Columbus Through The Years

Remembering nine of the landmarks that shaped our city.

By John M. Clark

So many of us walk past Columbus landmarks every day, and either don’t know their histories, or don’t think about them, just like any other part of a daily routine.

But did you know one of the Hayden buildings once housed the first offices of the NFL? Or that an intimidating penitentiary hovered over the Arena District until 1958, where so many of us work and eat and socialize today.

With our March cover section, Columbus Through the Years, we’ve compiled a handful of local landmarks with captivating histories. Some you’ll know; others you’ve likely never heard of. But they all have a story to tell, and we want to help keep their fascinating pasts alive and well in the Capital City today. ↓

LeVeque Tower

50 W. Broad St.

The 47-story LeVeque Tower, with its pale, terra cotta outer shell, has been called the “star of the Columbus skyline.” Certainly, it’s the most iconic skyscraper in the city and has been since it was completed in 1927. Architecture critics were soon calling it, “splendid,” “impressive” and “the most original and American of skyscrapers.”

The American Insurance Union (AIU) broke ground on their new, art deco tower in 1924, on the spot of a former, much smaller, home office building at the northeast corner of Front and West Broad.

Construction of such a tall and heavy building next to the Scioto River required new construction techniques – like sinking more than 40 caissons 114 feet into the ground and filling them with concrete. It was a risky technique at the time and claimed the lives of four workers. When it was completed three years later, the new AIU “Citadel” measured 555 feet and five inches tall, intentionally topping the Washington Monument by less than half a foot. It was also the tallest building between New York and Chicago and the fifth-tallest in the world. Early

pilots would look for the new skyscraper as a guidepost to nearby Port Columbus Airport.

Within a few short years AIU found itself near bankruptcy, earning it the nickname, “IOU” Citadel, and was sold to Leslie Laveque and John Lincoln. Through the Great Depression, recessions, name changes and multi-million-dollar upgrades, today’s LeVeque Tower – containing a luxury hotel, condos and apartments –continues to set the standard for Central Ohio skyscrapers.

Memorial Hall/Old COSI

280 E. Broad St.

If you were a child here in the mid-1960s, you likely became a frequent visitor to a dream-filled place called COSI, the Center of Science and Industry. Little did most kids know – or care – that this building where they found such wonder and excitement got its start in 1906 as Franklin County Memorial Hall, built to honor fallen soldiers and sailors.

At the time of its opening, the auditorium in Memorial Hall could seat 4,200 people, who came here for concerts, lectures, church conventions and early radio broadcasts. Only Madison Square Garden in New York could seat more.

During World War I, Memorial Hall served as the headquarters for the local draft board. President Woodrow Wilson began his campaign for a League of Nations here. During World War II, it was a ration center for gasoline and tires.

But the 1950s saw a downturn in the building’s fortunes. There was stiff competition from the new Franklin County Veterans Memorial on West Broad Street. Boiler problems rendered the building unusable in winter. Soon, there were quiet murmurs about what to do with the place.

In 1958, a proposal was made to renovate Memorial Hall into a science museum for children. Six years later, COSI opened to the cheers of thousands. And it remained a popular destination for the next 35 years, acquiring its modern, smoked-glass façade along the way.

BY 1999, COSI had outgrown its home and moved to the expanded Central High School building. The “solar wall” came down, and Memorial Hall regained its original grandeur. Today, it serves as the home of the Franklin County Health Department and other local agencies. 139

Ohio State Arsenal/Cultural Arts Center

139 W. Main St

At first glance, the Columbus Cultural Arts Center building on West Main Street looks as if it could have opened last year. The exquisite design, excellent construction and subsequent renovations belie the fact it was actually finished in 1861.

Built using convict labor on the site of the state’s first prison, the Ohio State Arsenal was a storehouse for firearms and ammunition and occasionally housed horses for our militia. It’s even been suggested that the octagonal towers at the corners of the building were used in the manufacture of lead shot. Following the Civil War, the National Guard oversaw military activities at the building until the mid-1970s.

By then, the city’s existing arts and crafts center was outgrowing its home inside a rundown fire station on Oak Street.

In 1978, Governor Rhodes directed the Guard to sign a 99-year lease on the old arsenal to the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. The fee – one dollar a year.

