Right Now Downtown

KICK IT UP AT THE COMMONS

Last weekend delivered a huge dose of what’s headed our way…  Woo hoo, warm sunshine CAN actually be found in Central Ohio, and it got us thinking about summer.  Social calendars fill quickly, and we need you to know that we have Thursday night covered – in a big way.

Plan to Kick It Up at the Commons with the Downtown Kickball League.  There’s nothin’ common about it.  For the kickball enthusiasts of the summers past, you may be accustomed to kicking homeruns on the lawn of the People’s House, but this year the downtown kickball league will take off their legislative sneakers to stretch out in the spacious green of Columbus Commons.

The Commons is smokin’ hot, and it’s where all the cool kids (and wannabes) will be hanging on Thursday nights after work.  Co-Ed Kickball will kick off the party; Wonderland will ante up the fun with Trophy Thursdays, and the summer concerts will keep the party rolling.

Just like last year, two eight-week sessions of kickball will run back to back – June 2 through July 28 and August 4 through September 29.  For those who have never pulled together a team, we are rolling out one more incentive – we lowered the team fee to 275.00, down from 350.00.

Whether you come for the competition or camaraderie or concerts or the cocktails, just head on down to Columbus Commons on Thursdays after work – it’ll be a great way to kick off the weekend just a wee bit early.  Oh yea, don’t forget to spread the word.

Click here to register for Kick It Up at Columbus Commons – Downtown Kickball League.

CAPITAL CROSSROADS SID ANNUAL AWARDS

Each year at its Annual Meeting, Capital Crossroads SID recognizes individuals and organizations for their contributions to making downtown the cleanest, safest and most attractive commercial district in the city.  Outlined below are the nominees and winners in each category, including Ambassador of the Year, Outstanding Service, Aesthetic Contribution and Outstanding Achievement. 

Ambassador of the Year 

Each quarter, CCSID recognizes an employee for his or her outstanding work.  This year’s four award winners are Charla Gray, Clarence Anderson, Teri Tucker and Carlos Pilier, with the 2010 Ambassador of the Year award going to Teri Tucker.  Ms. Tucker has been with CCSID for eight years and is a thoroughly dependable, versatile and professional employee who excels at problem solving and handling challenges.  She has worked in several capacities including equipment operator, outreach, graffiti removal, dispatching, equipment maintenance and special projects.  Capital Crossroads congratulates Ms. Tucker and thanks her for her hard work and dedication. 

Outstanding Aesthetic Contribution 

This award recognizes projects completed in the past year, which add to the beauty, street life, energy, brightness, colorfulness and attractiveness of downtown.  A number of projects were considered for this award based on input from the downtown community, including: 

T. Bears Florist and Chocolatier, for demonstrating their commitment to downtown by remaining in their location even after a car drove through their display window just before Valentine’s Day. 

The Edwards Companies, for the continuation of their beautiful Neighborhood Launch project, another block of which was completed this year. 

The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation for three important downtown projects:  the well designed garage at Elm and Fourth streets; rebuilding of the High Street façade of the former Lazarus building and accompanying landscaping on High Street; and the nearly completed Columbus Commons park. 

The City of Columbus for the conversion of much of Front Street from one-way to two-way, the stunning new street features on Front Street, and the completion of the Main Street Bridge. 

The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board for its care of the Ohio Statehouse grounds. 

Bob Reynolds and Bob Talley for maintaining a beautiful patio and landscaping at EcleXions Lofts. 

Huntington Bank, Huntington Center and Bricker & Eckler for once again providing beautiful landscaping. 

Other mentions were for the façade work at Morningstar Mini Storage on Chestnut Street, for Spacejunk Media on Third Street and for the Trinity Episcopal Church bell tower, which turns 100 this year. 

The 2010 winner for Outstanding Aesthetic Contribution is Lifestyle Communities for The Annex at RiverSouth.  Lifestyle Communities took four dead blocks of surface parking lots south of the Lazarus Building and constructed 213 units of housing.  This elegant community takes its design cues from the East Coast and is connected to the streets in a way that encourages walking and interaction with the downtown area.  The Annex has already impacted downtown, with the building at 201 South High Street being leased to Massey’s Pizza.  Downtown is lucky to have Lifestyle Communities here. 

