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From The Dispatch:
A Downtown gem when it opened in 1989, the forlorn mall will be torn down by summer
BY MARLA MATZER ROSE AND MIKE PRAMIKColumbus City Center is coming down, and Downtown as we know it is about to change. This summer, nearly 20 years after City Center opened as the shining star of central Ohio’s retail universe, the obsolete and nearly abandoned mall will be demolished. It is to be replaced by an urban park and, within several years, a collection of buildings that will contain residences, offices, restaurants and shops.
The city has dubbed the $165 million project Columbus Commons. It is seeking federal stimulus money to pay for the mall demolition and development of the park, which city officials expect to start this summer and complete within 18 months. The remainder of the project will take shape over the next five to 10 years, as the market dictates.
All that will be left are the parking garage, underground parking and the entryway to the mall off State Street.
“Coleman said the project will involve a lot of heavy lifting, not the least of which is securing federal funds. Obama’s proposed stimulus plan is being debated by the Senate, and it’s unclear how much money would be coming to Ohio and its cities for ‘shovel-ready’ projects. Coleman is advocating for $32 million in stimulus funding to be used on Columbus Commons and surrounding projects.
Worley said the project would go forward without the federal money, although Coleman acknowledged it would be a tough challenge.
‘These things don’t happen by a magic wand,’ he said.”
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I bet if Coleman gave CUers a bunch of sledgehammers, we’d be more than happy to tear CC down for free.
Central Park it won’t be, but Washington Park? Maybe….. I once superimposed Central Park onto the Downtown riverfront, and it stretches from Goodale Park to Berliner Park:
Random thought: This would be an absolutely fantastic time to turn this area into a real theater/arts district – different than Short North, this area could focus on live performing arts. The proximity of the Ohio, Palace, Southern and Riffe Center theaters lends itself perfectly. Instead of a mini-Central Park, we could have a mini-Austin 6th Street, complete with a smaller scaled version of South by Southwest. The only thing is that PromoWest/Nationwide and Shadowbox would be out of the mix…
This is not a ? but If i were speaking to Mr. Worley and or Mayor Coleman: I think they should make it as European pedestrian friendly as possible. with a stage for plays in the park. kinda like in central park. There are countless events to go to and hear great local bands. We can get something from our drama talent as well. The shops should have a nice mix of wide and narrow streets of cobble stone. No cars allowed. Maybe a street car stop or two but thats it.
There would be room for all three if they offer something different in each. Small business(commons) mix of small and big (grandview) Big business in easton. I not all for this but trying to keep them separate in identity is the only way. Plus we need to grow our poplulation as well. To sustain developements like grandview and now the commons we have to have more of an influx of people.
Create jobs by lowering taxes on Large Corps. lower than any city our size . tax only the land they use (limit to downtwon only for the incentive) Also maket to immigrants coming to the US to intise them to settle here.
I wonder how they could utilize the demolition and consequent building of the new buildings to also coincide with the light rail/streetcar project. I noticed in one of the artist’s renderings on the Dispatch that there was a streetcar in there. I would hope that perhaps there is at least some type of station built near the new park!
One thing about a park on the site: it’s a good, low-cost placeholder until better development ideas come along. As it stands now, City Center is a big STOP sign to development on that site. As for Coleman’s comment about City Center being built to fail, who listens to politicians?
I just woke up and read the article in the paper. I am not at all happy with this plan. It looks like they are trying to bring Easton Downtown. I know it is expensive, but I so think there is more that can be done that does not involve tearing it down. Perhaps they can build another full service hotel on the corner of Rich and High Streets and use the mall as convention space for the hotel…
200 Construction jobs in the very short term. Very hard to call for job growth in the long run. Spreading it our over 5 phases means there are alot of opportunities to stop with the plan if the market mandates. Also, after the downtown residents get a taste of that green space, it may be hard for them to support giving that much of it up. Great short term plan though!
