OSU looks west for its next big deal
Ohio State University has set its sights on its next frontier: “the western lands.”
The development of West Campus, west of Kenny Road and south of Lane Avenue, has been a long time coming, members of the OSU board of trustees’ Master Planning and Facilities committee said at a meeting Thursday.
Developing West Campus could mean increasing university square-footage space by a third over decades. And it won’t just be a big deal for Ohio State, board member and Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fischer promised.
“I think the western lands will be the biggest development in the Midwest, in its history, if done properly,” he said. The board is considering
one of the first big steps in developing the roughly 300 acres of West Campus at their meetings this week — $3 million in design services for the Energy Advancement and Innovation Center. The proposed facility would be a hub for energy research and technology commercialization. Construction of an interdisciplinary research center, already approved by the board,also is planned in conjunction with the energy center. Ohio State envisions West Campus as a district organized around a central main street, home to cafes, restaurants, offices and housing and culminating in an “urban piazza” on the eastern portion of the land, said Keith Meyers, vice president for planning and real estate. That piazza would be the centerpiece of a research neighborhood anchored by the energy and interdisciplinary research centers and a future innovation center.additional research buildings also are envisioned.
Much of West Campus currently is occupied by recreational fields, including Fred Beekman Park. That’s partly why Ohio State hopes to make the Olentangy River the centerpiece of campus and the hub of recreation. The university imagines spaces for field sports along that corridor as well as opportunities for kayaking, hiking, trail biking and more. The ongoing relocation of Cannon Drive could support this envisioned greenway, Meyers said. Jay Kasey, OSU senior vice president for administration and planning, said developing West Campus will take commitment and planning.
“To put this approximate 800,000 to a million square feet out there is just the start,” he said. “Unless we’re really ready to go forward — and it may take decades — but if we don’t have (commitment) to the plan, we shouldn’t start. But we believe we should start.”
As plans for West Campus development get underway, committee member Bob Schottenstein said he sees an opportunity to make the area well known. “We’ve been calling it the ‘western lands,’ and that’s a really cool sort of name, but I think we have an opportunity to create a brand,” he said, pointing to examples such as the Arena District and Easton. “It seems like there’s an opportunity here both with signage and marketing to give this area a name, so that it is known by all, when you see that name as time marches on.”
Title IX updates
Trustees also heard an update Thursday on Ohio State’s Title IX program. The university has been reviewing and evolving its policies around the federal gender-discrimination law since last year, when it shuttered its Sexual Civility and Empowerment center amid complaints.
The university is moving forward with a new centralized office for handling sexual- and gender-based harassment and misconduct and all other forms of discrimination and harassment complaints, said Ryan Schmiesing, vice provost for outreach and engagement.
The working name of the new program is the Office of Institutional Equity, which will be housed within the Office of Academic Affairs, Schmiesing told the board’s Audit and Compliance committee. The university is the final stages of a national search for an associate vice president to lead the new office.
Thanks to a Victims of Crime Act grant from the Ohio attorney general, OSU also is working to bring on two confidential advocates from the Ohiohealth Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio who can help students and staff members deal with trauma and share information about reporting processes and resources.
The university hired three intake and outreach coordinators last fall to assist students and staff members in understanding their options and resources when dealing with harassment and discrimination.