Trump flag replaces American flag near Columbus West Side apartments

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

7 2 minutes read

Editor's note: A day after this story was published, the developer put the American flag back up. See our follow-up story here.

A Columbus developer who hung a giant American flag on one of his apartment complexes in 2020 to protest coronavirus-related business closures has replaced the American flag at another property he owns with one campaign banner for former President Donald Trump.

Preferred Living owns a small triangular lot located at Trabue Road and McKinley Avenue in a part of Franklin Township known as San Margherita. Until recently, a flagpole on the corner flew a large American flag and a smaller Italian flag. These, along with a large metal sign erected there with the name San Margherita, were a nod to the Italian immigrants who settled there in the early 20th century to work for the nearby Marble Cliff Quarry Company .

The removal of the American flag, in particular, has sparked complaints online, a wave of negative Google reviews about Preferred Living, and concerns from residents of two adjacent apartment complexes owned by another company that requires that its residents refrain from any visible political declaration.

“I think it gives a political affiliation to the whole complex,” said Lizzie Jackson, who lives in the Belmont House apartments. “I don't like having to tell visitors, 'Turn left at the giant Trump flag.'”

The Dispatch left voicemails for a Preferred Living spokeswoman on Sunday and Monday, but did not receive a response from the company.

It's difficult to tell from the ground how big the flag is, but Jackson estimated it to be “a few car lengths wide.” The blue flag bears the words “Trump 2024” and the Republican candidate’s slogan “Make America Great Again.”

Residents of Belmont House and neighboring Hanover Park Apartments received an email Saturday from 601 West, the company that oversees their complexes, acknowledging complaints about the removal of the American flag for the Trump campaign flag, but adding that it “had been legitimately installed by the owners of the plot.

The email directed Belmont House and Hanover Park residents who had concerns to contact Preferred Living.

Online, concerns have been mounting on Reddit and other social media platforms over the removal of the American flag. Criticism of this decision caused Preferred Living's average Google rating to drop to 2.3.

“I couldn't help but notice today that the American flag… has been replaced by a Trump flag. I find this offensive and insulting to our country and to everyone who lives here” , one person said. “It should be taken down and the American flag, which is a symbol for our country regardless of your political party, should be raised instead. So disrespectful.”

“What do you have against the American flag? Disgusting,” wrote another.

In May 2020, when non-essential businesses in Ohio were in their second month of state-ordered closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Preferred Living hung a 30-by-60-foot American flag on the side of a building under construction on Henderson Road.

“We are concerned about people's individual civil liberties and the forced denial of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness justified by short-term security,” said Mindy Greer, a spokeswoman for Preferred Living, at the time at The Dispatch.

Lina Portman

Related Articles

After 27 years, Holopaw John Doe (1997) is now identified

More than 100 victims come forward in alleged abuse scandal

Woman killed in Stanley County crash identified

Shooting at southwest Houston taco truck worries neighbors