Well, for what it has thus far, it's very popular from what I've seen (particularly at night).

driving by once a week or so, I always see people out eating and drinking on the sidewalk patios.  Nice to see street activity in the campus area again (non-walking activity that is)

 

I've been to the Ugly Tuna, it's alright.  It's definately a change from the normal campus bar, seems to attract a lot of alumni and visitors (read: 35+ crowd) that are in the are for the night, but I saw a good amount of students there too.

 

So all in all, I'd say it's what I thought it would be: Easton for OSU students.  A bit heavy on the chains, but if it spurs some redevelopment and investment in the area, I say bring em on.

on an asthetics note: I can't say the place doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.  You have two story buildings down most of H, then bam! Easton @ OSU, and then right back to two story older buildings in the Short North.  It's a bit jarring to see the two blocks of 4-5 story brand new buildings in the middle of the campus area.  Maybe I'm just not used to it yet.

I agree completely that the end result is a pretty jarring contrast to what one normally finds on High. However, in terms of aesthetics, it really looks nothing like Easton (emphasis on brick and white trim/colonial and glass). The Gateway Project I think looks  more modern in appearance, with metal and stone accents, taller structures, and larger windows. I would say the project more resembles one of the newer intersections one would find in Washington D.C.: larger, new five-or-so story buildings with lots of ground floor retail.

^Totally agreed.

 

Almost Silver Spring-esque.

I've not yet stopped in, but I've driven by quite a few times a different times of the day (and night) on different days of the week and the pedestrian traffic seems to be hit or miss. Sometimes there's a lot of people out, and other times the area look empty. I'm thinking once the rest of the stores (and the theater) opens it will stay busier more often than not. Is any of the office/housing actually in use yet? I wasn't sure if that was being leased out yet, because if not, that might explain the lack of crowds at times as well...

The housing certainly is.  I have no clue about the office.

Ya know, I just gotta say this.

 

I visited the new Barnes & Noble at Gateway on opening day, and yuck.  Yeah, I knew that the charm of Long's would probably be gone, but I have been in college bookstores all over the US that are great places to browse, shop, etc..  That B&N is antiseptic, poorly-designed and depressing.

 

Its a sad day when OSU is solidly trumped by the likes of Kenyon College.

Its a sad day when OSU is solidly trumped by the likes of Kenyon College.

 

Apples to oranges, my friend.

The B&N in gateway is similar to the B&N you can find in a shopping center, like the one just off campus at Lennox, which 1) was to be expected and 2) makes it lose some its "collegetown" charm, IMO.  It's more of a standard B&N and less of a campus bookstore.

I visited the new Barnes & Noble at Gateway on opening day, and yuck.  Yeah, I knew that the charm of Long's would probably be gone, but I have been in college bookstores all over the US that are great places to browse, shop, etc..  That B&N is antiseptic, poorly-designed and depressing.

 

Its a sad day when OSU is solidly trumped by the likes of Kenyon College.

 

I agree that colleges should be compared solely based on how their book stores are designed. :roll:

Well, to be completely honest, the Longs Bookstore that was on High and 15th wasn't exactly a charmer either.  If anything, it was an extended Utrect.

 

While the Longs/B&N thing isn't everybody's cup of tea, it IS an improvement versus the old Longs.  Manufactured?  Sure.  Practical?  Definately.  Aesthetically pleasing?  Give it 5 years.

i wonder what did they do with the old long's sign? i love old signs like that, that was a keeper.

It's on the new building.

When I was there for the Texas game, I noticed how harsh the place looked.  Maybe because the walkways were new concrete and it was sunny, it looked Cleveland State like.  Just the walkways, and the entertainment alley.  The buildings themselves were not bad.

 

But if you have not noticed I pretty much have hated this project from the get go.

Currently, the project is much more aesthetically pleasing than even from the Texas game.  It looks "workable" currently (came back from today; and yes, I took pics).

I ran across this article in the OSU Lantern from 11/4/05:

 

PHOTO: Currently 47 spaces are vacant in the South Campus Gateway.  Media Credit: David Heasley

 

Glass half empty at South Campus Gateway

By: Kara Hardy

Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Campus

 

Plumes of dust surrounded the site as the clang of jackhammers rang in the ears of everyone within a half-mile radius.  Sidewalks were blocked off and detoured, and hundreds of workers toiled for years toward the same goal.

 

Just months before construction began violent crimes, underage drinking and health code violations were common place among the bars and businesses that called the site home, according to Steve Sterrett, community relations director for Campus Partners.  In 1995, Campus Partners was developed as a partnership between the city of Columbus and Ohio State.  One of its goals was to "improve the whole quality of life in the (University District)," Sterrett said.