Outstanding Service 

The Outstanding Service Award recognizes a service in the public or private sector that makes a significant contribution to downtown.  A number of projects were considered for this award, including: 

The Hyatt on Capitol Square for developing a pilot food recycling program and sponsoring the Downtown LIVE concert series. 

Royal Paper, a recycling company, which has taken the lead in developing recycling programs at downtown office buildings. 

The Public Service Department, particularly Randy Bowman, for being responsive and flexible on issues such as on-street parking. 

The Central Ohio Transit Authority for moving its headquarters and 100 administrative employees to the downtown and for beginning to use hybrid buses. 

COTA and the Columbus City Schools for successfully addressing issues involving a small number of problem students who abused bus pass privileges and acted badly at downtown bus stops. 

MadLab Theatre for buying a building at Third Street and Chestnut and now producing shows in the SID. 

And the Community Shelter Board, Faith Mission and Mary and Kent Beittel of the Open Shelter for their hard work. 

The award for Outstanding Service was presented to CAPA for the critical role they have played and continue to play in keeping our downtown performing arts groups healthy.  CAPA owns and operates the Ohio, Palace and Southern Theatres and operates the Riffe Center Theatres.  It has stabilized the performing arts by assuming responsibility for back office services including accounting, ticketing, marketing and development for a wide range of arts organizations including the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Opera Columbus, the Jazz Arts Group and Franklin Park Conservatory.  Bill Connor, CAPA President & CEO, has personally donated his time to serve as the business manager of the CSO and the staff of CAPA has taken on additional work, allowing these groups to reduce their overhead and keep their artistic budgets stable. 

Without CAPA, it is hard to imagine where the performing arts downtown might be.  Maintaining the performances of these groups keeps our beautiful theatres lit, which in turn has helped develop clusters of restaurants and burgeoning retail in the area.  A rich environment with a healthy arts scene is vital to leasing commercial and residential space and they remain a strong selling point for downtown.  CCSID owes much to CAPA. 

Outstanding Achievement 

The Outstanding Achievement award recognizes an accomplishment that deserves special recognition.  At a time when downtown needs entrepreneurs to revitalize the area, one person has stepped up to the plate not once or twice, but three times. 

This restaurateur first opened a spot at a sleepy location on Gay Street called the Vine.  Next she had the guts to open a restaurant at the former Queen Bee on Fourth Street near the Greyhound Bus Station.  And she recently purchased The Jury Room on Mound Street. 

Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails is now a staple on Gay Street.  If you pass Dirty Franks on Fourth Street, you are likely to see standing room only crowds.  And with The Jury Room due to reopen soon, we are all excited to see what the Betty’s Family of Restaurants does with that location. 

We are so happy to recognize Elizabeth Lessner for her outstanding contributions to downtown and congratulate her on her success.

HARD HATS SOON OPTIONAL

You’ve seen and heard all the heavy equipment making busy where City Center used to be, but take a peek at the progress of Columbus Commons.   Check out this preview of what to expect, and in no time you’ll be able to walk through to see for yourself.

WHO’S YOUR BUDDY…

… Who’s your pal?  Pearl Market has the perfect friendship all lined up and it won’t even be a drain on your social calendar.

Friends of Pearl Market was launched to support programming, like Kids’ Day (July 27), Ohio Proud Mobile Kitchen, Tasty Tuesdays and live weekly entertainment.  Unlike those snooty girls in seventh grade or the alpha dogs of high school, Pearl Market promises to be your friend forever.

For a $25 contribution, $20 of which is tax-deductible, a Friend of the Market gets a groovy canvas shopping bag with original artwork designed just for Pearl Market.  The tote holds an easy half-dozen ears of corn, fixin’s for a perfect salad or a couple cantaloupes.

