Arts & Entertainment Venues

[Columbus1984]

These will be quality developments because Woodruff is doing them, but they're hardley examples of new urbanism. The description of the one by the Crossing sounds like every other apartment development and every other mini-retail development. The same for the one on Beaver Run Rd. As for The Grove - about the 5th "Grove" in the metro area by the way - It's just a collection of typical suburban developments. Different housing types, an apartment development and maybe some retail. The retail remains to be seen since Harris has backwards zoning with 2-acre minimums. And lastly these are all occuring where - in the suburbs... A new urbanism development would be a mid-rise verticle residential development in mid-town or the medical district with lower level retail and offices.

New Urbanism/TND (Traditional Neighborhood Development) is what Woodruff is doing by Northside and at The Grove. The deal by Northside will have apartments with retail on the bottom. The Grove probably got an Overlay District which means they have special zoning to do higher-density.

[amyers]

New Urbanism/TND (Traditional Neighborhood Development) is what Woodruff is doing by Northside and at The Grove. The deal by Northside will have apartments with retail on the bottom. The Grove probably got an Overlay District which means they have special zoning to do higher-density.

Any site plans on this development?

[Columbus1984]

Any site plans on this development?

I haven't seen one. You might could call Woodruff and get one, but they might not want that public right now.

[aboutmetro]

The new National Infantry Museaum is coming along, according to this GPB article. The tank was moved in while the building was still a skeleton. Opening in March '09.

Recent image

[xivinrah]

New Urbanism/TND (Traditional Neighborhood Development) is what Woodruff is doing by Northside and at The Grove. The deal by Northside will have apartments with retail on the bottom. The Grove probably got an Overlay District which means they have special zoning to do higher-density.

But I mean even still... in sharp contrast to the kinds of New Urbanism projects that are popping up all over Intown Atlanta:

1. It should be in a more convenient location. I'm a student at CSU, but Columbus is my hometown. I don't have a car, and for it to fit that New Urbanism description, I shouldn't HAVE to get in my car and drive 8 miles to get to it. And I live off of Saint Mary's Road JUST south --- borderline of what is defined as Midtown Columbus. Yea... Columbus could do better. I mean just LOOK at Atlantic Station. You can't get anymore compact and efficient that. NONE of these new developments going up in Columbus is capable of fostering HALF of that.

2. I can't be too frustrated with the developers and how things are being built... (I've been to meetings, forums, workshops hosted by Midtown Inc and the City of Columbus) the Consolidated Government needs to have incentives for developers who redevelop parts of Midtown/Uptown Columbus. On a chart in one of the forums, I was able to see that there is a sharp contrast between the cost for someone to build something i.e. a bank anywhere within the inner city corridors, as opposed to the North and Northeast sides. Land is twice as expensive along Macon Road than along Veterans Parkway up near Maple Ridge. The only way developers are going to CHOOSE intown over suburbs is if they are given tax incentives and whatever else comes along with bringing them into town.

3. Zoning in Columbus needs to change along with some of the ordinances that are in place. The reason why Midtown will probably never see the kind of pubs, entertainment, and cafes, etc. that uptown has is because of the issues with trying to pull liquor licenses from CCG. You've got like several churches, Wynnton School and Rigdon Road... but some exceptions must be made in order to support the midtown-cosmopolitan lifestyle. Even for the white cloth restaurants... I wouldn't go into a 5 star restaurant and the most expensive thing on the menu is Coke. It's little ordinances like the no-liquor license around churches and schools that KEEP developments like this at a distance. Also... there are no zoning regulations in practice for developments like Atlantic Station.

4. NO BUILDING CAN BE MADE HIGHER THAN 10 STORIES ORDINANCE. --- Enough said. So no skyscrapers.

5. Regulations that force developments to be completely offset from the street. Urban settings should be pedestrian friendly settings. I don't enjoy crossing miles of asphalt and lawns just to get to the facility. It doesn't make sense to have a sidewalk, but have every store and restaurant situated 50 kilometers beyond a massive sea of asphalt. (Exaggerating) Walk it everyday, and you'll understand my frustration. Drivers have no consideration for the pedestrians and the way the city is laid allows for that. I feel like I am risking my life everyday trying to cross Manchester Expressway trying to get to Peachtree Mall. The signages (right of walk things) ineffective... in fact, when was the last time they EVER turned white?

Phew... but yea... these are just SOME of the many reasons why nothing ever changes around here. At least changing more toward what is considered to be the dawning of the New Urbanism... once again Columbus is far behind still hooked on 1960's styles of urban planning and zoning.