 

Ten years and $152 million later, the major construction is completed, but only eight businesses are currently open at the new South Campus Gateway.  With such a large venue and 47 vacant spaces ready to be filled by businesses, some students are wondering why the area is still empty.

 

Full article at http://www.thelantern.com/media/paper333/news/2005/11/04/Campus/Glass.Half.Empty.At.South.Campus.Gateway-1046106.shtml

Well, although the string shoppe has been there for years, and I assume it does a good business, it does not pass the Campus Partners test.  Looks like they have to go.

 

I just thought of something...maybe Campus Partners strategy to fill up the Gateway center is to take the buildings that popular businesses are in by eminent domain and make them move to Gateway.  Catfish Biffs, Out-R-Inn, UDF, SBX, progressive audio, Teck's, etc., "Its in the community's best interest if you set up shop in Gateway, or else"

 

 

Here's the latest free advertisement from the 11/10/05 OSU Lantern:

 

 

Drexel Gateway offers art flicks

By: Amanda Kawalek

Issue date: 11/10/05 Section: Arts

 

Neon lights and luminous beams lit up the Drexel Gateway theater area for weeks, but on Friday Nov. 4, the movie venue finally opened its doors to the public.

 

Both the OSU and Columbus communities continue to witness the gradual process of unveiling the latest luxury vendors of South Campus. The Drexel Gateway theater is no exception to these massive developments, which slowly but surely enhance the quality of the area.

 

Equipped with seven commercial screens in addition to a multi-media projection room, the theater features major art, independent and foreign films not found in typical mainstream movie houses, said Jeff Frank, president of Drexel Theaters.

 

Full article at http://www.thelantern.com/media/paper333/news/2005/11/10/Arts/Drexel.Gateway.Offers.Art.Flicks-1053037.shtml

From the 1/6/06 OSU Lantern:

 

PHOTO: A man sits at the bar Thursday evening at the Bier Stube.  Media Credit: Troy Wine

 

Bier Stube a reminder of things past

By: Brian Carro

Issue date: 1/6/06 Section: Campus

 

South campus. To current students, it means Panera Bread, a bookstore with escalators, and an ugly tuna.  As the South Campus Gateway slowly awakens with trendy retail stores and concept restaurants, many strolling along bottom-lit sidewalks take for granted a cleaned-up, mostly sobered south campus district.

 

But, to some older students, south campus conjures memories of streets crowded with bars and swarming with underage students, looking to chug cheap beer by the bucket.  Those days are virtually gone with the advent of the Gateway, an enterprise aimed at giving the south campus area a polished, more sophisticated personality and to claim some of the credibility lost during the area's tumultuous adolescence.

 

Only one bar, the Bier Stube - German for beer room - survived the wrecking ball that demolished the once-thriving south campus alcohol culture.  The Stube sits outside the Gateway redeveloping boundary, almost hidden behind its own parking lot and a convenience store.  The bar is old compared to its surroundings.  It opened, in its current form, in 1966.

 

Full article at http://www.thelantern.com/media/paper333/news/2006/01/06/Campus/Bier-Stube.A.Reminder.Of.Things.Past-1308531.shtml

I bartended at the Stube for a few years, thanks for the article grasscat

http://www.fpd.ohio-state.edu/assets/Main/dbcontent/displaycontent.php?section=MPdevelopment

Seems to be very thorough and well thought out.  I particularly like the re-design of the Olentangy Bike Trail routes near campus..... it's about bloody time.... that stretch between Lane Avenue and Fifth Avenue has been a nightmare, especially near the Union and Ohio Stadium.  And bike lockers!  Yes!  I wish downtown Columbus would have a plan like this.  Having a safe, secure place to store a bike would encourage a lot more commuters to try two-wheels instead of four.

Excellent and thanks!

Seems to be very thorough and well thought out.  I particularly like the re-design of the Olentangy Bike Trail routes near campus..... it's about bloody time.... that stretch between Lane Avenue and Fifth Avenue has been a nightmare, especially near the Union and Ohio Stadium.  And bike lockers!  Yes!  I wish downtown Columbus would have a plan like this.  Having a safe, secure place to store a bike would encourage a lot more commuters to try two-wheels instead of four.