Friends also get sneak peeks at the weekly Market videos and email updates, as well as cool Pearl Market postcards.  And Friends support Pearl Market’s efforts to provide superior local products to everyone which in turn helps heat up the incubator for small business entrepreneurs as they test the downtown market.

The first five people to identify six of the 12 downtown spots featuring the Friends of the Market bag in this video will receive 50% off a Friends’ Membership.  Email aeschroeder@sidservices.com  with your answers.

ALL ABOUT YOU

You may recall receiving an email survey through Right Now Downtown a few months ago.  While numerical scores are interesting, many of you took the time to write in your own comments and ideas about downtown.

Want to know what you think?  We can tell you now…

1.  Not one single comment was abusive or ugly.  That’s an anomaly on anonymous surveys.  It says something about you as a group.  We’re very proud to live and work among such unusually constructive souls.

2.  You want more places to have lunch.

3.  You want more places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

4.  You want more retail stores downtown.

5.  You want to know about marches and rallies happening downtown.

6.  You want City Center open again as a mall.

7.  You want City Center to remain standing and used for something else.

8.  You want the magic of your childhood.

We’ve been brainstorming on how to best follow up on these ideas.  While we finalize, we’re sending the intern out to chain himself to the wrecking ball at City Center.

Meanwhile, perhaps you have some follow-up solutions of your own?  Stay tuned for next week…

APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Do an Internet search on “Columbus Zoo and Aquarium”: 40,300 results.

Search on “Columbus Topiary Park”: 1,210 results.

Now try these words, “City Center Demolition”…

61,100 results.

Yep, we like to watch demolition.  Who knew that the dismantling of City Center would become a major tourist attraction for downtown Columbus?  People flock into the core of the city just to gawk at the giant hole; the big rumbling construction equipment brings out the destructive kid in all of us.

They’ve got the view from the outside, but we’ve got an all-access-pass: a video view of the demolition from the inside and out (and an aerial perspective too).  It’s all courtesy of Amy Taylor, she’s Chief Officer of Operations for the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation/Capitol South – and she’s got all the details on the destruction…

Inside 43215: Behind the scenes at the demolition of City Center from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

CITY CENTER TRILOGY, PART THREE: PERFECT PEOPLE POWER

The park and the people rule.  That’s the very point of the Columbus Commons - it’s a place for common people to share common grounds.  The landscape provides a much-needed reality break found only in the great outdoors.

Sure, office life is productive, and virtual reality is fun.  But it’s our interactions with the natural world that feed the human soul.

That which will surround the park has a built-in, market-driven flexibility.  Plans for the perimeter include 400,000 square feet for offices, 70,000 square feet for retail, and 400 new residential spots.  Ultimately, those decisions will be shaped by human use patterns: the park and the people rule.

Some things are certain.  The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (better known as CAPA) will be scheduling dynamic outdoor events for the Columbus Commons’ amphitheater.  Both concerts and events are in the works for spring 2011.

We know what we’ll bring to the park.  What will you bring?

http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/progress/columbus-commons

CITY CENTER TRILOGY, PART TWO: FUTURE COMMONS GROUNDS

The “Phoenix from the Ashes” story is a little too familiar, but it’s eminently appropriate for Columbus Commons… from out of the rubble of a faded local hotspot arises a new star with the same spirit of a community gathering place.

The plans have been drawn, circulated and discussed.  It’s a six-acre park in the very heart of our city.  While it’s not unusual for a thriving city to host a park at its core, it is unusual to have a park sitting on top of a place-to-park.

Yes, the underground 950-space parking garage will remain in full operation during and after construction beneath the greenery.  Retaining convenient downtown parking is a priority – and it’s actually simplified the rest of the Columbus Commons design process.

What goes with a park that sits on underground parking?  The turf can’t support multi-level high-rise structure.  So, the grand lawn must then be designed for people and human activities.  An amphitheater is in the works and an event staging area too.

Welcoming walkways, trees, benches, chairs and tables will greet guests and the Commons grounds will eventually be lined with retail, office space and housing that supports those activities to create a true downtown neighborhood.

