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.
“I don’t understand why there aren’t more stores open. They have been working on it for so long, and I think it should have been done a lot faster,” said Brittany Draudt, a junior in psychology.
Sterrett said Campus Gateway sites are empty for a number of reasons. Campus Partners asked students, focus groups, developers and designers “What are the categories that we want to fill?” He said it was a matter of recruiting the right businesses, but filling the currently vacant spaces with vendors is not the only task on the agenda.
“Gateway brings people to High (Street), and as the market begins to improve we hope private business owners say ‘It may be economically justifiable to renovate,'” Sterrett said.
He hopes private business owners along High Street will build on the Gateway Project by renovating and remodeling their businesses, he said.To improve the look of High Street, business owners could “take a one-story cement block building like the String Shoppe and renovate it into a three-story building that is more in character with High,” he said.
Gary Wolfe owns the String Shoppe Music Store, located two blocks north of the Campus Gateway project.
“If they want to pay me to relocate, I will, but you’re not going to move a 100-year-old building,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe also disagreed with the decision to relocate the 13 bars that were formerly on the Campus Gateway site along High Street.
“I think that the bars needed to stay (on campus) and now they’re gone. Bars helped campus businesses because they brought people in. Campus Gateway will do nothing for the campus area,” Wolfe said.
While Wolfe said Campus Gateway is not an improvement over the bars and businesses that had been there before, some business owners are happy about the changes to the University District.
Apollo’s Restaurant was located on the current site of the Campus Gateway Project before they were asked to move. Owner Ilias Makkas said even though Campus Partners did not cover all of the costs to move it was worth it. Makkas said there was too much alcohol and crime in the area before Campus Partners renovated it.
“I took so much abuse down there, anything from verbal to physical. Thank God for Campus Partners,” Makkas said.
