According to President Santa Ono's Twitter, UC will spend $16 million to renovate the old Sears Department Store on Reading Road as an "innovation center" to anchor the expanding MLK corridor.

 

He also hinted at a renovation for the University YMCA on Calhoun.

 

 

At one time, there were conversations about renovating the YMCA building to be the President's residence. I doubt that's still in play since he bought a house in Mt. Lookout. I've also heard other ideas for the building, haven't heard anything solid though.

Whatever the 3 sister dorm next to Scioto began renovations in the last week or two. 

Excellent news on the Sears building, I had written that off as a goner based on the chatter I had heard. Not the flashiest place, but I love all the brickwork and details it has. UC would have a cool Art Deco renovation in it's mix of buildings similar to XU and the Coke Bottling Plant HQ (and now that Wilson is gone it may be the only one up on campus).

 

Whatever the 3 sister dorm next to Scioto began renovations in the last week or two. 

 

This is from November:

 

Morgens and Scioto Halls by taestell, on Flickr

A little more info

 

UC to transform 1st Cincinnati Sears store into $16M innovation center

Feb 24, 2015, 2:04pm EST Updated: Feb 24, 2015, 2:57pm EST

Tom Demeropolis Senior Staff Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

The University of Cincinnati will renovate the university's Campus Services Building, originally a Sears, Roebuck and Co. department store, into a $16 million research accelerator.

 

UC's Board of Trustees approved funding for the project on Tuesday morning. The building is expected to help foster entrepreneurial innovation for UC by providing space for startup companies born from UC-developed technologies.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/02/24/uc-to-transform-1st-cincinnati-sears-store-into.html

Whatever the 3 sister dorm next to Scioto began renovations in the last week or two. 

 

This is from November:

 

Morgens and Scioto Halls by taestell, on Flickr

 

It looks like some aliens took over one of the buildings.

The real improvement to this area will be getting rid of the parking garage on the east side of these buildings and putting something there that fronts MLK and Jefferson. 

Anybody got any pics of that Sears store in its prime?

Anybody got any pics of that Sears store in its prime?

 

It may have had more than one "prime".  If you look at the building from the back or from a satellite image, it's obvious that it has had several additions.  That means that there might have been a different façade on the first part of the building to be built. 

I wouldn't have thought so without looking very closely, but the building does appear to have been almost doubled in size between the early 1930s and mid 1950s.  While the 1932 aerial of the city is terribly scanned, it does seem to show that the building didn't go nearly to the street corner.  When they built the addition they managed to get exactly the same brick, but you can see they left off some of the carved stone decorative elements on the roof, and the windows have a 3/3 muntin pattern whereas the older ones are 4/4. 

 

 

According to the Courier article, UC plans to demolish that addition.  Granted the corner element is...weird...and that's a lot of blank wall along Lincoln Avenue, with the loading docks and such, but this is a ton of building mass that's going away, no doubt to be replaced with surface parking. 

Anybody got any pics of that Sears store in its prime?

 

It shows up in some of the old street improvement photos:

 

https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/handle/2374.UC/720512

 

(edit - the linked photo above shows the exact condition jjakucyk just pointed out in the post above)

 

https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/handle/2374.UC/717383

 

https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/handle/2374.UC/717380

^ Don't forget what used to be at that corner!  https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/handle/2374.UC/720500 

More info from the Enquirer:

 

A 40,000-square-foot addition to the building completed in 1945 will be razed, leaving the original structure. The demolition project will make room for green space along Lincoln Avenue. An 8,000-square-foot addition on the building's north side will provide space for an elevator and an additional stairway.

 

Full article: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/02/24/uc-innovation-center/23965055/

 

I'm hoping that the addition on the north side of the building is added at the corner of the building at the Lincoln/Reading intersection instead of off to the side or something.

I love this quote from the University architect:

 

University architect Beth McGrew said it made more sense to find a new purpose for the building at 2900 Reading Road, where UC had housed a variety of departments from when it purchased the building in 1981 to early 2014, when the building was emptied and occupants moved to a former warehouse on Fishwick Drive.

