Grange Insurance Audubon Center — Attraction in Columbus

I attended an event recently [10-20-2021] at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center: a fundraising event for Simply Living, a central Ohio community that is committed to "creating a compassionate and sustainable world through personal, community, and cultural transformation."

The annual Simply Living fundraiser is held each year at a different location. I am a non-driver so traveling to some of these locations has required a lot of advance planning.

I decided to travel to this year's Simply Living fundraiser via public transit so I took a #3 COTA bus to W. Main St. near the Scioto River. I then walked southward for approximately one mile -- first along the Scioto Mile Promenade, then along the Lower Scioto Greenway, and then through the Scioto Audubon Metro Park -- with the goal of eventually arriving at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center.

There had periodically been signs directing me towards the Grange Insurance Audubon Center until there had been a fork in the path [in the middle of Scioto Audubon Metro Park] and then the paved path changed to a gravel path with no clear destination. After several minutes of uncertainty while continuing to walk in the same direction, I finally arrived at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. I pulled on the door handle; the door was locked.

I looked inside of the Grange Insurance Audubon Center and saw other "Simply Living" people inside of the building. Rather than letting me into that locked door, they gestured to me that I was supposed to be using a different door [without telling me how to get to that different door].

There had been no signs at the locked door directing me to a different door so I kept gesturing that I had no idea how to get to a different door so people eventually let me into the building via the locked door.

If that door to the Grange Insurance Audubon Center is always locked yet people who have been walking from the north will always arrive first at that door, I strongly believe that there must be clear signage at that door directing visitors to the correct door.

The Grange Insurance Audubon Center had been a wonderful location for the Simply Living fundraiser [except for the great difficulty that at least one of us had had in terms of traveling there and then being able to enter the building].

I had particularly enjoyed being able to watch the heavy traffic on I-70 and I-71 that had been passing through downtown Columbus each moment while we had been attending the Simply Living fundraiser.

After the Simply Living fundraiser had ended, a friend drove me home from that event so that I would not have to attempt to travel home via COTA or via Uber. It is likely that the reverse of my walking route [back to W. Main St. near the Scioto River] would have been closed after dark.

In addition, I am able to tell, by looking at Google Maps, that W. Whittier St. is not at all safe for pedestrians during daylight hours [because there is no sidewalk or berm] and that that street would be even more unsafe after dark because most pedestrians walking along that road after dark would be invisible in the darkness.

I very much hope that the predominant culture will change so that people who plan and construct buildings and/or who plan and publicize public events will not automatically assume that everyone...

The Audubon Center is beautiful and would be a great place for a wedding if they were more prompt with their responses. I visited the Audubon Center with my fiance and we absolutely loved it. He emailed their coordinator Cynthia to ask to visit and it took her a couple days to respond which we thought maybe that wasn't a big deal. You have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. We really wanted our wedding next september but they were booked already and we understood that. Their next opening was October 8th and he emailed Cynthia and asked what payment methods they accepted on a Monday because we really wanted to book the 8th. She emailed him back WEDNESDAY and said what payment methods they accepted but October eighth was booked on Tuesday and the next opening was on October 22nd. We were pretty furious the date was booked after he had originally asked about it. We talked about it and decided the 22nd would be alright so he called her Thursday and got no response. He called again Friday and the company said the best way to contact her would be through email so here we go again. He emailed her Friday and she didn't respond until Tuesday just to tell him that date is booked also. Don't get your heart set on this place unless you plan on booking 2 years in advance because the coordinator whose JOB is to answer emails and help people plan weddings will probably wait the two...

I've been here a few times, and always really liked the park. Today, I attended their new Tuesday Turtle Feeding program with 2 children, and it was great! There are limited spots and masks are required, but it all felt very safe and was a great way to help teach the kids about some new animals. They talked about the different kinds of turtles, how they take care of them, and showed how all their food is prepared and fed. The center also had some monarch butterfly cocoons, and they usually have a lot of other great resources for kids but unfortunately those aren't available right now due to covid-19. But it's a really nice nature center! The park is great too, although I haven't explored much of it. Around the center, there are lots of flower gardens and butterflies. There are trails for walking/cycling, views of the river, etc. I also really like the pond with the little boardwalk, and you can usually see some...