The Columbus Civic Center is a

civic center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

, a collection of government buildings, museums, and open park space in

Downtown Columbus, Ohio Downtown Columbus is the central business district of Columbus, Ohio. Downtown is centered on the intersection of Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio), Broad and High Street (Columbus, Ohio), High Streets, and encompasses all of the area inside the Inn ...

. The site is located along the

Scioto Mile The Scioto Mile is a collection of parks and trails along both banks of the Scioto River in 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 ...

recreation area and historically was directly on the banks of the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County, Ohio, Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olent ...

. The civic center includes Columbus City Hall, the

Ohio Judicial Center The Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center is a state courthouse, office building, and library in Columbus, Ohio, in the city's downtown Civic Center. The building is the headquarters of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the state's highest court, as well ...

, Central High School (now the

COSI COSI (), officially the Center of Science and Industry, is a science museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio. COSI was opened to the public on 29 March 1964 and remained there for 35 years. In 1999, COSI was moved to a facility, designed ...

science museum), the

Joseph P. Kinneary United States Courthouse The Joseph P. Kinneary United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Columbus, Ohio, in the city's downtown Civic Center. It was formerly known as the U.S. Post Office and Court House. It was designed by Richards, McCarty & Bulford and was ...

, and the former Central Police Station. It also included the Scioto River Bridge Group. Also sometimes included in the civic center are the

LeVeque Tower The LeVeque Tower is a 47-story skyscraper in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. At it was the tallest building in the city from its completion in 1927 to 1974, and remains the second-tallest today. Designed by C. Howard Crane, the Art Deco skyscrape ...

and newer government office additions to the area, including the Front Street office buildings, the since-demolished Franklin County Veterans Memorial and

Columbus Public Health Columbus Public Health is the health department of Columbus, Ohio. The department is accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board. The department dates to 1833, when the city's mayor appointed five citizens to help with its cholera outbrea ...

office in Franklinton, as well as the newer Michael B. Coleman Government Center and current Columbus Division of Police Headquarters. Following a local version of the

City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of th ...

, the Columbus Plan first envisioned a riverfront civic center in 1908. The

Great Flood of 1913 The Great Flood of 1913 occurred between March 23 and March 26, after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain. Related deaths and damage in the United States were widespread and ...

destroyed many riverfront structures, allowing the opportunity to redevelop according to the 1908 plan. Columbus's most prominent architect,

Frank Packard Frank L. Packard (June 11, 1866 October 26, 1923) was a prominent architect in Ohio. Many of his works were under the firm Yost & Packard, a company co-owned by Joseph W. Yost. Life and career Frank Lucius Packard was born June 11, 1866, ...

, spearheaded the project until his unexpected death in 1923. The Neoclassical,

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 ...

, and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

buildings, bridges, and retaining wall were built from 1917 to 1934. In 1988, the area was nominated to 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 ...

as the Columbus Civic Center Historic District.

Historic district

The Columbus Civic Center Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

comprising most of the civic center. It includes Central High School (

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

-listed, 1924), Columbus City Hall (built 1928), the former Central Police Station (1930), the

(NRHP-listed, 1933), and the

(NRHP-listed, 1934). It also includes the riverfront retaining wall, spanning from Broad to Town Streets. The c. 1921 Scioto River Bridge Group (comprising the Broad Street, Town Street, and Main Street Bridges) was listed, though the bridges were replaced in recent decades by the Discovery Bridge, the

Rich Street Bridge The Rich Street Bridge is a bridge in Columbus, Ohio, United States, spanning the Scioto River and connecting downtown's Rich Street to Franklinton's Town Street. It carries U.S. Route 62 (US 62) and Ohio State Route 3 (SR 3). ...

, and a new Main Street Bridge. The Front Street office buildings were included as non-contributing buildings. The historic district's nomination to the

was prepared in the late 1980s by the City of Columbus's Economic Development Division. The district was determined to be eligible for the National Register on September 14, 1988, due to its association with community planning, engineering, government, and transportation in the city, and for its Art Deco, Neoclassical, and Renaissance Revival architecture. Even though its suitability was confirmed, the district was never listed.

History

When Columbus was founded, the only planned green spaces downtown were around the Ohio Statehouse and in front of the Carnegie Library. The 1908 Columbus Plan recommended more green spaces, public promenades, and beautification. The plan urged the removal of the numerous factories, coal yards, boarding houses, and tenements stretching along the riverfront downtown. The city's prison, storage facilities, and a junk shop were also located on the riverfront there. Overall, about two dozen buildings deposited untreated sewage directly into the Scioto and Olentangy rivers between Clintonville and the South Side. The cleanup was urged to present a positive view of the city for travelers on the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

entering Columbus from the west. Following a local version of the

, the Columbus Plan first envisioned a riverfront civic center in 1908. The plan aimed to visually unite both banks of the river along with the nearby

Capitol Square Capitol Square is a public square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The square includes the Ohio Statehouse, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded to the north and west ...

, and build classically-inspired yet simple buildings, surrounded by open spaces, parks, and parkways. Development was slow, though the Great Flood of 1913 in Columbus dramatically affected the area, destroying many riverfront buildings and both of its bridges. It gave the city the opportunity to redevelop the riverfront into its planned civic center, though with added flood control - a retaining wall and low head dam. The civic center layout was expanded to two to three times its original size. From 1917 to 1922, the Broad Street and Town Street Bridges, parallel Neoclassical structures, were built, along with the still-intact retaining wall between the bridges. In the early 1920s, the plan included a

Masonic temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

at the current site of the federal courthouse, and a park for World War I veterans at the site of the Judicial Center. The old Columbus City Hall was destroyed in a fire in 1921, allowing a new city hall to be built within the new civic center. In 1923, architect

began a new civic center plan. He was Columbus's most prominent architect at the time, and organized the Allied Architects Association of Columbus to work on the civic center plan. Packard died later that year while working on the plan, before any of its buildings were built. The bridges, and other riverfront structures were already under construction or complete, but it led to the city planning its police station there, as well as an office building for state departments, and later the federal government moving its post office and courthouse from its former Capitol Square location to the new civic center. In 1924, Central High School opened, the first building built along the river since the 1908 plan was published. The school was designed following the plan, and its stone facade and scale acted as a link between the planned government buildings on the east bank with the school on the west. The site's government buildings were built next, between 1926 and 1934. Other government buildings, offices, and museums have been built in the civic center in years since.

Gallery

File:Columbus Plan 06.jpg, Riverside condition in 1908 File:Columbus Plan 11.jpg, Illustration of the 1908 civic center proposal File:Ohio - Columbus - NARA - 68147040-crop.jpg, C. 1923, as the riverfront cleanup began File:Columbus riverfront cartoon, Billy Ireland.jpg,

Billy Ireland William Addison Ireland (1880 – May 29, 1935), a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, was a self-taught cartoonist well known throughout Ohio. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum was named in his honor in 2009. Career Shortly after his 1898 hi ...

cartoon for the ''

Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since '' The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication i ...

'' in 1926, urging more prompt redevelopment File:Ohio - Columbus - NARA - 68147024 (cropped2).jpg, The completed civic center, 1936 File:Columbus Civic Center Historic District.jpg, Historical marker File:Town Street Bridge, Columbus.jpg, Plaque commemorating the civic center, bridges, and related riverfront improvements

References

{{Columbus, Ohio Downtown Columbus, Ohio Geography of Columbus, Ohio Tourist attractions in Columbus, Ohio Historic districts in Columbus, Ohio Buildings and structures in Downtown Columbus, Ohio Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio)