DELAWARE — The goal is to create a fresh new scene for the city's southern entrance, a mix of shops, restaurants and almost 200 new homes.

That's led to new streets, curbs and lamp posts that might be all but unrecognizable to motorists from Columbus passing through the junction of Routes 23 and 315. Where once stood towering trees, a harness-racing horse farm and practice track, there are now bulldozers moving earth to prepare for Coughlin Crossing, an 80-acre mixed-use project.

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"We're building an extension of Delaware," said Connie Klema, an attorney and developer for Delaware Development LLC. "We want to keep the Delaware traits so that it's beautiful."

Backed by automotive dealership executives Al and Mike Coughlin and other family members, the development company has invested more than $5 million to lay the groundwork, sewer and water lines, and other improvements.

Westerville home-building company Romanelli and Hughes was selected a month ago to design the 190-unit condominium and apartment buildings. A large car wash has committed to open and unnamed shops are being considered, Klema said.

Nearby residents, despite reservations about losing history to development, appear to be satisfied.

Jeanne Ball has fought to preserve the Stratford neighborhood's milltown history by having several nearby structures added to the National Register of Historic Places.

"Our main concern is what we'll see right out our front windows," Ball said.

The plans call for large residential buildings along Stratford Road. Current design plans call for cut stone. She is asking that they use rubble limestone, the kind that might have been drawn from the nearby Olentangy River bed.

"I know that they have to make money. But we want it to be a nice development," Ball said.

The area has been a magnet for both goodwill and controversy.

Architect David Kerr moved his business into the original Stratford Church, at the crossroads, almost two years ago, carefully preserving it. Eight years ago, a Turkey Hill gas station and food market opened across the street. The company later sued the city and others, claiming broken promises about a re-alignment of the intersection. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Klema has listened closely to residents, said Donna Meyer, executive director of the Delaware County Historical Society and lifelong resident of the county who operates out of the historic Meeker House, one of the area's first homesteads, just north of the project.

"She routinely has a meeting a month ... bringing pictures and charts. Not a lot of developers would do that these days," Meyer said.

Klema said she and her partners are committed to making the project special, from all sides.

"You've got strip centers everywhere, and large islands of parking, and if you drive behind them they're ugly," she said. "We're very proud of the property and the development plans.

"I get excited about these things. My heart is what drives me. And the support of residents is what makes it work."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso