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Downtown Columbus

Downtown Columbus skyscraper, 2010. Photo courtesy of the Erin Walle-McGathey collection.

This has already been a fun, if sprawling and chaotic, section to tackle. Expect frequent changes as I continue to add to and revise the page. It’s probably going to take a while to get a handle on this region – so just maybe, if you can, try and avoid these orange construction cones and blinking arrows straight out of the Spring-Sandusky interchange mess.  Until I figure out a better way to organize it, there are three different ways to navigate this page. Down below is another of these crude maps which you have come to know and love. You can click on any of the district/street names to jump to that section. Below that, there’s an alphabetized list by area, if you prefer. Or of course you could always just keep reading, too:

Arena District (north of Spring, west of High)

Brewery District

E. Broad Street

W. Broad Street

Downtown Proper (area with most of the government buildings, etc, between Broad, the Scioto River, the interstates, and S. 4th Street)

German Village

N. High Street

S. High Street

Uptown District (everything north of Broad that isn’t covered elsewhere)



-Arena District-

 



The Basement – (391 Neil Avenue). Concert venue, smaller in scale than Express Live! next door. I remember ex-almost-Beatle Pete Best played here once. Mostly, though, in my experience, the upstairs bar is utilized as a pregame spot for concerts held at 405 Neil Avenue.

The Boat House Restaurant – (679 W. Spring Street) Charming comfort food spot with great view of downtown, in the shadow of Highway 315, on a little strip of land where the Scioto and Olentangy rivers diverge.

Express Live! – (405 Neil Avenue). Despite whatever name you give this venue (I still fight the urge to call it Promowest Pavilion) it remains a nifty spot, roughly 20 years in, whereby bands can either play indoors or outdoors depending upon the weather. The best show I’ve seen here has probably been Buddy Guy and the worst without question was Little Feat.

Huntington Park – (it has an address, of course, though as is often the case, I feel it’s more instructive to tell people this sits at the corner of Neil and Nationwide). This is the current, still relatively new home of the Columbus Clippers baseball team.

Nationwide Arena (click to view page)

North Market (click to view page)

Water Works – (225 N. Front Street) Former semi-notorious restaurant whose heyday peaked in the 1980’s. This address no longer exists, as the entire block and then some has been eaten up by a Nationwide parking garage.




-Brewery District-



Though downtown as a whole has been plagued by this to some extent, the Brewery District is unique in that I feel like for 20 plus years now, there’s been this trend of bars blowing into here with a ton of hype, and being packed to the gills in what has always been a happening district – in other words, a theoretically sustainable business – but then the masses stop showing up overnight, a few months down the road, and the place is toast before you know it.

This has its own standalone page now. So if interested please click either the name above or else right here.





-E. Broad Street-



Jack & Benny’s Downtown Diner – (12 E. Broad Street) A fascinating cycle of upturns and downswings has brought this all-day-breakfast operation downtown again. After a somewhat brief run basically right next door (6 E. Broad) ended in 1972, they relocated to the north campus location on High, which still exists to this day. Recent, more prosperous times have led to adding this 2nd restaurant, however, and even a 3rd now, out at the OSU airport.

Sign above Columbus Dispatch headquarters
Columbus Dispatch

Columbus Dispatch (62 E. Broad) – Home of the city’s major daily newspaper. I don’t feel like Cleveland bests Columbus in very many categories, but this is one exception – The Plain Dealer has always been a better paper. A lot of people, including some of my friends and I, were vaguely horrified when the Dispatch bought up treasured weekly independents, The Other Paper and Alive! True to form, they soon axed The Other Paper, citing overkill. In fairness, however, I will say they didn’t really seem to tinker with Alive! much, far less than expected.

The Dispatch website is highly annoying, however. Even after registering for 5 free articles per month, and logging in, I can’t seem to get the pop-up to go away, which greys out and blocks the remainder of the screen…asking you to either register, log-in, or pay for access. So you might get 5 “free reads” per month, but only in a mathematical model where 5 also equals 0. Overall, while the Disgrace nickname might be a tad excessive, I feel this is only an average or slightly below average newspaper for a city like ours.

257 E. Broad Street – Formerly the location of the first ever Wendy’s restaurant, from November 15, 1969 to March 2, 2007. If you see old pictures of this building, with rounded glass walls topped by blue and white vertical stripes, yeah, it really didn’t change that much over the years, aside from gradually becoming a Wendy’s museum of sorts, too. Declining sales led them to bulldozing the structure completely. There is nothing specifically at this address right now, though it would have existed between the Discovery Park statue and an investment company at 275 E. Broad.

Motorists Mutual Insurance (471 E. Broad) – Tall, funky looking dark brown building has a distinct 1970’s appearance to it, though I’m not actually sure how old it is. My ex-girlfriend Heather’s grandma worked here for eons and wound up retiring from the place. She used to buy Amway soap from me and I personally delivered some to her here once.

