Ohio State University President Michael Drake unveiled a wide-ranging vision for the future of the Columbus campus at his annual state of the university address today. Called Framework 2.0, the plan builds upon and updates the original Framework plan, which was completed in 2010.
“Planning, especially at a place like this that changes so much and so frequently, is continuous, not episodic,” said Keith Meyers, OSU’s associate vice president for Planning and Real Estate, explaining that a number of factors led to the need to revisit the 2010 plan, including increases in enrollment and faculty and a renewed focus on research.
Some of the plan’s major takeaways include:
- A new “Mid-West Campus” located just west of Olentangy River Road and south of Woody Hayes Drive – currently the site of playing fields and surface parking lots – would hold a major new research campus.
- A proposal to extend the scope of OSU’s innovation and incubation work – the type currently being done by the Technology Commercialization Office in the Gateway – with new buildings stretching west along 10th Avenue from High Street.
- St John Arena would not be immediately torn down, but the site would be redeveloped in phases, eventually holding new academic buildings and greenspace.
- New proposed east-west connections, including possible new bridges over the Olentangy River and tunnels under the railroad tracks that serve as a barrier to access to West Campus.
- A new, comprehensive vision for West Campus and the Kinnear Road corridor, with the possibility of mixed-use development that would allow students and researchers to live and work in the same place.
The new plan represents about 15 months of work by the OSU Administration and Planning office, which consulted with staff, faculty and students in crafting the plan.
“Everything we do must be representative of our opportunities as a national flagship public research university,” stated Drake. “Framework 2.0 outlines a plan for how we might structure our campus to more fully capture our potential in the coming years.”
The Framework 2.0 plan will go in front of the OSU Board of Trustees for review and approval this month.
For more information, visit pare.osu.edu/framework.
All renderings provided by OSU.
