NEW ALBANY, Ohio -- The first wave of construction workers hits the gravel parking lot to Zeros Pizza and Carry-out just after 10:30 a.m.

	Jay LaPrete, Associated Press
	Scott Stewart, principal at New Albany High School, cheers as his team runs on the field before their game against Fairfield Union last night. He's a big believer in what Limited Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner has done for the Ohio community.
	Columbus Dispatch photo
	Limited Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner at a shareholders meeting in 1998.

Up since dawn doing the groundwork of growth -- digging for power lines, pouring concrete and paving roads -- they drop heavily into wooden chairs where they wait for the hot hoagies that will be their lunch.

"These are the guys building the houses around here," says shop owner David Berger, 48, a lifelong resident of this part of Ohio's heartland. "The construction workers from Abercrombie & Fitch stop by later."

Building is booming at Abercrombie & Fitch headquarters and throughout New Albany, a suburban Columbus community that has been carefully planned and cultivated out of what once was rich farmland.

The homes, shops, schools and businesses have sprouted up in well-tended patches over the past dozen years as feed stores have given way to home-and-garden centers.

The Johnny Appleseed of this area is Leslie H. Wexner, chief executive officer of Limited Brands, a company he founded in 1963 and that today includes major retail players The Limited, Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret, to name a few. Abercrombie & Fitch, founded in 1892, was acquired by The Limited (an earlier version of Limited Brands) in 1988. The casual apparel company became so popular that it spun off into a separate company in the 1990s.

Mr. Wexner has made New Albany his home and theirs.

A millionaire many times over -- he's the richest man in Ohio, with assets of $3.1 billion -- Mr. Wexner, 69, came here with a clear idea of just the kind of place in which he wanted to live. The perfect community.

It looks like Virginia horse country. There are rolling fields lined by white fences -- his property's signature -- rustic buildings of red brick and majestic homes with pillared porches. The school complex -- high, middle and elementary schools, all in one 120-acre site -- is patterned after the University of Virginia. The library resembles Monticello.

"It's Tidewater Georgian," said Thomas Rubey, director of development for the New Albany Co. "Mr. Wexner put together a team of handpicked architects who conceived this community."

It's more than matching lampposts and similar buildings with the same slate roofs. The look is one "of traditional, enduring value, not modern or trendy," Mr. Rubey said. "It has a feel. It will gain value over time."

"Before, this was a very small farm town between Johnstown and Columbus, where nothing ever existed," said Mr. Berger. "Now, we're becoming huge."

The construction workers continue to file in and out of his pizza shop, the only place near the job sites that serves food fast. But he expects that will change, too.

The number of workers seems to have doubled in the past year, he said, making it hard to keep up. Especially since the construction crews are constantly hiring away his part-time help.

Scott Stewart, principal at New Albany High School, is one of the many believers in what Mr. Wexner has done here.

"He came with a vision," Mr. Stewart said. "He wanted to create a community that was based on excellence in a lot of different ways."

The schools are just part of it. There are the subdivisions, the corporate headquarters, the shopping plazas, the new hospital.

"Abercrombie & Fitch is just one component of what we have here," Mr. Stewart said.

In eight years, the high school has grown from 375 students to 870 with expectations of accommodating up to 1,400.

"People say, you know, 'They got too many things going for themselves.' There's a little bit of jealousy there," Mr. Stewart said.

"But most of our people are just hard-working people who want to do the right thing. They appreciate what has been created here and they feel blessed."

The controversy swirling around the guarded gates at the Abercrombie & Fitch headquarters doesn't kick up much dust in New Albany. The principal doesn't recall seeing any objectionable T-shirts on campus.

The dress code is flexible -- "nothing that is going to interrupt instruction" -- but Mr. Stewart said the young people in his school police themselves.

"Our kids ... it has to do with the culture," he said. "They concentrate on things that are more important."

But then there is Natalie Zambon, 19, who graduated from New Albany in June and now attends nearby Columbus State Community College. She wears a black T-shirt touting New Found Glory, "a punkish band." She said she and her friends don't wear clothing made by Abercrombie & Fitch "because it narrows down the preppy people. And it's way too expensive.

"I wouldn't buy the shirts. If I had a kid, I wouldn't let them buy the shirts. I'd hate that. ... Shirts like that, they shouldn't create for kids that age. With half-naked girls on them."

Even at her young age, Miss Zambon has been rocked by the changes in New Albany.

"Now, everyone thinks if you live in New Albany, you're a rich prep. There's a lot of attitude.

"I can't wait to get out of here."