The Bellows School, also known as the Bellows Avenue Elementary School, is a historic school building in the Franklinton neighborhood of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. The building was constructed for the

Columbus Public School District Columbus City Schools, formerly known as Columbus Public Schools, is the official school district for the city of Columbus, Ohio, and serves most of the city (portions of the city are served by suburban school districts). The district has 46 ...

in 1905, designed by local architect

David Riebel David Riebel (August 7, 1855 – July 29, 1935) was a German-American architect in Columbus, Ohio. He was the head architect for the Columbus City Schools, Columbus public school district from 1893 to 1922. In 1915, ''The Ohio Architect, Engineer ...

and built by George Bellows Sr. The elementary school operated until 1977; since then the building has been mostly vacant. The building was deemed eligible for the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office in 2006. In 2014, a developer announced plans to renovate the structure, despite plans from Ohio's transportation agency to demolish it to expand nearby highway exit ramps.

Attributes

The site has . It has a highly visible location, adjacent to

Ohio State Route 315 State Route 315, known locally as the Olentangy Freeway, running almost parallel to Olentangy River Road for most of its length, is a north–south highway in central Ohio, in the Columbus metropolitan area. It may be seen abbreviated as SR 31 ...

and just north of

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

. The building is designed in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style. It features a rusticated limestone foundation, an elaborate bracketed

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

, a main entranceway of intricate carved sandstone with Neoclassical foliate details, and more simple side entrances with stone pilasters. For its architecture, user as a major school facility for decades, and prominence as a notable work of

, the school is eligible for the

. The building has an intact exterior, with original brick walls, limestone trim, and a slate roof. The building still retains original wood window sashes and some doors. While vacant, the building has had corrugated metal coverings to discourage trespassing. The building has never had any additions made to it.

History

Built in 1905, the building was built and named for local architect and builder George Bellows Sr., father of the artist

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...

. The school was designed by German-American architect

, head architect for the school system from 1893 to 1922. The school closed in 1977 and has mostly been vacant since then. The building was deemed eligible for the

by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office in 2006. Amid the

Ohio Department of Transportation The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT; ) is the administrative department of the government of Ohio, Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all List of In ...

(ODOT)'s I-70/71 split project, the building was set to be torn down, as part of the long-range plan for the highways. The proposal would create new exit ramps around the interchange, increasing traffic safety and efficiency. No build alternative was found that would lead to the building's preservation, as studied in a 2008 ODOT report. One alternative design was not recommended, as it would take land from the nearby Dodge Park, a public park that provides services to residents in neighboring areas. It would result in the loss of a baseball field or a soccer/football field, and part of a walking trail. The school building, even if renovated into housing, was deemed to not provide fundamental services to the neighborhood that the park offers. In 2014, even despite the planned demolition, developer Yhezkel Levi purchased it. The building is planned to be renovated, to include office space in its basement and 27 apartments on the main and two upper floors. A complex of eight townhouse units and three single family homes is proposed for the site around the building. The developer is going forward as the highway project may take several decades before it reaches that area, and there is no money budgeted for that section yet. The developer hopes that the renovation and any historic designations would make the state's purchase of the site more costly and difficult. The building was listed on the

Columbus Landmarks Foundation The Columbus Landmarks Foundation, known as Columbus Landmarks, is a nonprofit historic preservation organization in Columbus, Ohio. The foundation is best-known for its list of endangered sites in the city and its annual design award, given t ...

's endangered buildings list in 2014 and 2015. By 2017, Levi had replaced almost all of the roof, shored up rotted floors, remediated for asbestos, and removed piles of trash and debris. As of 2021, the building is still under renovation, with new windows added to upper floors that year.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1905 establishments in Ohio 1977 establishments in Ohio Defunct schools in Ohio School buildings completed in 1905 Elementary schools in Ohio Endangered buildings in Columbus, Ohio Schools in Columbus, Ohio Columbus City Schools

Attributes

History

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References

External links