 

Being able to bike downtown would be convenient and I'd like to see that happen, even though I haven't biked for years. It would help with the ambiance downtown, which as of now certainly isn't one would describe as "bustling", but I think that'll starting to change with all the housing in and around downtown. In which case, biking would be a good option with a larger number of people in the somewhat near future. Anyone know if mayor Coleman is pushing for something like this? If not, we can always pester him with e-mails...

Please!.... pester Coleman with e-mails!  I would ride my bike... or at least put it on a COTA bus with a bike rack... if I had a safe, secure place downtown where I could leave my bike.  I work near the Statehouse Sqaure and you can walk for several blocks in any direction and never see a bike rack, much less bike lockers (which would be ideal).  The bike trail enters downtown along Spring Street, but you're on your own once you leave it..... you're right in the midst of downtown traffic.... no bike lanes or any other accomdation.

I sent the mayor an e-mail. I wonder if it'll be read or if I'll even get a reply.

Send one to City Council member Maryellen O'Shaughnessy as well. She chairs the council's Transportation Committee and is very friendly toward alternate modes. 

 

Contact info:

614) 645-7380

e-mail: [email protected]

(her aide is Lelia Cady)

Done and done.  :-)

From ThisWeek Upper Arlington, 1/26/06:

 

 

OSU project shows redevelopment possible in built-out 'burbs

Thursday, January 26, 2006

By CHRIS BOURNEA

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

The new Ohio State University building at 1480 W. Lane Ave. is expected to give a big boost to the city of Upper Arlington's commercial tax base. But the new facility also illustrates the complexity of redevelopment in a built-out, inner-ring suburb.  The 57,000-square-foot building, which replaced three aging office buildings, is the new home of the Ohio State University Foundation and the university's development department. The project has brought 120 jobs to Upper Arlington and is projected to generate in excess of $5-million in payroll and approximately $100,000 in annual income tax revenue for the city, said Patty Dalton, deputy city manager for economic development.

 

More at http://www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=UpperArlington&story=thisweeknews/012606/UpperArlington/News/012606-News-85798.html

 

 

Eddie George’s Grill 27 set to open this week

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Barnet D . Wolf

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

When Eddie George’s Grill 27 quietly kicks off this week, all but a few planned restaurants will have opened in the South Campus Gateway project.  So far, business at Gateway’s restaurants has been neither exceptional nor poor, according to the restaurants’ operators, who remain optimistic.  "Not all the shops are open yet," said Dave Chadwell, a manager of Mad Mex, a Pittsburgh based chain that chose Gateway for its first location outside Pennsylvania. "As the complex grows, so will the business."  The project’s restaurateurs are pleased that customers from all parts of the city, not just the campus area, have visited.

 

The Eddie George bistro is named, of course, for the former Ohio State University and Tennessee Titans running back.  His jersey number, 27, is key to marketing the place: It will have 27 draft beers, 27 wines, 27 specialty drinks and and a 27-ounce porterhouse steak, which checks in with a hefty $44.95 price tag.  The bar area will be dynamic, with more than a dozen flatscreen high-definition TV sets.  The bar itself will be set at — here’s a surprise — a 27-degree angle from High Street.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/14/20060214-C1-04.html

 

His jersey number, 27, is key to marketing the place: It will have 27 draft beers, 27 wines, 27 specialty drinks and and a 27-ounce porterhouse steak, which checks in with a hefty $44.95 price tag.

 

The bar itself will be set at — here’s a surprise — a 27-degree angle from High Street.

 

So cute. 

 

:roll:

Hey!  He's a landscape architect and graduated from my undergrad program.  He's a nice guy.

 

But yeah, the 27 thing is cheesy ;).

OSU naming center after football star Todd Bell

Business First of Columbus - 11:26 AM EST Thursday

 

Ohio State University will honor former Buckeyes football player Todd Bell by naming an on-campus resource center in his memory.  The Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male will be dedicated March 22, the university said in a press release.  Located in Brown Hall, the center has a mission of understanding and promoting academic achievement, professional leadership and personal development through specialized programs for African-American male undergraduates.

 

An Ohio State graduate, Bell served as community affairs coordinator for OSU's Office on Minority Affairs.  He was named director of the resource center just prior to his death in March 2005.  The Middletown, Ohio, native was a four-year letter winner from 1977 to 1980 and an All-America defensive back for the Buckeyes.  He went on to play in the National Football League, earning Pro Bowl honors while a member of the Chicago Bears.

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/03/13/daily23.html 

 

 

Oh I missed this! 

 

I have Todd Bell's autograph.  He used to date a neighbor's daughter and he was visiting her one weekend.  She was a friend, and I road my bike up to their house and asked for his autograph.