Rec and Parks Director Mel Dodge went to work, securing almost one-anda-half million dollars in federal grants for renovations. And before long, Columbus had a new Cultural Arts Center, offering art classes to the public and hosting a variety of exhibits, events and workshops ever since.

However, two reminders of the building’s military history remain. The figurehead from the old Battleship Ohio adorns the northeast corner of the center’s outer wall. And the courtyard contains a bell from the guided missile cruiser, Columbus.

Kahiki Supper Club

3583 E. Broad

Kitschy? Or elegant? However, you viewed it, an evening at the Kahiki was one you weren’t likely to forget.

The idea for a tiki-themed supper club in Columbus started with Bill Sapp and Lee Henry, World War II veterans who opened The Top steak restaurant in 1955 and operated a Polynesian-style bar about the same time. When the bar burned, the two began planning for a restaurant with the same theme. The resulting 20-thousand-square-foot supper club on East Broad Street was an instant hit when it opened in 1961.

The large, A-frame building supported a roof that resembled a giant war canoe. Diners approached the front door between two giant Moai statue replicas, similar to the ones found on Easter Island. Once inside, they could sit near a giant aquarium stocked with tropical fish or next to a “tropical rainforest,” with simulated thunder and lightning.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Landmarks

Then, there were the cocktail waitresses dressed as island residents. One employee would even be summoned by a gong to deliver a huge tropical drink and “smoking” miniature volcano to waiting patrons.

The Kahiki was lauded as the most elaborate tiki restaurant ever built and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. But ownership changed several times, there was a sharp decline in business and in 2000, the famed supper club was demolished and replaced by a drugstore.

Today, the Kahiki name lives on in a line of frozen foods (located at 1100 Morrison Rd. in Gahanna) that was started by the restaurant’s last owner and by a legion of fans who share memories through an organization called the Fraternal Order of Moai.

The Continent

Busch Blvd.

Before Easton, there was The Continent.

Fifty years ago, developer Bill Bonner opened on Busch Boulevard the first stage of a 60-acre development that would rival many of the “mixed use” areas you’ll find today in Central Ohio.

Soon to come were trendy restaurants and bars, luxury apartments, office buildings, a multi-screen movie theater, a modern fitness gym, even a food hall with 40 independent merchants. Narrow streets and walkways had the feel of a French village – complete with open-air cafes.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, The Continent and its French Market were the place to be – to sample delicacies, groove to live music and enjoy the spectacle of dancing waters. It was where locals could shop, dine and be entertained – all in one place. They could even live there. Yes, the Continent had it all.

Today, aside from the apartments, The Continent is basically abandoned. So, what happened? Some attribute its decline in the early ‘90s to the opening to the cooler, hipper City Center Mall and the 100-store Mall at Tuttle Crossing. Others note that The Continent, situated in a previously developed part of town, had nowhere to grow.

But the real death knell sounded in 1999, when retailer Les Wexner opened Easton Town Center. At 1,300 acres and growing, Easton is like The Continent –but bigger and flashier. One by one, The Continent’s shops, restaurants, bars and cafes closed their doors.

Those who were around in its heyday recall with fondness their visits to The Continent – a concept that may have been just a little bit ahead of its time.

Ohio Statehouses

Capitol Square

On an early Sunday morning in February 1852, the unthinkable happened. Fire broke out on the northeast corner of High and State Streets. By the time the sun rose, Ohio’s first permanent statehouse lay in smoldering ruins.

When Ohio became a state in 1803, legislators began meeting in Chillicothe … then in Zanesville … and then back in Chillicothe. Finally, a site across the Scioto River from Franklinton was chosen for the permanent capital “city,” to be named Columbus. The first statehouse, which was completed in 1817, had already been deemed too small by the time of the fire, and work was progressing on its replacement.

The second statehouse had been under construction nearby since 1839. But, unfortunately, that building – the one that serves the state today – wouldn’t be complete for another nine years. And

lawmakers were forced to find temporary meeting spaces.

Construction of the second statehouse was slow and often stopped entirely –sometimes for years at a stretch – as legislators battled various funding issues. The new capitol building finally opened in early 1861, just in time for recently elected president Abraham Lincoln to speak to a joint legislative session on his way to Washington.

Despite the addition of an annex on the east side in 1901, the statehouse remained overcrowded, prompting the addition of new floors and hundreds of new offices within the original structure. Many of the overcrowding issues were resolved when the Rhodes State Office Tower opened in 1974 and a seven-year renovation project restored the current statehouse to its original grandeur in 1996.

