In Search of a City: Gowdy Field (Better Than a Landfill)
The development of Gowdy Field at Olentangy River Road and Third Avenue with generous incentives from the City of Columbus is disappointing. Two new buildings in the development house Time Warner Cable and the Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center. Daimler Group is building a third structure on Third.
I began to think about the layout of this development one day as I waited at a traffic signal and saw a man walking south on Olentangy to get access to Time Warner. Daimler had blocked access to an asphalt trail that serves as a sidewalk, forcing the pedestrian to walk on Olentangy and compete with 45-mile-an-hour traffic.
Pedestrians, transit riders and bicyclists are clearly an afterthought at Gowdy Field. Buildings are surrounded by acres of surface parking. The buildings do not open onto the streets they face, but appear to provide only rear entry (no double entendre intended). The development stands in stark contrast to a much more urban-looking development to the south, Nationwide’s Grandview Yard.
Measured against a fallow, former landfill, the new buildings at Gowdy Field are an improvement. But alas, our standards are so low.
Tags: City of Columbus, Daimler Group, Gowdy Field, Grandview Yard, Nationwide, OSU James Cancer Hospital, Time Warner Cable
July 13th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Agreed! Those buildings are spaced extremely far apart, and each given a football field’s worth of parking in between. It looks like any other suburban office complex. Why couldn’t they have been placed a bit closer and shared a parking garage structure between the three of them? Oy vey.
July 13th, 2010 at 8:48 am
This is clearly a case of “sell what the customer wants.” Unfortunately, these customers (the primary and commissioning tenants) of these buildings are rooted in a time period where we had the luxury of ignoring long-term sustainability. The 20th century was a period of truly spoiled excess and we are seeing many business entities fighting the inevitable return of that kind of responsibility. They are seeing their own needs quite clearly, but are not interested in contributing a building to the urban grid. This development fits their checklist of needs perfectly. In other words, it does not behoove them to care about the day when they vacate that structure. To make change, though, we will have to make the case directly to the decision makers rather than blab in a forum.
On a personal level, I keep looking at this development with the same eyes you have expressed so clearly.
July 13th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Couldn’t agree more. Even your photo brings to light a hostile-looking gap between the bikeway that exists on the left side of the picture, the crosswalk at the intersection and near the #3 bus stop and the buildings. The open highway-like “view” creates a visual invitation for motorists to increase speed.
July 13th, 2010 at 9:35 am
I was amazed the contractor was permitted to fence-in the sidewalk/trail without making any accomodation for pedestrians. There is no sidewalk on the opposite side, so that totally shut down pedestrian access. The Time-Warner customer service center, which is at least oriented so it is visable and approachable to the sidewalk, was completely inaccessible by foot. Where else would a construction project be allowed to shut down pedestrian access completely? The Jackson shut down a section of N. High Street side-walk, but they had a crosswalk painted to enable people to go around. At other times or at other construction sites contractors have built scaffolding to sheild the sidewalk and protect pedestrians while keeping it open for use. Sadly, the Olentangy River Road area has horrible pedestrian/bicycle accomodation in general. The 3rd Ave. railroad underpass doesn’t have any sidewalks, nor does much of 3rd Avenue to the West of Olentangy River Road. Want to walk from Victorian Village to Grandview for dinner? Good luck.
As for the building design, yes, it is far from forward-thinking. I believe the Harrison West Society did obtain a number of design concessions, but its power is very limited. In total it is sad to see such an opportunity lost.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
On the flip side of the railroad tracks…
Phase One of Grandview Yard is wrapping construction for a September Launch and includes three similarly sized buildings when compared to Gowdy Field: The New Hyatt Place Hotel, an Urban Active Fitness Center, and an Office building.
The big difference?
They all share a single parking structure:
http://www.grandviewyard.com/phase-i.html