The Arena District is a mixed-use planned development and neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. Nationwide Realty Investors, Ltd. (a subsidiary of Nationwide), the City of Columbus, and private investors collaborated to create the site. As the neighboring blocks around the original 75-acre (300,000 m2) site have seen additional commercial and residential development, the interpretation of the district’s boundaries has evolved. As a result, nationwide Arena inspired the name of the Arena District.
History
In the 1790s, a Mingo settlement was known to have occupied some of the lands along the Scioto River. The land became an industrial corridor due to Columbus’ rapid expansion. The northern land was mostly small houses and fields in the 1870s. Columbus Buggy Company established its first manufacturing facilities in the area and continued to expand them until the company relocated its operations to Dublin Road in 1906. It was a light manufacturing hub by the 1910s, with Pabst Brewing Co., Ohio Casket Co., Stuart Lamneck Co., and the Columbus Auto Brass Co. among its tenants. However, it had been reduced to vacant houses, and a few businesses by 1930, and the industry had mostly dried up by 1950.
Union Station, a railroad hub, was built on the site thrice, the first in 1850 at High Street and Nationwide Blvd. In 1868, it was replaced by a second station, and a third was built to the west along East Goodale Street.
Construction
The mid-1990s almost entirely abandoned the area, and the City of Columbus saw redevelopment opportunities. The City of Columbus, OH owned the land after the Ohio Penitentiary closed, and it courted various firms and investors for redevelopment plans. At the time of the project’s inception in 1996, City Councilman Michael B. Coleman, who later became mayor of Columbus, stated that the Ohio Penitentiary site is the “most important and potentially most valuable single site in downtown Columbus.” After reviewing proposals, the City Council approved Nationwide Realty Investors’ (NRI) redevelopment proposal and sold the company the 23 acres of land for $11.7 million. In addition, NRI paid $11 million to American Electric Power Company (AEP) for an additional four acres.
Geography
Vine Street borders the Arena District site to the north, Spring Street to the south, N. Neil Avenue to the west, and High Street to the east. However, the Arena District’s commonly accepted borders are significantly larger, as evidenced by both the Arena District website and locals when referring to it. For example, Huntington Park, the Lifestyles Community Pavilion, and Buggyworks are to the west, and Nationwide’s corporate headquarters are to the east. Bed Bug Exterminator Columbus
North Market and Park Street Districts are directly south of the Arena District, north of Downtown, and west of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. When walking west of High Street, the land slopes down towards the Olentangy River, and the grade is steep, especially near Nationwide Arena.
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