This is a quick park & grab. You cannot access this cache from I-71. Don't even try. There is plenty of parking available nearby.
Hej! Välkommen till en Svensk möbelaffär. Kom hitta en gömma.
There was some controversy about the trees in this area prior to construction of the site. Here is a Dispatch article about it:
!K34 says it will remove fewer trees while building Polaris-area store
By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch Posted Jan 30, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Jan 30, 2016 at 10:09 AM
!K34 plans to remove fewer trees when it builds its Polaris-area store and is taking steps to preserve streams and meet other conditions that Columbus officials have imposed before giving the go-ahead on construction. “We are satisfied they’ve met minimum requirements to get the variance,” said Susan Ashbrook, the city’s assistant director for sustainability for the city’s utilities department.
In a new plan sent to the city, !K34 said it will remove 407 trees, plant 172 trees and preserve 235 others. !K34 also will pay for an additional 172 trees.
!K34 originally wanted to remove 588 trees so cars driving along I-71 could better see the store. The company sent a letter to the city in August explaining the issue.
!K34 originally said it would plant 1,087 trees. But that number was reduced when !K34 said it would remove fewer trees, said John Ivanic, a spokesman for the utilities department.
On Oct. 5, Columbus officials conditionally approved a variance to remove trees, but that was contingent upon !K34 preserving nine mature trees and providing more details about the types of hardwood trees it would plant, as well as plans to protect a stream.
The site has one perennial stream and two intermittent streams.
Environmental groups say trees help shade and cool water, which improves stream quality. The trees that !K34 plans to plant include red maples, buckeyes, black walnuts and scarlet and pin oaks.
Elissa Yoder, conservation coordinator for the Ohio Sierra Club, called !K34’s changes “a big improvement” that show its willingness to cooperate.
But David Roseman, chairman of the Sierra Club’s central Ohio chapter, said the city should never have granted conditional approval just so drivers could have a better view of the store.
!K34 wants to open a 354,000-square-foot store in the summer of 2017 on 40-acres on the site of the former Germain Amphitheater on Gemini Place just east of Interstate 71. The site is at the northeast corner of the interchange.
The company plans to close on the land sale in the next month with current owner NP Limited, said !K34 spokesman Joseph Roth. !K34 plans to break ground in spring.
As part of the transaction, !K34 is creating a conservation easement so future property owners adhere to current standards.
The company has taken similar steps to preserve the environment at other stores locations, Roth said. Representatives of the Sierra Club, Friends of Alum Creek, Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, environmental consultant MAD Scientist Associates, !K34 and its consultant, a division of Davey Tree, toured the site on Tuesday, Yoder said.
!K34 showed where retention ponds would be placed and areas that would remain untouched, she said. One of those areas on the southern part of the site has what !K34’s consultant called a healthy forest stand with many mature trees. !K34 will remove trees from two areas in the southern section.
mferench@dispatch.com @MarkFerenchik