The Spaghetti Warehouse Streetcar Legacy
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& the "Granville T. Woods Institute"

For generations, families across Columbus dined, laughed, and made memories inside the bright red trolley car tucked inside the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant in Columbus' Franklinton neighborhood. It wasn’t just a quirky backdrop — it was part of the city’s heartbeat.

When the restaurant closed and demolition began in early 2025, the trolley was marked for destruction — a forgotten relic destined for the landfill.

But Columbus wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“You know, a lot of folks didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to the trolley,” said Michael Aaron, Executive Director of the Rickenbacker Woods Foundation. “Well, this time they’re saying hello.”

Thanks to quick action by RWF and an outpouring of community support, the trolley was pulled from the rubble and placed into storage. Then on June 3, 2025, more than 50 guests gathered for a one-night-only public viewing — snapping photos, sharing stories, and reliving memories of family dinners, first dates, and special celebrations.​

Now, we’re preparing the trolley for its next chapter:
A permanent public exhibit honoring Granville T. Woods, the "Black Edison" and one of America’s greatest overlooked inventors.
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(Photo) Trolley arrival at the trolley at the restaurant in 1978 &
the extraction of the trolley February 2025. (Courtesy Columbus Metropolitan Library & Lowendick Demolition)

The Woods Institute: Where Innovation Meets Legacy
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The Rickenbacker Woods Foundation is proud to announce the development of The Woods Institute — a visionary new space dedicated to invention, equity, public history, and educational access. At its heart will be the restored Spaghetti Warehouse trolley, now permanently preserved thanks to community action, civic leadership, and deep-rooted historical purpose.
The trolley, once at risk of demolition, will serve as the cornerstone of a larger public experience:
  • A new park and interpretive plaza, funded by $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars through the City of Columbus​
  • A public learning environment focused on transportation, invention, and African American innovation
  • The Woods Institute, a growing center for storytelling, youth STEAM programming, and cultural connection
This new outdoor and educational space is being shaped in partnership with a local Columbus-based design team, historians, engineers, and architects, to reflect the industrial legacy of Columbus while uplifting untold stories — particularly those of Granville T. Woods, the Black Father of Electricity, who was born in Columbus and lived along Livingston Avenue. 

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