"The concrete design is very solid and will permit a variety of uses, from office space to laboratory and work space," McGrew said. "It would cost significantly more to tear this building down and build a new poured concrete building than to renovate. Once we took a close look at it, we realized we could gut the entire building, rebuild the infrastructure which has been deteriorating in recent years and develop very functional space, all while saving a Cincinnati architectural gem."

I wouldn't call this a "gem" so much as a somewhat eccentric building that will add flavor to the area if its surroundings are replaced with U Square after U Square. 

Not sure the author is correct about the current law school building being 100 years old.  Aren't they in the building on the corner of Clifton and Calhoun which is maybe from the 70s?

 

I'm pretty sure the 70's-era renovation was on top of the original building/foundation and that some of the interior spaces still reflect the original building's layout, resulting in kind of the worst of both worlds: old, small rooms, aging infrastructure, and a windlowless, charmless brick box. I'm most curious about the location for the new Law School building. I know the College of Business is also looking for a new building, potentially in a new location. Will be interesting to see how UC handles those two new buildings.

I actually really like the Law College building.

By the way, this is what the Law College originally looked like. Parts of the old building are still inside the current one. It makes for a very interesting space inside.

 

 

The law building is going to be torn down eventually. While the wrapping of an historic building with a modern one created some interesting moments overall the building has entirely too much circulation space and very little useful space. For its size it doesn't really provide for the law college the way it should.

I know. I just think it's a gem. Just like Crosley Tower. Both of those are really great building IMO. I know most disagree with me, and that's fine. I'm not going to try to save the building. I just like it.

I agree with you actually. The Law Building is woefully inefficient in its use of space but there are a lot of details and aspects of it I really like. The floating bridge through the lit of circular hole on the Clifton side is my favorite aspect of it.

 

I'm also going to miss the band of cats that made home in the pines surrounding it, referred to by many as the "law cats" which will more than likely leave whenever construction occurs.

 

Crosley though...I have a love/hate relationship with that building. I love it from a ridiculousness standpoint and a technical standpoint, but from a usage standpoint it's just so awful. I feel bad for everyone who has to use that building.

By the way, this is what the Law College originally looked like. Parts of the old building are still inside the current one. It makes for a very interesting space inside.

 

 

  It is possible I misunderstood what you were saying, but there is nothing left of this old college building. This was located downtown on Walnut Street near 4th. On the present site of the Mercantile Library building.

 

Yeah those law cats (I've also seen them called "lawl cats") are great. Both are interesting buildings that I think perfectly sum up the architecture of the day when they were built. It would be great to get some decent documentation of the interior of the Law College because it's almost impossible to find any shots of it inside.

It is possible I misunderstood what you were saying, but there is nothing left of this old college building. This was located downtown on Walnut Street near 4th. On the present site of the Mercantile Library building.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/ucwalks/points-of-interest/the-college-of-law

 

On October 25, 1925, Alphonso Taft Hall, the new law school building on UC’s main campus, was dedicated. Alphonso Taft was a powerful man, having served as Attorney General and Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant. After moving to Cincinnati in 1839, he served on city council and was on the faculty and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the University of Cincinnati. He had three sons who graduated from law school in Cincinnati, one of whom, Charles Taft, made a very generous donation for the new building. Another of Alphonso’s sons was William Howard Taft. In 1925, he was then was Chief Justice of the United States and gave the keynote speech at the dedication.

 

Architect E.A. Glendening was hired to create the new building while still allowing the program to run inside the original structure. Although many people were eager to keep the large distinctive columns of the Taft building, it was not structurally possible. Three sides were added on to original Taft Hall, one at a time so that some normal class sessions could continue. The exterior walls of Taft served as the interior walls of the new building. The innards of original Taft were then gutted and remodeled so that it has the appearance of a new building. The new building has three times more space than the old Taft Hall and Marx library. The book capacity of the library also tripled. Construction on the new law school was completed in 1982.