And in the spring of 2011, there’s the Phoenix from the ashes again.  Out of the wreckage of a deserted mall, a gathering place at the city’s center.

http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/progress/columbus-commons 

vendor of the week: Sweet Thing Gourmet

Sweet Thing Gourmet is one of those indie businesses that make you smile and feel all excited again about working for yourself.

Owner Kyla Touris talks to us this week with her inspiring tale of moving to Columbus and starting a new life.

Here is what she had to say:
Okay, so I’m a jammer.  I learned from my mother the basics, and I dabbled in it a bit after college, mainly making presents for friends and such.  I was living in Montana at the time, and I would drag my husband with me to pick wild huckleberries.  It took hours to pick enough for one batch of jam, but it was amazing!  We made some as gifts and were told we should go into business.

When we moved to ohio with our infant son, we both planned to work and put out child in daycare.  I had mixed emotions about it.  Then we found our we were pregnant with twins, so that plan was derailed!  We scrimped for a few years on one salary and meanwhile, my mother-in-law had given me a subscription to Victoria Magazine, where I pored over stories about female entrepreneurs.  I was inspired by some of the stories and thought “Hmmm… there could be somthing there.”

I started researching outlets in our area and found the Worthington Farmers Market.  I wrote a business plan, shelled out money for some fancy jars and designed a logo and label with my husband.  We launched out product that year with four flavors of jams and some biscotti.  At first it was very seasonal, but gradually we began picking up holiday shows, home parties and gift boxes.  By 2005, we were going strong and our list of flavors grew quickly.  Now we are up to about 35.

The good and the bad of being your own cottage industry:
I’m my own boss, and I get to make all the decisions.  I keep the hours I want, which at times are very long.  Around the holidays, the business becomes my life, and it can be hard to shut it off.  While I started this to be home with my kids, it can be difficult to keep a balance between the two.  The creative part is fun, but the business part is a lot harder.  So much I am learning!  As the business grows, new expenses crop up and there is the challenge of maintaining the quality.  And still do it all out of our home.  My husband works with me now, and there are challenges there.  But then we turn on the music and get into the Zen of creating, and start to work through it all.

What do I love about Columbus?
I’m still learning about it.  We’ve been here almost 10 years, but so much of that has been devoted to our kids.  I love the downtown area a lot, though, with the urban feel to it.  I’m excited about the plans for the City Center site!  That’s what I love about the Pearl Market, too – it combines my country side with my urban edge.  And not to brown-nose or anything, but I love the people who run the Market.  Adam, Kacey, Tiffany and the rest of the crew are incredibly helpful and positive.  Really, it feels like a party!  Oh, and another thing about Columbus is CD101 and WCBE.  They keep me going much of the day!

Top five blogs/shops on the web?
I feel so unhip, there seems to be so little time to spend on the computer.  I did just discover Daily Candy, and I love columbusfoodie.com.  Oh, I’m so uncool!  I’ll work on it!

Who would I love to meet at the Market?
Eric Clapton!  Maybe he could come “jam” with me!

Thanks so much Kyla!  Make sure you go visit her fabulous stand at the Market and go check out her Web site too!  Tell her the Market Maven sent you!

Hurray for Capitol South for demolishing City Center and creating a site for future, long-term development.  Finding an adaptive reuse for City Center is next to impossible.  The building is about as versatile as a vacant big box store.

Small-scale, incremental development on a traditional street grid is what makes a downtown work.  The best downtowns evolve over many years.

BIG IDEAS often get cities in trouble.  In the 1950s, the BIG IDEA was building highway canyons into downtown areas and ripping down tens of thousands of houses.  The 1960s brought us urban renewal, which cleared hundreds of acres of “slums,” further destabilizing urban neighborhoods and fueling flight from the center city.

The BIG IDEA in the 1970s was skywalks, built as part of a plan to make downtown one big bunker.  The bunker plan got refined in the 1980s, when downtown malls were built to make downtown feel just like the suburbs.  Neat!

Now is the time to get out of the way and let entrepreneurs rebuild downtown one building and one storefront at a time.  A little patience will get us the best result.