Photograph of Stafford Village, Taken from the Corner of Hartford Street and Stafford Avenue

This photograph, taken on May 6, 2021, shows the buildings in the Stafford Village Retirement Community as viewed from the corner of Hartford Street and Stafford Avenue looking northeast. A construction fence has been placed around the perimeter of the buildings as demolition begins.

Within five years of its opening in January 1971, Stafford Village had become a popular residence for senior citizens in the community, with waitlists of three years for an efficiency apartment and seven years for a one-bedroom place.

In 2015, National Church Residences (NCR) purchased the 65 units composing Stafford Village. NCR already owned the 23 units making up Stafford Court, located across Hartford Street from Stafford Village. NCR had managed Stafford Village since 2001, although the property was owned by an independent board that included representatives of Worthington Presbyterian Church.

In 2018, NCR announced a redevelopment of the Village, with plans to tear down 57 units and replace them with an 85-unit apartment building featuring a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. After two years of community discussion and redesign, the city gave NCR its approval to go ahead with the project in July of 2020. Official groundbreaking for the project took place on May 13, 2021.