The Bluestone (583 E. Broad) – This was originally a First Baptist church which was built in the late 1800’s, and has undergone many changes. A short lived incarnation as Bar Of Modern Art (2006-2010) was considered by most an interesting but doomed concept, and this proved somewhat correct – although for this to last even four years is somewhat amazing. As the Bluestone it’s now an events venue which books live musical acts, too, both local and touring ones, as well as garden variety catering and banquet type happenings.  My stepdaughter Maddie recently had her senior prom in this building, for example.

I’m not really sure where downtown is officially considered to end out this way, but the point where it crosses over I-71 seems as good as any. From here, you start getting into the Olde Towne East district.


-W. Broad Street-



View of LeVeque Tower from West Broad Street
LeVeque Tower

LeVeque Tower  – (50 W. Broad Street). Completed in 1927, this was once the tallest building in town. My ex-girlfriend Jill’s grandfather Carl did some electrical work on this massive structure back in its early days. In 1986, a sinkhole opened up on Broad Street pretty much right in front of it – if I remember correctly, it only ate one car. Some dude was driving along and the road caved in beneath him. Can you imagine? It’s hard to say whether this would make you want to buy a lottery ticket that day, or enter the witness protection program.

Technically speaking, anything west of the Scioto, from this bridge pictured above clear out to where 70 crosses Broad, is considered part of Franklinton. However in my experience, people are much more likely to refer to these following landmarks as “downtown,” and I am the same way.  I’m not sure where the unspoken line exists, but this seems to be a fairly accurate decoder key:

You’ve been there = downtown

Anything west of that = Franklinton

Franklinton is actually older than Columbus. I’ve read somewhere that there were businessmen doing brisk commerce in the early 1800’s, offering boat rides across the river. Is this for real? I thought those older folk were supposed to be hardier types. I feel like I’m seriously out of shape now, but could still easily swim across the Scioto. Then again, this might prove difficult if attempting to hold onto your bonnet or top hat.

National Veterans Memorial and Museum – (300 W. Broad Street) An impressive and modern looking facility. Oddly enough, one of the city’s top concert venues used to be located on this site, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Elvis played two shows here, on the same night in 1956, and as far as I can tell this is also where R.E.M. made their Ohio debut. That Arnold Schwarzenegger statue, in front of the Convention Center now, was originally here – it was moved when Vets Auditorium met the wrecking ball. This has something to do with a televised Mr. World strongman competition from 1970, which Arnold won right here, catapulting him into fame.

COSI – (333 W. Broad Street). Center of Science and Industry. It’s an okay spot, though much less exciting than one might imagine. A trip to the zoo or the Ohio Historical Society easily offers you much more bang for your buck. Only recommended if you’ve never been and are burned out on all the other similar options in town.

Spaghetti Warehouse – (397 W. Broad Street). Treasured destination over the years, mostly because my daughter Emma is somewhat of a spaghetti maniac. Our most notable visit here was probably her 4th birthday party, which featured a memorably random cast of family members. Up above are some photos of her attacking chocolate birthday cake at that party. Maddie appears to be enjoying herself considerably just watching her sister in action. As the name would imply, it’s a great old building with a warehouse vibe, the highlight being this train car with highly in-demand seating.



-Downtown Proper-



Blind Lady Tavern – (22 E. Mount Street) Among the older buildings in town, this one has survived more or less intact for about 200 years, pretty much for the same purpose. It was the J.F Gaiser Saloon in the late 1800s, though its longest incarnation was as a bar named The Jury Room. In recent times it has undergone a couple more identity changes, although if I’m not mistaken it might soon reclaim the Jury Room mantle.

Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace – (248 S. 4th Street) Highly rated operation has a thorough selection and serves beer as well. C-bus institution Queen Bee once called this place home, for roughly sixty years.

Franklin County Child Support – (80 E. Fulton Street) Good times aplenty here, let me tell you. The best was probably my first visit, when I came here straight from work and happened to have a couple of box cutters on my person. Based upon the border patrol’s reaction at the metal detector checkpoint, you’d have thought they just figured out I was the outerbelt sniper or something. But they are in no way biased toward treating baby mama with the utmost deference and daddy as an inconsequential scumbag, let me add as a disclaimer. Just wanted to establish that.

Mikey’s Late Night Slice – (268 S. 4th Street) Trendy and popular pizza establishment with funky offerings to die for, apparently, though I’ve not yet personally tried them. I recently attempted visiting their north campus location, but couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere nearby, though driving around the block twice, and hit Hounddog’s instead. It was a brutal winter night and I didn’t feel like walking further. But yeah, expect the same customer stampede here, and probably any of their other locations.

Milestone 229 – (229 S. Civic Center Drive) Modern American type restaurant located in Bicentennial Park, overlooking the Scioto.

Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus
Ohio Statehouse
Ohio Statehouse dome interior
Ohio Statehouse dome interior

Ohio Statehouse – though the address says 1 Capitol Square, this is basically situated at the corner of E. Broad and S. High. Fun fact: Abraham Lincoln was here when first learning he’d been elected president, in 1861. Fast forward to the summer of 2014, and you will find a TGIF summer concert series, held from noon to 1 every Friday, on the statehouse’s west plaza. A variety of prominent local music ranging from rock (Franklin Express) to opera (Opera Columbus) is featured here, along with a pick of the week food truck – Dos Hermanos, Red Plate Blue Plate, Angry Wiener and more.

Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus
Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St.

Ohio Theatre – 39. E. State Street



-German Village-

 



Barcelona  – (263 E. Whittier Avenue) Though even hearing mention of “Whittier Avenue” brings a shudder to many of us, conjuring up images of the city impound lot, that demonic wasteland was located on West Whittier, anyway, and the agency was moved elsewhere a long time ago. As it turns out, there are many pleasant reasons to visit this street, with Barcelona being perhaps at the top of the list.

A consistently award winning Mediterranean restaurant, Barcelona has been in business since the mid 1990’s. They serve drinks on an oak bar which was built in 1907 and, owing to a wild array of previous incarnations, up to and including a Piggly Wiggly store, not to mention a sports center and various other taverns, there are apparently bowling lanes still intact underneath Barcelona’s current floor.

Big Red Rooster – (121 Thurman Avenue) A truly gorgeous brick building from the late 1800’s is now the local branch of this interior design company. According to Lost Restaurants Of Columbus Ohio, this was originally a firehouse, and then from 1973 until the early 90’s, an eatery named Engine House No. 5 flourished here.

Wunderbar – (739 S. 3rd Street) The original Max & Erma’s was opened down here in 1958, before becoming a franchise in 1972. Sadly this spot went belly up in 2017 and an operation known as Wunderbar currently calls this address home. But as a consolation prize, there’s no shortage of great restaurants and taverns both, mostly within walking distance of one another, down in this district.



-North High Street-



Though High Street north of Broad is probably the most iconic piece of road in town – it helps that this is such a lengthy, central avenue – the section between Broad and the Arena District is one of its least exciting stretches. Click on the link above for a dedicated page about North High, beginning downtown.



-South High Street-

 



Cinco – (1 S. High Street) Mexican restaurant with an assembly line, name-your-fillings type setup, a la Chipotle.

Huntington Center – (17 S. High Street). Some parts of this multipurpose building date back to 1905. Among the tenants now are Pizza Rustica (a diner named QCB once occupied this spot, up until the mid 1960’s), a Potbelly Sandwich restaurant, a Huntington Bank, of course, and an office for the Ohio Board of Nursing.

Capitol Theatre – 77 S. High Street

141 S. High Street – From 1851 (you read that right) clear up until 2004, this was the home of the original Lazarus department store. Founded by Simon Lazarus, this was a highly influential chain in retail history. While never entering this building, not that I can recall, I drove/rode/walked/biked past it countless times – it was kind of hard to miss that trademark retro-retro murky blue exterior (meaning it already looked retro even when theoretically still in style), here and at all of their locations. When City Center went up in 1989, they built a walkway across High Street over to this store. Lazarus eventually merged with Macy’s, in the early 2000’s, before soon retiring the original name, and closing down this flagship location. And though it’s fascinating to look back at old photos of a place like this, to think about and get nostalgic over one major hub like this eating up an entire city block, it’s hard to imagine visiting more than a handful of times even were it still around. It’s sad, but that’s why these retail monoliths bit the dust.

Right now, it’s just known as the Lazarus Building, with a wide variety of operations renting out office space here. Not nearly as cool, but probably more useful in our modern downtown.

160 S. High Street – Currently, a park named Columbus Commons occupies this terrain. It was planted over the concrete carcass of what was formerly known as City Center, an indoor mall. Almost nothing in the city’s past century or so symbolizes how swiftly things can change, as the plight of this mall does. Opened in 1989, it was the city’s finest shopping destination for about a solid decade. Tuttle Mall’s opening on the northwest fringe in ’97 gave them a run for their money, but even so, this city is certainly large enough to support two modern malls of this type (the 1980’s after all had four of them, in the form of Eastland/Westland/Northland/Southland, against an even smaller population) and it’s debatable whether Tuttle actually improves upon the experience any.

Yeah, well, by 2009, City Center is toast. It’s bulldozed into oblivion, and this park sprouts up a couple of summers later. That first year, we attend a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark against the backside of whatever building that is to the north, and they’ve continued featuring some interesting events here up to and including the Columbus Symphony performing Pink Floyd classics in the summer of 2019. It’s a cool space, don’t get me wrong, all the more so in that it exists downtown. Call me an eco-monster, though, or at the very least untrendy and uncool, but I kind of wish we could have both, because I’m not exactly convinced that the indoor shopping malls of my youth were really all that horrible. And actually, considering the project underway just a smidgen to the east of here, it seems that a lot of people agree with me.

-Uptown District-



Mitchell’s Steakhouse

Tiger + Lily Bistro – (19 E. Gay Street) An Asian themed operation I haven’t had a chance to check out yet. Was formerly one of many G.D. Ritzy’s locations around town, a local operation that nearly died out following a bit of an expansion overreach.

ZerOz – (17 E. Gay Street) Some kind of…futuristic wallet store? I’m not sure visiting their website has even really clarified for me what is happening here. Anyway, it used to be a Big Bite restaurant, which closed in 1984. Stay tuned for gripping updates about what happened in between.