 

Tragic ending to his life, though.  So sad.

Area stores battle red tape to open doors

Dave Mosher

Posted: 3/29/06

 

Hundreds of plastic-wrapped compact discs, vinyl records and cassette tapes - filling wooden bins - wait for eager customers inside Singing Dog record store.  From ABBA to ZZ Top, shoppers can find just about anything related to music they might be looking for, including posters, clothing and other memorabilia.

 

From the store's location just inside the shadow of the towering South Campus Gateway, customers can look 50 feet across the street and see the spot where owner Jim Dawson first opened his store - more than 25 years ago.  After Campus Partners asked him to move his store, Dawson said he had to struggle through piles of paperwork, sit through months of university-area and city meetings for approval, and pull together hundreds of thousands of dollars to reopen his record store.

 

But Dawson is not alone in his hardship.  Business owners throughout the university area go through similar ordeals when attempting to turn business concepts into realities and draw a living from one of the largest student populations in the United States.

 

MORE: http://www.thelantern.com

OSU gets creative with housing plan

Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball

Friday, April 7, 2006

 

A proposal to build $26 million in housing for MBA students at Ohio State University has turned into a scholarship plan that puts construction of the housing on the shoulders of private developers.  Fisher College of Business administrators will unveil for university trustees April 7 a plan that calls for the university to lease 4.5 acres to Edwards Communities Development Co. LLC for a 120-unit apartment complex with 144 bedrooms.

 

Edwards would build, finance and operate the complex based on a 25- to 30-year land lease costing it an estimated $125,000 a year.  The business school, meanwhile, would move to raise up to $26 million for scholarships by selling the naming rights for each of the six apartment buildings built at the corner of Lane Avenue and Kenny Road.

 

Full article: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/04/10/story2.html

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/04/10/daily31.html 

 

OSU to receive hydrogen refueling station

Business First of Columbus - 12:50 PM EDT Friday

 

Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research is receiving the state's first hydrogen refueling station from Praxair Inc.

 

The refueling station will enable the center to study fuel cell-powered train technology, alternative fuel technology and the future of transportation.

 

The nation needs to prepare new transportation technologies to find alternatives to vehicles powered by fossil fuels, said CAR spokesman Yann Guezennec.

 

Read more at link above:

 

This is an interesting development, considering what is happening overseas. While we are still doing studies......

 

Japan to build 'world's first' fuel cell-powered train

 

TOKYO - Japan's biggest railway will soon test what it says will be the world's first fuel-cell-powered train, following the lead of the country's automakers in rolling out cleaner, more efficient transportation, according to an Associated Press story in Tokyo’s Mainichi Daily News.

 

Read more at:

 

http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/006/603zikpf.asp

Hydrogen fuel is a great alternative but it would be expensive as hell.

David - why expensive?  because of all of the infrastructure that would have to be built, or just because of the element itself? both?  how do you even really 'capture' hydrogen?  I really am just curious.

David - why expensive?  because of all of the infrastructure that would have to be built, or just because of the element itself? both?  how do you even really 'capture' hydrogen?  I really am just curious.

 

You capture it by using gasoline, which means hydrogen is NOT a replacement.

David - why expensive?  because of all of the infrastructure that would have to be built, or just because of the element itself? both?  how do you even really 'capture' hydrogen?  I really am just curious.

 

There are probably some engineers, chemists or biochemists on the forum who can explain it pretty precisely, but let me take a shot at it from a layman's point of view.

 

< :speech: >Hydrogen is chemically active, which means it isn't often found in a free state in nature. It is most commonly found in stable compounds with oxygen and with carbon; for example, water, carbohydrates in food (fat, starch, sugar, alcohol), hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas, crude oil, refined petroleum products like gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel).

 

Water can be separated into its two component elements, hydrogen and oxygen, by passing an electrical current through it (electrolysis). Chemical reactive processes can extract hydrogen from petroleum or natural gas. Both of these techniques now require more energy input than the energy contained in the hydrogen produced.

 

Scientists are studying biological processes by which microbes can use sunlight and photosynthesis to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen. If that process can be developed on a commercial scale, it might make hydrogen affordable as a fuel. For the time being, though, it's not a realistic solution for large-scale application.< / :speech: >

thanks perfessur, well done!  (but if hydrogen is in fat... why do I weigh so much?)  I wonder how much 'energy' and urgency our dear government is putting into this?  thanks again..

I heard Bush provided over 1 or 2 Billion dollars to research hydrogen (I think a few years ago..) so they obviously have been giving it a lot of consideration.  It would be nice to not rely on other countries for fuel for a change.