Photo by Eric D. Lipschutz

Rhodes Tower

30 E. Broad St.

Some called it “Richardson Romanesque;” others described it as “Gothic Revival.” Whichever camp you belonged to, there was no doubting that Columbus’ 1889 Board of Trade Building on the north side of Capitol Square was a stunning architectural achievement.

Built for the city’s Chamber of Commerce, architect Elah Terrell’s structure drew upon his interest in large arches and vaulted ceilings. The sturdy, fivestory, ashlar stone building was designed to project a sense of strength and durability.

A 2,000-seat auditorium at the rear of the building was demolished in 1932. But the iconic Board of Trade Building, itself, lasted until 1969 – five years after the Chamber had left for a new home and during a year in which pieces of the crumbling façade fell to the street.

That same year, the Ohio General Assembly began studying ways to relieve pressure on the overcrowded Statehouse building. They decided to build a towering office complex on the site of the Board of Trade and two adjacent buildings to the east – the Outlook and Spahr Buildings.

Construction began in 1971, with the 41-story building topping out just 18 months later. Upon completion, the State Office Tower, as it was known, became the tallest structure in Columbus, a title the Laveque Tower had owned since 1927. In 1979, the skyscraper assumed its current name – the Rhodes State Office Tower, after James Rhodes, Ohio’s longest-serving governor.

Recently renovated, today’s Rhodes Tower continues to house several state agencies, as well as a free, 40th-floor observation deck, the highest in central Ohio.

Sells Mansion

755 Dennison Ave.

Believe it or not, Columbus used to be a circus town. In fact, more than a hundred years ago, the Sells brothers operated one of the most successful, traveling “big top” shows in the country. At its peak, 47 railroad cars were required to transport their spectacle from town to town.

In the late 1860s, Ephraim, Allen and Lewis enlisted the help of their little brother, Peter, in helping them realize their dream of owning a traveling circus. They knew Peter to be a good businessman, and he didn’t disappoint them. Soon the four were promoting their show as the “Sells Brothers World Conquering and All Overshadowing Three-Ring Circus.”

Peter’s job was to travel ahead of the circus and make arrangements for its next stop – locating areas to set up the tents and securing rail transportation for the huge production. In 1895, to help ease the

long periods of separation from his young wife and daughter, Peter built them a magnificent home facing Goodale Park.

The Sells Mansion, or “Circus House,” as it came to be known, was designed by local architect Frank Packard. The defining characteristic was a large, sloping roof that evoked thoughts of a circus tent. At three stories high and measuring almost 7,500 square feet, the Sells Mansion was one of the largest in Columbus.

Over the past 128 years, the Sells home has passed through many hands and undergone many changes, and not all for the best. But with its most recent sale, the stately mansion has been returned to its early days of grandeur, delighting everyone who sees it.

Ohio Penitentiary

264 W. Spring St. (no longer standing)

Before Park’s Edge Condominiums, before the new Columbia Gas building, before the parks, parking garages, doctors’ offices and restaurants between Neil Avenue and Nationwide Arena, the Arena District was home to a penitentiary. And it loomed large over the entire city.

The State of Ohio had built a small prison in Columbus in 1813, on the site of today’s Cultural Arts Center. But it quickly proved too small to keep up with the new city’s rising population. Within a few short years, construction began on a new facility on the northeast corner of Neil and Spring Avenues. Prisoners began arriving in 1834, even before all of the buildings were complete.

Originally built for 500 inmates, the prison grew to an all-time high inmate population of more than 5,000 in 1955. Overcrowding led to horrendous conditions. A 1930 fire killed 322 inmates, which served as the world’s deadliest prison fire until a 2012 blaze in Honduras. A 1968 riot over poor living conditions led to the deaths of five prisoners and injuries to seven officers.

By 1979, the Ohio State Penitentiary had been renamed the Columbus Correctional Facility. Due to its age, overcrowding and general deterioration, the federal government soon ordered it closed. The state began moving inmates to other facilities, and the last prisoner left the facility in August 1984.

The old pen remained vacant for more than a decade, before being sold to the City of Columbus in 1995. Three years later, the wrecking ball was brought in, clearing the way for the construction of much of today’s Arena District.