic cuisine and décor from across the pond; the historic Dublin Village Tavern, whose casual fare and atmosphere make for a popular place to unwind after work; J. Liu, Oscar’s and Tucci’s for more upscale dining, and Our CupCakery, home of the create-your-own-cupcake bar. “The problem is, they’re all so good,” says Bill Jacob, president of the Historic Dublin Business Association.
Downtown Dublin also offers a bevy of unique, locally owned retail shops. For authentic Irish imports, there’s Ha’penny Bridge Imports of Ireland, where shoppers can stock up on Avoca woolens, Belleek china and Irish jewelry, or rent a kilt for the annual Best Legs in a Kilt contest held in March. At Z Bearla’s, you’ll find a variety of unique gifts, and “the owner herself is in the store; that’s the kind of thing you’ll find here in Historic Dublin,” Jacobs says. For the shopper with a sweet tooth, there’s the Sisters Sweet Shoppe. “Anything covered with chocolate, they’ve got it,” he says. The shop specializes in fruitcakes, gift baskets and Krema peanut butter as well.
With all the restaurants, taverns, boutiques, ice cream parlors and service providers, “it makes for a very healthy downtown,” says Jacobs. “It’s not a place that’s only alive on Saturday night; it’s busy all week long.” That liveliness might best be enjoyed on the third Thursday of each month, known as Sláinte (pronounced slawn-cha) Thursdays. Dublin’s version of the Short North Gallery Hop features musicians performing at various restaurants and shops around Historic Dublin, with a free trolley that transports visitors around the district.
For more commercial shopping, head just outside Dublin proper. There’s the Mall at Tuttle Crossing to the southwest, and the vibrant retail district at Sawmill and Dublin-Granville roads to the east, featuring a plethora of big-name stores. According to Dring, an attraction popular with Dublin visitors is Morgan House, on the city’s north side. A combination restaurant and gift shop, Morgan House’s menu features comfort-food favorites that are sure to satisfy.
With a community that is healthy economically, artistically, intellectually and physically—thanks to its health-conscious residents—Dublin has plenty to offer. As Dring says, “I can’t think of a better place to live and raise a family than right here in Dublin, Ohio.”