Oldest Law School West of the Alleghenies

All of this may be true, but it has nothing to do with the picture of the building you posted. I was just trying to clarify if you were saying a portion of the original college building was still intact. The picture you posted is from the 1830's. It is of the old Lancaster Seminary building, which later became the Cincinnati College building. This building was built in 1815 and burned to the ground in 1845. It was replaced by the Cincinnati College building which lasted until 1902, when it was demolished for purposes of building the Mercantile Library building. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t0gt5vm6m;view=1up;seq=86

Well then the Internet lied to me.

 

What does Alphonso Taft Hall look like? I can't find any images of it, then.

I know. I just think it's a gem. Just like Crosley Tower. Both of those are really great building IMO. I know most disagree with me, and that's fine. I'm not going to try to save the building. I just like it.

 

I agree. Both the Law Building and the GeoPhys building were designed by the same architect, and I think they both have some very nice interior spaces.

I know I've seen an image of it somewhere in UC's online library of images. I believe it was a neoclassical structure if I'm recalling correcting. Pretty simple layout with large two story columns.

 

I might be recalling a different former structure though. Hopefully someone has a photo of it somewhere.

From a 1925 edition of the Co-operative Engineer on the UC digital library.

 

4/12/15:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nippert project always surprises me in its scale. It's just so much more massive than I was expecting. The view from Main Street that you posted is definitely my favorite. They did a good job of building what is a massive structure without making the ground level feel closed off from the main public space on campus.

 

I kind of wish Scioto would be different than Morgens. I know they're twins but having super clear glass as a contrast would be an interesting option in my opinion. As it is though I'm excited to see them both finished.

I kind of wish Scioto would be different than Morgens. I know they're twins but having super clear glass as a contrast would be an interesting option in my opinion. As it is though I'm excited to see them both finished.

 

Back in August you said that Scioto would be a slightly different color, is that no longer than case?

It is not. I'm not sure what happened with that plan. It was told to me by a handful of DAAP professors working with the architect on various things, but I guess that idea was changed for whatever reason. The original plan was to redo these two buildings exactly the same except for this one being slightly bluer in color. And then a third, new building by the same architects that would be smaller, but similar in design, which would be greener in color. This would create a complex of buildings described as being a "watercolor." Now the twins will just be the same color and the third new building is likely going to be designed by someone else.

 

I wonder if there was a falling out between Fleischman Architects and UC. Regardless, somewhere along the line the plan changed.

Well then the Internet lied to me.

 

What does Alphonso Taft Hall look like? I can't find any images of it, then.

Here's an old picture of UC from the mid-1930's, where you can see Alphonso Taft Hall in the lower right corner, with Nippert Stadium behind it:

Great photo.  Looking this, I've always wondered why UC pushed east into Corryville instead of simply creeping north into Burnett Woods.  Obviously the campus did move north, but I don't understand why it didn't leave Corryville alone and put all expansion in Burnett Woods.  It took way more land that it really needed and ended up being an exceedingly odd campus. 

Great photo.  Looking this, I've always wondered why UC pushed east into Corryville instead of simply creeping north into Burnett Woods.  Obviously the campus did move north, but I don't understand why it didn't leave Corryville alone and put all expansion in Burnett Woods.  It took way more land that it really needed and ended up being an exceedingly odd campus.

 

I've wondered the same thing. What was Corryville like back in the '30s? Was it slums, in which case maybe the University wanted to get rid of them. Making the campus more "square" makes sense, since it's easier to walk from corner to corner than if the campus is a long, skinny rectangle.