Slipperyfish05- It is only 70,000 sqft of commercial (compared to over 1,000,000 in City Center.) This isn’t competing with Easton, it just isn’t leaving a gaping hole in High Street retail either. It’s not a mall, it’s a park.
heres a slideshow of larger renderings:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/04/slideshow_city_center.html
Graphic of site:
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/04/citycenter_large.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
As to hurting Short North/GY …. downtown should be a business incubator. Work directly with OSU and allow students ‘paper’ ideas to come to life. Imagine 5 – 10 storefronts that change yearly with each new grad students ideas. If the idea works, they could be inclined to setup shop and stay in Cbus …. that will be what Short North is for. Long term successful Columbus based businesses.
For GY, there is where you go to get your everyday things. Really a walking/bike path (with some pedestrian friendly renovations to that area) will work … or even put it on the streetcar route. I really think this is our chance for Columbus to become what every other city wants to be …… different from each other.
“One thing about a park on the site: it’s a good, low-cost placeholder until better development ideas come along.” Really, Bailey?
A park (a permanent park) will add value to the real estate around it. A park shouldn’t be a placeholder. It should be the focal point for long-term sustainable development in downtown. Right now, considering the vacancies and parking lots around downtown, we need amenities like parks to help generate new value. As much as I would love to see Columbuzz’s suggestion of a mini-Austin 6th Street, I don’t think the market demand is there right now (unless you hurt other neighborhoods). The park concept will help create a new market.
I’ve been hearing some “Easton” comments which have been making me laugh a bit. Easton is a faux town center built over a cornfield. So if we rebuild a new REAL town center downtown, we’re now labeling it as an imitation of the faux town center? Really?
I don’t think the park will be a placeholder anyway. Can you imagine the outrage 10 years from now if anyone proposes to build anything over top of a city park?
“Mr. Warmth Says: Wait a minute, there really aren’t many of the Big Box shopping opportunities downtown for the residents at all. A Wal-Mart or Target would make a lot of sense for those living down there and those who spend most of their waking hours down there.”
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The reason people live downtown is: we don’t want or need this stuff during most of our waking hours [and it's not far to Lennox.]
Re: Urbanboi… “The city now can’t come up with a better idea for City Center so they decide to plop a huge field right in the heart of the city!”
It sounds like there were dozens of “better ideas”, but none that were financially feasible. I also think you’re misusing the term “suburban” to describe what essentially is going to be a mid-sized park surrounded by multiple buildings for office & retail. It doesn’t sound like there’s really any suburban elements to this project at all. Perhaps it’s not as dense as you’d like it to be, but the fact that our city is even able to consider replacing an empty mall with a new development of any sort is a bit of a win in my book. If this were Detroit, or hell… Youngstown, City Center would sit empty and rot for another 30 years before it collapsed on its own.
On Urbanboi: It’s “less dense” or maybe “lower density,” but that isn’t synonymous with suburban. It isn’t sprawl and I don’t think anyone can argue that green spaces are bad.
I like this idea, it’s very similar to the sketches I amused myself with when the city took control of the City Center property… although I did re-open that section of Town Street in my reimagining of the space. The park sketches look nice and I could see it facilitating arts and music events as mocked-up. Would be nice to have restaurants with patios facing the park so you could eat and listen to whatever events are going on in the park on summer evenings.
$116 millon to build $165 millon to destroy and replace with green space….I hope someone got fat off this gig, that’s a lot of peanuts. Seriously, City Center was a dumb idea when it was constructed, a huge waste of taxpayer assests, then we buy it back, prep the site for more developers who will be subsidized by the taxpayers, and then in 20 years it will cost $250 millon to build whatever the great minds want to do with the space…..the cycle of life, living large off the taxpayers, dreamin’ larger of a legacy :(
where are the free market folks and why are they not howling. If this is another stimulus package proposal, along with the street cars, god help us, because the Dems are about to shoot themselves in the foot ( and I thought the Ohio Democratic Party was so inept they couldn’t figure out how to piss themselves…..seems they can handle a gun though) and I personally can’t handle another dumber version of Bush in 2012, though it does make sense for the Mayan endtimes….god help us all.