I'm frustrated and dismayed that all the attention is focused on band-aid solutions instead of being directed toward the real problems.

 

<rant> I've read that continuing to do the same thing over and over, while expecting different results, is a sign of insanity; from that I conclude that the nation is collectively insane. America, pandered to by self-serving demagogues the electorate has chosen as leaders, is obsessed with bio-fuels (ethanol and soy diesel) and hydrogen technology as a means to keep on doing what we've been doing, while avoiding the inevitable consequences of greed, selfishness, and wasteful behavior. Sustaining greedy, selfish, wasteful inclinations with agricultural resources and production, when those resources and products should be used to feed people, is unconscionable.

 

Bio-fuels now provide a very small part of U.S. energy supplies, and even at that low level they're beginning to have a adverse effect on food production and prices. Ethanol is being used in increasing quantities to replace MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether), an additive that increases the oxygen content and octane rating of gasoline but has been proven to be a long-lived environmental pollutant in its own right. Ethanol is produced using corn, which is also a major feed component for livestock raised for dairy production and for meat. Livestock growers are already feeling the pinch as the competition from ethanol producers, following on the heels of a poor crop year, drives up the price of feed.

 

Soybeans are an excellent source of protein both in livestock feed and in foods consumed directly by people, and their diversion into fuel production will have the same effect on prices and availability for processing into food.

 

Reliance on bio-fuels isn't strategically sound, either. Just as hurricanes can disrupt gasoline supplies, weather can disrupt agricultural production; sometimes the impact can be even longer-lasting. In some years, an entire region can experience a total crop failure, as much of the northeast did with the corn crop about ten years ago. Climate change may produce widespread multi-year crop failures in future years.

 

If Americans want to change the results we're experiencing, we have to change what we're doing. We have to reduce our energy demands. Sprawl-dwellers in too-big houses with too many energy-consuming gadgets have to stop driving their SUVs to get groceries from the distant stores they don't want despoiling their rural paradises. They have to stop solo-commuting to their distant jobs in cities they never see except through the windshield, and they have to stop speeding and driving aggressively.

 

Beyond that, we have to stop accepting the creation of sprawl as "progress" and insist on reclaiming the many square miles of vacant and under-utilized land in our cities. We have to insist that new development be done with transit accessibility as a primary concern. We need to change the tax codes to stop subsidizing the razing of useful buildings to provide convenient street-level parking, and instead direct public resources toward providing public transportation systems that are clean and safe and that provide a level and quality of service that make them attractive alternatives for everyone, instead of "safety nets" for people who have no alternatives. </rant>

 

I could go on, and often do, but I need to stop, take a deep breath, and maybe go out and take a walk.

You may not always be right - but you're pretty darn close! 

H to go

Ohio State unveils hydrogen-refueling station as it revs up for fuel-cell-car test

Friday, May 05, 2006

Paul Wilson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

If you’re stuck in traffic in the coming months, be sure to look around. You might get a glimpse of the future.

 

This summer, researchers will road-test and study a hydrogenpowered Ford Focus in central Ohio. Ford is loaning the vehicle to Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research, which recently built a hydrogen-refueling station.

 

Read more at:

 

http://dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/05/20060505-G1-04.html

 

 

Graphic: How  Fuel Cell Works: 

 

http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/05/20060505-G1-02.html

OSU looking at expanding law school's Drinko Hall

Business First of Columbus, 4/24/06

 

Now that the South Campus Gateway project has spruced up the High Street entrance to Ohio State University, school officials are considering giving a facelift to one of the gateway's neighbors.

 

The university's Moritz College of Law has hired a Washington, D.C.-based architecture and engineering company to conduct a feasibility study on the possible expansion of Drinko Hall.  Drinko was built in 1956, underwent a small addition in 1959 and a rather large expansion in 1992.

 

Located at West 12th Avenue and North High Street, the 220,000-square-foot hall is the law school's home and one of the first buildings visitors to the campus see when traveling north on High Street.

From the 8/23/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Developer seeks site for OSU condos

Company creates themed complexes in college towns

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Mike Pramik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

An Atlanta developer has enlisted a former Ohio State quarterback to help him find a site near Ohio Stadium for a Buckeye-themed residential development.  Gameday Centers Southeastern wants to build a hotel/condominium complex within earshot of the stadium. Company President Gary Spillers has hired Greg Frey, a commercial broker with Crawford Hoying Smith Real Estate Services of Columbus, to scout potential locations.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/23/20060823-D1-02.html