Wasn't there a lot of push back from the community when UC did plan expansions into Burnet? These eventually resulted in MLK being used as a definitive barrier to stop UC from continuing north. But that early opposition before MLK is likely the cause of pushing eastward since it was likely easier to acquire land that way.

https://sites.google.com/site/ucwalks/points-of-interest/burnett-woods

 

In 1872, Robert W. Burnet and William S. Groesbeck leased 170 acres of their land to the City Cincinnati.1 Groesbeck was particularly motivated to donate this land for the idea of creating the park in memory of Jacob Burnet, Robert Burnet’s father and Groesbeck’s father-in-law. This land became what is now known as Burnet Woods. Ten years later, the city purchased 163 acres and sold 74 acres to the University of Cincinnati.1 The university relocated to this purchased land in 1895, and has remained there ever since.1 Burnet Woods lost more land to the University of Cincinnati in 1950, when UC exchanged 7 acres of land adjacent to Alms Park and $46,993 for 18 acres of Burnet Woods.8 The area acquired by UC is the area where Rieveschel, Langsam, and DAAP currently lie

Great photo.  Looking this, I've always wondered why UC pushed east into Corryville instead of simply creeping north into Burnett Woods.  Obviously the campus did move north, but I don't understand why it didn't leave Corryville alone and put all expansion in Burnett Woods.  It took way more land that it really needed and ended up being an exceedingly odd campus.

 

I've wondered the same thing. What was Corryville like back in the '30s? Was it slums, in which case maybe the University wanted to get rid of them. Making the campus more "square" makes sense, since it's easier to walk from corner to corner than if the campus is a long, skinny rectangle.

 

There are some great sketches of lost Corryville in the famous "Cincinnati Scenes" book that was published around 1950.  It was the oldest section and so had the most "old world charm" of the uptown area, with what appeared to have been many narrow cobble streets and alleys and houses situated on angled lots with stone retaining walls and other Mt. Adams-type features.  Needless to say if it had been kept it could have been a great area for student housing and university offices. 

 

Also they should have kept University Ave. after they built MLK.  Completely removing the original streets from the campus is a big reason why UC has such a weird lumpy feel. Xavier of course just repeated the exact same mistake by bulldozing every house that predated the campus and stunting every side street with fake-feeling dead-ends and traffic circles. 

 

 

 

No offense Jake, but you're just flat out wrong about current campus. Removing that roads was the best thing they could have done towards making a cohesive pedestrian experience. Campus isn't perfect, but it's a whole hell of a lot better than it was before the renovations. The major pedestrian corridors through campus are extremely active spaces that are designed in a manner a road could never achieve.

 

And this isn't just my opinion. The realities of the usage of these spaces day to day speaks volumes to its success.

There is a lot of wasted space on campus since they were allowed to bulldoze everything to put in 1-2 story buildings, enough grass to run a ranch and Landscape Architecture B.S.

Um...bulldoze everything? The number of buildings they bulldozed is a single digit number. Please.

 

Point me in the direction of a single new building on campus that is 1-2 stories. Again, please.

 

Campus Green is underutilized, I'll give you that, but the other open green spaces are not. You ever walk through McMicken Commons on a nice day? Or by the hill by the Rec Center? Or along any of Main Street.

 

Uc's campus is one of the densest campuses in the entire Midwest in terms of how many students are crammed into such a small amount of acreage.

 

Is dramatization how we're going to conduct ourselves on these forums now?

There's a lot more buildings missing from that picture today than single digits.

^And there is growth in every location that had buildings torn down.  How do you have a world class university without expanding?  I think UC has more than made up for any building that has been removed.

I'm speaking of the major decision to redo campus 20 years ago since that was when they decided to remove the roads from campus and make it far more pedestrian. This was a comment directly aimed at Jake's comments about roads being removed being a mistake resulting in campus feeling "lumpy" whatever the heck that even means.

 

And your comments are still incorrect. They didn't build 1-2 story buildings, the open space is used heavily by students and campus is far more dense than comparably sized universities (in terms of enrollment)

I'd rather have 10 6 story buildings than 5 15 story ones.

Most of the great college campuses still have active city roads running right through the middle of them like Yale, Harvard, The Harvard on the Hocking, Michigan, etc. 

 

 

Well then you're in luck since every building they've built in the last two decades has been under 8 stories. And in the entire history of UC they've only built 2 over 15 stories and one is gone.

I can't take credit for the image, but it fits UC very well.