Developers unveil proposals
for University Gateway project

By Bill Estep

A grocery store, an arts cinema and a major bookstore are likely to be anchors to the University Gateway Center at the corner of 11th and High Streets.

Three development teams competing for the project gathered in the Ohio Union March 2 to display their proposals and concept drawings and models for the urban redevelopment effort adjacent to the Ohio State campus.

More than 400 people attended two three-and-a-half-hour sessions, which included formal presentations by the trio of developers. They include Towne Properties and Madison Marquette Realty Services of Cincinnati; The Druker Co. Ltd. of Boston; and the team of LaSalle Partners Development Inc. of Chicago, and the Casto Organization and Arshot Investment Corp. of Columbus.

Conceptional renderings included those along High Street by Towne Properties and Madison Marquette.

The University Gateway Center is designed to bring life back to a two-block stretch of the High Street area through a mix of retail, entertainment, housing, office space and parking. Campus Partners, the University-community redevelopment group coordinating the project, estimates the University Gateway Center could spur $50 million to $70 million in private investment.

The Gateway Center was the key recommendation from a draft study on rebuilding High Street called A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street. A 40-person committee of campus and University District leaders worked on the plan.

Chosen from an original group of 10 applicants, the three development finalists' proposals carried a similar theme to create a public square-like atmosphere, open spaces, and a gateway to Ohio State and the University District.

Looking north on High Street by The Druker Co.

After reviewing surveys and interviewing numerous University students and faculty, area residents and community leaders, the developers identified a small to mid-sized grocery store, a movie theater, a large bookstore and residential housing as essential to the project.

"We thought it was an excellent sign that through all their planning, consulting and surveys, they were reaffirming some of the basic visions we have for the project," said Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners. "All three of these developers have experience on some of the best urban design projects in the country."

All three developers proposed a small cinema -- seven to 10 screens -- that would show arts and alternative movies, similar to the Drexel format locally. Robert Redford and his new chain of Sundance Movie Theatres have shown interest in the Gateway Center. Major bookstores contacted include Barnes & Noble, Borders and Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

A view down 10th Avenue by LaSalle/Casto/Arshot.

Among other ideas:

• LaSalle/Casto/Arshot proposed a roundabout traffic circle at the intersection of 11th and High, complete with outdoor artwork, and small hotel.

• The Druker Co.'s plan includes a 24-hour diner, a fitness center, a sports bar, new offices for Ohio State student services, and an illuminating tower along High Street.

• Towne Properties and Madison Marquette propose a row of town houses along High Street that would include 30 units for sale and affordable rental housing.

The three development firms will return to Columbus March 15 to hear feedback on their proposals. Foegler said he hopes a project developer can be chosen by May. The proposals and related graphics are expected to be available for comment on the Web at www.osu.edu/CampusPartners/.

Of the 7.4 acres that encompass the University Gateway Center, Campus Partners has either acquired or is under contract to acquire more than 75 percent of the land, according to Foegler.

The area identified for the project is 2.83 square miles and covers the High Street corridor between Ninth and Chittenden.

Arn Burtz, a partner of Towne Properties, echoed comments of other developers that the history of the area should not be forgotten as the planning continues.

"We want to bring High Street back to the way it was, and we're not suggesting that the past be forgotten," he said. "Our goal is not to obliterate the neighborhood's personality but to add to it."

By Susan Wittstock

There's a story being told by the 100 or so ceramic art works on display in the Hopkins Hall Gallery through March 19. The vases that twist unexpectedly, the whimsical animal and human figurines, the abstract forms that defy a shape classification, all help to tell the tale of an Ohio State program whose influence has fired the imagination of artists worldwide.

Ohio State is celebrating its 73-year-old ceramic arts program throughout this month, in conjunction with co-hosting the 33rd annual conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts with the American Ceramic Society at the Columbus Convention Center March 17-20. This year's theme is "Passion and Process."

The Hopkins Hall Gallery exhibit features the work of more than 100 artists who have contributed to or benefited from Ohio State's ceramic arts program, some as visiting artists, some as instructors for a year or for decades, some as undergraduate or graduate students, others as technicians.

Nearly 80 percent of the show will be for sale through an ongoing silent auction at the gallery and on the Internet (www.arts.ohio-state.edu/CeramicsReunion), with proceeds benefiting the George and Margaret Steenrod Fetzer Fund in ceramics.

Prudence Gill, Hopkins Hall gallery director and curator, said the reunion show reveals a sense of community among the artists, rather than a particular theme or style.

"The one thing everyone has in common is that in some way they have been involved with the OSU ceramics program. That's the selection process. It's about bringing people together," she said.

