COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dana G. “Buck” Rinehart, the energetic mayor of Columbus, who is credited with contributing to the city’s dramatic growth from 1984 to 1991, has died at the age of 68.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, Rinehart battled pancreatic cancer after receiving a diagnosis in early 2013.
After being sworn in as the city’s 50th mayor in January 1984 at the age of 37, Rinehart saw I-670 from downtown to Port Columbus completed, City Center mall planned and built, redevelopment begun in the Short North and Brewery District, development of the Martin Luther King Center, and the beginning of retail and residential growth at Easton.
During his tenure, Columbus enjoyed eight consecutive years of growth in population and tax revenue, and the city added 144,000 new jobs.
Columbus also added land for 42 new city parks and a new police headquarters.