RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
The demolition of the City Center mall is officially underway, and the new Columbus Commons project is moving forward. The skywalk over Rich Street connecting the former mall to the parking garage has already come down, and much of the southwest corner of the structure has been stripped away over the past few days. The Dispatch reported last week that the project was getting a financial boost from Franklin County Metro Parks, which contributed $2 million toward the development of the new Downtown greenspace.
Several demolition photos can be found below, and we’ll be continuing to provide updates and the demolition progresses.
I remember when I visited it daily when I worked at the Riffe Center. Sad to see it go.
HogRoaster I asked myself the same question. I really think this park is temporary because of the design. They don’t know what they want to do with it, so they are building something fairly inexpensive until something better comes down the pike. Also, I am curious if the amphitheater is being recycled from parts of the old one that was removed along the river. Looking through the architectural plans I keep going back to this humongous reinforced concrete slab that they are going to be installing over top of the parking garage, which already has a concrete slab on it. I bet this new slab will be capable of supporting buildings in the future.
As far as bus stops go, there is a shady element that I’ve noticed while documenting the mall demolition. The element I’m referring to hangs out around that liquor store. IMO the liquor store and bus stop need to be separated by a mile or more.
Someone should start planning a city festival to take advantage of this great new park!
Lets stop being so boring Columbus!!!!
@hogroaster
I asked Capital South that very question last night.
Apparently the Commons amphitheater will be able to accomodate a much larger crowd (3-5 k) than socito mile (1-2 K?). Socito Mile’s events sound more like downtown community only events (Yoga, neighborhood meetings etc) while the Commons is intended to pull city wide (outdoor concerts etc).
They view the programming opportunities as complementary not competitive. I’m still not quite sure how they will be actually different but that’s the gist of it anyway.
Like many things with the Commons it’s till a very fluid and evolving situation.
The’ve had to make a ton of changes due to engineering challenges with the underground garage. Apparently it doesn’t have a very robust bearing capacity. That really limits what they can put in the park
@ ZHC
Sounds good. When I lived in Cincinnati, they used to have a summer concert series on Wednesday evenings called “Party in the Park” that rotated every other week between two stages at two adjacent riverfront parks. You never had to worry about remembering which park to go to, since they were right next to eachother, but switching up the stages kind of kept it from being the same thing week after week. It was funded by beer sales. Maybe that will happen here?
On another topic, sounds like this huge concrete slab under the park will negate kcrissinger‘s “green” idea of using the urban grassland as a filter for rainwater. I imagine the slab will require the water that would otherwise fall on the parking garage to be diverted into the storm sewers.
Overall, I’m pretty positive about this, especially if the ampitheatre leads to getting a bunch of young professionals downtown on a Wednesday night to throw around a frisbee, listen to live music, and drink cheap beer. (Wishful thinking)
@hogroaster
could be. didn’t think to ask about alcohol sales. Bicentennial Park has a cafe coming in and I do believe they mentioned something about it being granted a liquor license.
Dunno about Columbus Commons, probably still too early to know.
boobah Says: I’m grateful that bus stops are conveniently located for the users of transit.
Agreed. I would think that the sidewalk next to Columbus Commons would be a prime spot for COTA to show off some brand new state-of-the-art bus stops. And I agree that the idea that “seedy people” hang out at bus stops is a little ridiculous. I’ve always spotted a mix of people at most stops through Downtown, and no one is really “hanging out” there for hours on end or anything. They’re waiting for their bus to arrive so they can go somewhere. I’ve rarely been bothered by anyone in any of the Downtown bus stops.
HogRoaster Says: When I lived in Cincinnati, they used to have a summer concert series on Wednesday evenings called “Party in the Park  Maybe that will happen here?
It sounds like you’re describing the Downtown LIVE! Summer Concert Series. I imagine it could be moved over to the amphitheater at Columbus Commons pretty easily.
Glad to see work progressing. The bunker will be gone. Maybe some glass highrises will eventually surround this park? Hoping at least.
@CbusIslander -
It’s my understanding it’ll be more like mid-rise buildings (5-7 stories) due to the parking garage underneath being kept.
@futureman –
I believe the underground parking garage is only in the area where the park land is planned with no buildings possible. The (4) building sites have no restriction on height as far as I know.
As someone who lives in an apartment downtown I am THRILLED at the prospect of a larger park. I love to eat lunch or read on the weekends in the Topiary Garden, but it is rather small. I very much disagree that the homeless would be the only ones to benefit from a downtown park. Yes, you will see them there, but I already see them in the Topiary Garden and outside the library every day. I have NEVER had any of the homeless I encounter in the park ask me for money or even make me nervous. Most of them are just looking for somewhere comfortable to rest, and quite frankly I don’t begrudge them that.
I like the park idea… but am looking more forward to the other development that they say will eventually happen to this site. I will be disappointed if it ends up staying a park for 10 or 15 years…
I was just reading about the new high rise that’s being built in downtown Cincinnati. A building that will be that city’s tallest! Even in a rough economy, 80% of the building is already occupied, and they haven’t even really gotten it off the ground yet.. If they can do it… So can we! And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a high rise… although it would be nice to have a nice addition to the skyline..
Web cam:
http://www.corna.com/livewebcam_citycenter.aspx
Cool, thanks for the link. I tried to make it over there to take some updated photos this weekend, but a mix of sickness and being too busy kept me from it. It’s really coming down fast!
demo is almost back to the escalators in Macy’s from the mall direction. At this rate the Macy’s 3rd st wall will go down this week. Amazing how fast they are going!
any word on what they are doing with all the trash/stuff that comes out of demolition? are they recycling re-using any of that? is this standard practice that im not really aware of..i know the lazarus building renovation won awards for how green it was, anyone know anything about the city center environmental impact?
From here: “Steel and iron are taken from the demolition site daily and we estimate at least 75-80% of the materials will be recycled.“
Couple more photo updates from today:
It’s like an incredibly slow game of Pac Man.