The contributing artists represent "the entire legacy of the program - to people going out into private studios to those who go off to teach, with multiple generations of artists sending their students back to us," Gill said.

The variety of the pieces is striking. In a corner of the main gallery, an inverted cone shaped bowl, made by Bill Hunt, a studio potter from Delaware who earned a Master of Fine Arts from Ohio State in 1970, possesses a delicate beauty, with a subtle shifting in color from cream at its base to blue at its lip.

The pedestal next to it supports a piece created by MFA candidate Matt Cowan. A shiny pink heart bears a banner proclaiming "Man's Ruin." Ceramic flames of yellow and orange shoot up and around the heart, and an open deck of cards nestles into the base.

The exhibit has some works that date back to the 1940s, and others that were created for this show. Well-known contributing artists include Georgette Zirbes, Ginny Marsh, Bob Shay, Gina Bobrowski and Greg Pitts, and OSU faculty members Mary Jo Bole, Steve Thurston and Rebecca Harvey.

Ohio State's ceramic arts program was only the second of its kind in the country. "It was initialized in 1926, and they began classes in 1928," Gill said.

Photographs of Arthur Baggs, the program's founder and first professor, appear in a collage in the Hopkins main gallery, as well as pictures of George and Margaret Fetzer, graduates of the program in the 1930s who helped it gain national stature. Margaret Fetzer taught at Ohio State for 35 years.

A series of collages through the gallery and adjoining hallway follows the program's progress through the decades, juxtaposing snapshots of students at work with fliers for exhibits, newspaper articles about famous faculty, and correspondence related to the program.

A special exhibit will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 17 and 18, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 19, to showcase the collections of the Arthur E. Baggs Memorial Library, in room 052 Hopkins Hall. The library began shortly after Baggs' death in 1947, when students started collecting books and ceramic art as a memorial to him.

Hopkins Hall Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

For more information about the reunion exhibition, silent auction or library show, call 292-5072.

By Alice Churchill

Inside the two-story Tudor house on 12th Avenue, students sitting on couches in the living room study in front of a large fireplace. Upstairs, in offices that used to be bedrooms, plans are being made to invite Mary Doria Russell to Ohio State to discuss her book The Sparrow with members of the John Rudolph Book Program. Out in the hallway, students sign up to tutor children at Indianola Middle School a few blocks away.

The sign in front of the building says "Albert J. Kuhn Honors House" - but not for long. The University's Board of Trustees on March 5 approved renaming the University's honors center the Albert J. Kuhn Honors and Scholars House, a move that signals an administrative reorganization and expansion of the nearly 15-year-old program to serve a wider array of talented Ohio State students.

"Basically, we're taking everything we've been doing for honors students and extending it to a larger population of students," Interim Director Mabel Freeman said. "We want this house to be the living room of the University for more students."

"The time has come for us to extend the effectiveness of the Honors Program idea," added Martha Garland, vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies.

Since its inception in 1985, the University Honors Program has attracted high-achieving students to Ohio State and offered them a personal, tailored academic experience within the larger University environment.

About 4,000 honors students currently are enrolled in the smaller classes and more challenging curriculum in 180 honors courses across campus. To be eligible for honors status, students typically must achieve a score of at least 29 on the ACT or 1300 on the SAT and graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

The new Ohio State Honors and Scholars Center will work with other campus departments to recruit and serve non-honors students who are high academic achievers and who come to Ohio State because of a special talent or program offered by Ohio State, Freeman said.

Freeman said a database of scholars in different programs or organizations will be maintained to enable the center to notify students about upcoming events.

On a larger scale, programming will be extended through the creation of the Mount Leadership Society. In the fall, 60 entering freshmen will be chosen to participate in curricular activities and selected course work organized around leadership strategies, problem-solving techniques, public policy and community service.

Selected on the basis of a strong high school academic record and commitment to leadership, they will live in the same residence hall and benefit from special mentoring, career assistance, team projects, and an annual book award scholarship.

The expansion involves a structural reorganization within the program. On the academic side, a new position of associate provost, honors and scholars curriculum has been created to oversee development and expansion of specialized curricula.

This tenured faculty member will work with colleges and departments to enhance academic opportunities for honors students and scholars, and will create systems of mentoring students toward competitive graduate fellowships and professional school opportunities. That appointment is expected this summer.

Freeman will continue as interim director until the associate provost is appointed. At that time, she will be named director of the University Honors and Scholars Center, overseeing the center and focusing on recruitment of students and programming in support of new curriculum.

Both Honors Program administrators will report to Garland.

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