Otherworld announces new music venue
The expansion will bring the immersive East Side art space to a robust 58,000 square feet
Otherworld, the immersive art and technology installation that opened on the East Side in 2019, just announced a massive expansion.
In a Facebook post, Otherworld wrote that it would break ground on an additional 26,000 square feet next door, ultimately bringing the exhibit space up to a robust 58,000 square feet. A 2,000-person, art- and tech-infused music venue is also included in the expansion plans. The music venue should make Otherworld an even bigger player in the Columbus concert scene as live shows return to indoor settings, which some have predicted could happen as early as this fall.
No information regarding an opening date for the expansion was immediately available.
When Alive last spoke with Otherworld founder Jordan Renda in June 2020, a week before he reopened the space following a Covid-driven, 3-month shutdown, he compared the feeling among his team members with the electricity that existed in the run up to the grand opening.
“Once we were able to get the team back in the building, it kind of feels like this time last year, when we were building and getting the place ready to open. It has that same energy now,” he said at the time. “We’re all working and we’re building this new stuff and excited for people to finally come out and see it. It’s
can pie, lemon bar and peanut butterchocolate buckeyes, to a mashup brownie-chocolate chip cookie doughflavored cheesecake.
Budd Dairy Food Hall is located on North 4th Street in Italian Village inside a building that once housed the Budd Dairy Co., a dairy processing company that ceased operations in 1967. With a strong presence in Hilliard and a 2,500-square-foot store planned for Dublin, Strange wanted to test the waters in the heart of Columbus, and the former dairy company building provided that opportunity.
The move gives the company access to heavily populated and well-trafficked neighborhoods like Downtown and Italian Village. “We have nothing on that side of town,” Strange said. “It will be nice to gauge the interest and see if there is a place for us down there permanently.”
Several years ago, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants teamed up with developer Kevin Lykens to transform the building into a food hall.
The hall originally was slated to open more than two years ago, but a series of delays, followed by the coronavirus pandemic, pushed back the start date. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley