This occasional series on failed and canceled projects around the city today talks about an unassuming parking garage that was originally supposed to be much more.
Beginning in 1984 and continuing into 1985, a parking garage/city office tower was being tossed around to house an increasing number of city office works. Space had become tight and many existing buildings were more than 50 years old and required extensive renovations. The Daimler Group started construction on the 10-story garage part of the project at the southeast corner of W. Gay and N. Front in late 1984. The 16-story office project that would’ve been built on top (for a total 26-story building) was just one of 3 options the city was considering to alleviate its office problems. The other two options consisted of a $75 million civic center about a block north of City Hall, or simply renovating the existing buildings.
In the end, it was deemed that there were too many other problems to spend public dollars on. At the time, there was quite an issue with road maintenance funding, and the city deemed that it was not the right time to build a brand new tower for city workers. By April 1985, the project was dead, although the garage was finished and remains to this day.
The Gay and Front garage in 2015.
Ironically, within a few years, the city would have several much larger office towers. 5 new towers were built between 1986 and 1991, though not all were specifically built for city offices. Renovation of existing buildings has been ongoing since.
This Random Columbus Photos 3 edition looks at a Downtown icon, the Columbus Athletic Club..
Photo Date: November 1, 1914 Location: 136 E. Broad Street
The photo shows the ongoing excavation of the Columbus Athletic Club. It was conceived a few years prior as a social club by a group of wealthy Columbus businessmen in 1912. The organization was originally housed in the Atlas Building at Gay and High, but the club wanted their own building. Construction began in early 1914, and the 6-story building was dedicated in 1915. The 100-year-old institution, now on the National Register of Historic Places, looks pretty much the same as it did when it was first built, and it remains a private club to this day. Over the years, the club has had many prominent members, including politicians and even a president, Warren G. Harding.
I’ve compared Columbus to peer cities nationally in terms of density and population, but I’ve never made a Midwest cities historic population and density comparison overall. For the following, I used the top 15 largest Midwest cities as of 2014.
Red indicates a fallen ranking while blue indicates a rise. Black is no change.
Historic Population Rankings 1840 1. Cincinnati: 46,338 2. St. Louis: 16,469 3. Detroit: 9,102 4. Cleveland: 6,071 5. Columbus: 6,048 6. Chicago: 4,470 7. Indianapolis: 2,695 8. Milwaukee: 1,700 9. Toledo: 1,222 10. Kansas City: Not incorporated. 11. Lincoln: Not incorporated. 12. Minneapolis: Not incorporated. 13. Omaha: Not incorporated. 14. St. Paul: Not incorporated. 15. Wichita: Not incorporated.
1850 1. Cincinnati: 115,435 2. St. Louis: 77,860 3. Chicago: 29,963 4. Detroit: 21,019 5. Milwaukee: 20,061 6. Columbus: 17,882 7. Cleveland: 17,034 8. Indianapolis: 8,091 9. Toledo: 3,829 10. St. Paul: 1,112 11. Kansas City: Not incorporated. 12. Lincoln: Not incorporated. 13. Minneapolis: Not incorporated. 14. Omaha: Not incorporated. 15. Wichita: Not incorporated.
Columbus seems poised to take the #2 spot from Indianapolis around or just after 2020. Also, 11 of 15 would’ve seen growth 2010-2020. Cleveland, Toledo, St. Louis and Detroit would be the only cities that still lost.
In an occasional series, I will be attempting to answer questions or provide information based on popular searches on the site. In today’s addition, I will talk retail. I get a lot of searches for Columbus malls and shopping destinations. I had to think about the best way to tackle this, because Columbus has so much retail- it’s considered to be one of the best cities per-capita for shopping.
Here is just a straight list of some of the major centers with all information I could find, as well as a Google Map location.
Major Malls Eastland Mall Opened: 1968 (Renovation 2003) Address: 2740 Eastland Mall Site B, Columbus 43232 Phone: 614-861-3234 Hours: M-S: 10AM-9PM Sunday: 12PM-6PM # of Retail Stores: 74 # of Restaurants/Eateries/Grocery: 6 Mall Website: www.eastlandmall.com
Easton Town Center Opened: 1999 (Expansions in 2001, 2013, 2014 and 2019) Address: 160 Easton Town Center, Columbus 43219 Phone: 614-416-7000 Hours: M-T: 10AM-9PM F-S: 10AM-10PM Sunday: 12PM-6PM # of Retail Stores: 164 # of Restaurants/Eateries/Grocery: 56 Mall Website: www.eastontowncenter.com
The Mall at Tuttle Crossing Built: 1997 Address: 5043 Tuttle Crossing Blvd, Dublin 43016 Phone: 614-717-9604 Hours: M-S: 10AM-9PM Sunday: 11AM-6PM # of Retail Stores: 125+ # of Restaurants/Eateries/Grocery: 20+ Mall Website: www.simon.com/mall/the-mall-at-tuttle-crossing
Polaris Fashion Place Opened: 2001 (Expansions/Renovations in 2008 and 2015) Address: 1500 Polaris Parkway, Columbus 43240 Phone: 614-846-1500 Hours: M-T: 10AM-9PM F-S: 10AM-9:30PM Sunday: 12PM-6PM # of Retail Stores: 200 # of Restaurants/Eateries/Grocery: 20 Mall Website: www.polarisfashionplace.com
The Shops at Worthington Place Address: 7227 N. High Street, Worthington 43085 Phone: 614-841-1110 Hours: M-S: 10AM-8PM Sunday: 12PM-5PM # of Retail Stores: 25+ # of Restaurants/Eateries/Grocery: 8 Website: http://shopworthingtonplace.com/
Town & Country Shopping Center Address: 3772 E. Broad Street, Columbus 43213 Phone: N/A Hours: N/A # of Retail Stores: 55 Website: N/A
The Random Columbus Photos 2 edition looks at one of the most infamous building complexes that had ever existed in the city.
Photo Date: Unknown, Pre-1910 Location: The southeastern corner watchtower of the Ohio Penitentiary site. The old Ohio Penitentiary first opened up in 1834. The Civil-War-era building that fronted Spring Street was easily the most iconic. It can be seen in the background of the photo as the lighter building. The Ohio Pen had an interesting, and occasionally disastrous, life. On April 21, 1930, a massive fire broke out that would kill 322 inmates and become the worst prison fire in United State history. Despite the fire, the prison’s population would continue to grow. At its peak in 1955, the prison held over 5,200 inmates- and singlehandedly provided a large population boost to Downtown. The following year, Ohio began transferring inmates to more modern facilities. The move took nearly 30 years. Ohio moved the last inmates in 1984 and then permanently closed the prison. After the closure, the abandoned prison deteriorated quickly. Due to a lack of state maintenance, a portion of the outer wall collapsed onto some cars in 1996, and the city began to aggressively plan a new life for the site. In 1998, despite some protests to save some of the historic buildings, the city demolished the entire complex to make way for the planned Arena District. Today, the only reminder of the prison site is that the eastern edge of McPherson Commons park runs along the same line as the original outer wall.
