"It will be more than a park," the Village of Plain City wrote when it laid out plans for the space on Church Street. "It will be Plain City's front porch." This year was the first time the porch had furniture. The Depot stood alone in 2025, but 2026 brought the farmers market and a splash pad to the square as well. The square's first full season ran on a summer calendar, though, and it is now over. The farmers market ended in the first week of October and the splash pad a few days after. The part of the plan built for colder months is still a drawing.
So the square is now a summer place, and once the weather turns, Uptown gathers where it did before the square existed. That means a handful of privately run spots on Main and Chillicothe streets, plus Pastime Park on the north side of the village.
A Porch Built for Warm Weather
Public Square came together in pieces, and each piece arrived on its own schedule. The Depot came first. It's an 1880s rail depot moved to Plain City from the Columbus area, and the Village calls it the anchor of the project. It opened at 134 Church St. on June 13, 2025, and Columbus Underground covered the debut as the end of the project's first phase. Businesses and groups can rent it for meetings, retreats and small events.
For 2026, the Plain City Farmers Market moved one block to Public Square at 142 Church St. The Village pointed to parking right next to the market, room for more vendors, and access to The Depot's air-conditioned seating and restrooms during market hours. The splash pad followed in August. It has 12 interactive fountains, a painted compass design, artificial turf with chairs, and a brick seating wall.
Here's how the square's 2026 season ran from start to finish:
| Date | What happened at Public Square |
|---|---|
| July 4 | Farmers market kickoff, 9 a.m. to noon |
| July 9 | Thursday evening markets begin, 5 to 7:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 6 | Splash pad grand opening, Parks Master Plan open house at The Depot, and the market, all on one evening |
| Sept. 10 | Corn Carnival week brings the market and the Ohio High Wheel Race to the square's calendar |
| Oct. 1 | Final Thursday market of the season |
| Oct. 4 | Splash pad's last day before Public Works winterizes it |
The market dates come from the 2026 farmers market roundup on Columbus on the Cheap. The Aug. 6 lineup comes from the Village's splash pad announcement. The Corn Carnival entries come from the 2026 Corn Carnival schedule. The closing date comes from the Village Administrator's report in this fall's Council minutes, published in the Oct. 7 work session packet. The Village's Parks & Amenities page still lists the splash pad as open for the season, but the later Council report is the more recent word.
The busiest stretch, from July through early October, ran about 13 weeks. From Aug. 6 through the last market on Oct. 1, the splash pad and the Thursday market ran side by side, with The Depot open during market hours. Aug. 6 put the most into a single evening, with a grand opening ceremony at 5:30 p.m., concept boards for the village's parks outside The Depot, live music by Andy Leer, Miller's Ice Cream, and the Hibachi Hut food truck.
The Corner That Keeps Its Lights On
When the market packs up for the year, the steadiest gathering spot in Uptown is the old Clocktower building at 101 S. Chillicothe St. The building's owners, Andy Warnock and Rayce Robinson, have been restoring the 10,280-square-foot structure through their partnership, Westwood Collective, since buying it in early 2023. The Clocktower Kitchen + Bar, founded by Benjamyn Greig and Shane and Chelsea Whitacre, is the anchor tenant. Chef's Table Columbus was announced to run the upstairs event venue. A January 2026 visit by Breakfast with Nick found the restaurant open, with an event space upstairs.
By spring, the restaurant had reached a regional audience. In late April, The Clocktower announced that it had won Best New Restaurant at 614 Magazine's 2026 ColumbEST Awards. The ColumbEST winners are picked by community vote across Columbus. The same post said a patio called The Backyard was set to open in May 2026, and that events were planned for The Thomas Room on the second floor. Neither has been confirmed in a later public update, so it's best to check with the restaurant directly before planning a fall evening around the patio or the upstairs room.
A short walk east, New Grounds Coffee House opened its third location at 135 E. Main St. on Aug. 6, 2025. Owners Juli and Tom Willbarger serve Crimson Cup coffee and pastries from regional bakers. Westwood Collective's plans for the Clocktower building listed New Grounds alongside the restaurant, a retail storefront, and the second-floor event space.
Taken together, these two spots set Uptown's year-round rhythm. They're privately run, open on their own schedules, and they don't follow the parks calendar. Public Square now hosts the summer, while the corner of Main and Chillicothe covers the other months.
October Moves Back to Main Street
The fall calendar shows this split clearly. None of the Village's October events this year are listed at Public Square. They return to the streets and the park that held them before the square opened:
- Pumpkins on Main, Friday, Oct. 16, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Uptown merchants offer deals, treats and chances at prizes.
- Plain City Fall Fest, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2 to 6 p.m., at Pastime Park, 370 N. Chillicothe St. The lineup includes hayrides, a trick-or-treat alley, costume contests, a pumpkin carver, bounce houses and a petting zoo.
- Trick-or-treat, Saturday, Oct. 31, 5 to 7 p.m.
Pumpkins on Main and Fall Fest fall on back-to-back days, which gives the middle of October a full weekend. Friday evening runs through the Uptown storefronts, and Saturday afternoon moves up Chillicothe Street to Pastime Park. Both are on the Village's Halloween page and Fall Fest page.
Uptown also draws crowds without the square. At a recent Council meeting, the police chief reported that more than 100 cars registered for this fall's Cops and Cars car show, that visitors complimented the Uptown area, and that several people asked for the event to return next year.
The December holiday event, Christmas Under the Clock, is named for the same Clocktower corner. The Village's page for it still shows the 2025 event on Dec. 6, 2025, with local craft vendors in Uptown. A 2026 date hasn't been posted yet.
The Piece That Would Give the Square a Winter
The Village's plans show that Public Square was never meant to stay a summer-only space. The project page describes a future Marketplace at Public Square with all-season event and vendor space. It would host a year-round farmers market, movies in the park, a holiday market, and a winter ice rink. The farmers market page goes further and says that space would eventually house the whole market. The Marketplace is labeled a future phase. Neither page gives a budget or a construction date, and the Village says the project's phases depend on funding.
The Marketplace would be the piece that keeps the square in use through winter. Until it's built, the square's busy season is roughly July through early October, and the rest of the year depends on the businesses and parks around it.
The village's other public spaces are in planning now too. On Aug. 6, the Village held a Parks Master Plan open house at The Depot. It covered improvements to Pastime Park and a future community park on the former RANCO property. The former RANCO site covers 73 acres. Under the Village's agreement with Schneider Electric, about 66 acres transfer to the Village for public use, and Schneider Electric keeps about 7. The Village sees the land becoming a recreation hub, with possible athletic fields, walking trails, and space for festivals and community events.
At its Sept. 14, 2026 meeting, Council heard that public input and stakeholder interviews had shaped the plan so far. The consultants' next steps were to rank improvements and locations, develop the plan further, and identify funding. For Pastime Park, the discussion focused on pedestrian safety and connections, traffic patterns, and possibly more parking. According to the Village's Oct. 7 work session packet, staff had met with the consultant to go over Council's comments, and the next committee meeting hadn't been scheduled yet.
That puts Pastime Park in an interesting spot. It hosts this year's Fall Fest on Oct. 17, and it's also one of the places the parks plan is now studying. For now, the newest of the village's gathering places closes in early October, and the older ones carry Uptown through the colder months.
Questions like where a village gathers, and what's open after the market closes, shape daily life in Plain City as much as any floor plan. If you'd like to talk about how Uptown's changes fit into your own plans, Sue Sachdeva is glad to share what she's seeing in the village. Let's Connect.