[aboutmetro]

Columbus is getting a semi-pro football team... an outdoor one! It'll be part of the United National Gridiron League with teams playing in Dallas, Miami, Akron, Ohio, Birmingham, Ala., Norfolk, Va.; Winston-Salem, N.C. and Shreveport, La. The poor guys will have to use locker rooms at Kinnett Stadium and practice there since some genius left out locker rooms at Memorial Stadium... Season kicks in Feb '09.

[aboutmetro]

Columbus is getting another shot at a new baseball league. Their not farm teams for the big leagues, like the previous teams in Columbus. From their website: The Great South League morphed from the Georgia Collegiate League, a league formed in the fall of 2005 by the state-wide Georgia Dugout Club, an organization which promotes high school and college baseball within the State of Georgia. The GSL expanded to 12 Teams for the 2008 summer season including teams in Florida and Alabama. It is anticipated that 2009 will have 20 teams in 6 states (adding Virginia, North and South Carolina), becoming "The Mega League of the South" tm

According to their Web site, the GSL has teams in Nicholson, Ga., Augusta, Ga., Charlotte, N.C., Hickory, N.C., Lynchburg, Va., Marietta, Ga., Oxford, Ala., Tallahassee, Fla., Fuqua-Varina, N.C., LaGrange, Ga., Macon, Ga., Newnan, Ga., Kernesville, N.C., Gainesville, Fla., Dublin, Va., Thomasville, Ga., and Alpharetta, Ga.

No mascot announced for the Columbus team yet. The Lagrange and Newnan teams are both within an hour of Columbus.

[aboutmetro]

Why does CSU need a football team. Just take a look at a recent poll at West Georgia University - more than 78% of respondents say they're most excited about the football season opener.

[Columbus1984]

Why does CSU need a football team. Just take a look at a recent poll at West Georgia University - more than 78% of respondents say they're most excited about the football season opener.

Football will happen one day at CSU. It's expensive, but the university has been talking about it a lot. I think it would be a great thing for CSU and Columbus. There is so much construction happening right now at CSU. Truly amazing for a university of 8,000 students.

[aboutmetro]

The Armor & Calvary museum planning and fundraising is underway for Patriot Park. WLTZ article here.

[nowyano]

Good thread...

About Football:

Does CSU have the population to support it? Does it even have dorms for the students? I would think that they wouldn't even have to build a stadium as they could use the field that the Tuskegee-Morehouse game is played on (I'm a Tuskegee Grad).

About Advertisement:

Columbus lacks advertising for the bigger acts it gets. I have seen Ron White, Rascall Flatts, Jerry Seinfeld, 8Ball and MJG all play in one of the venue at one point or another over the past 6 or so years, but outside of Columbus I don't see anything.

I wouldn't have known Columbus even existed if not for my college girlfriend (now wife), who introduced me to it. And I went to Tuskegee and didn't bother going to the Tuskegee-Morehouse games b/c I couldn't understand why it wasn't played in a bigger venue. Looking back I regret that. Advertising of what is there is needed especially in Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, and Montgomery County, AL. IMO I have seen Columbus get bigger musical and comedy acts than Montgomery has gotten recently.

Also:

What is up with the Bradley Theater and the Rialto. I read that the Rialto is being rennovated, and I know that the Bradley was rennovated recently, but I can't find information on who owns it, who books it, what the plans are for it. The Bradley doesn't even have a website.

[aboutmetro]

Auburn Arena -

The $92.5 million, 9,000 seat facility is the new home to Tiger Basketball.

Goto the AU Facilities Division for a lot of details...

[nimsjus]

aboutmetro, on 06 February 2009 - 11:24 AM, said:

Columbus' nightlife is probably pretty representative for a town its size. Not better, not worse most of the time. Noting the university aspects of nightlife in other towns is probably about right - even with 7,800 students, CSU's average student age is something like 26. Too, the number of high school and college grads leaving the town to find work contributes to the lack of nightlifers. When they're not off fighting wars, Ft Benning's soldier population does contribute greatly to nightlife, those their disposable income isn't what say, a yuppie might be. That said, I think the live music scene is a little bit better than cities of comparable size. I know it's better or at least as good than, say, Birmingham which is a good deal larger than Columbus. But this is a discussion for a different topic...

Having lived in Mobile and spending a large amount of town in Bham (wife is from there and a majority of our friends moved their) I have to disagree on Columbus night life being comparable to either of those cities. More comparable with Mobile than Bham though. Mobile is about 5-10 years ahead of Columbus with regards to the urban redevelopment thing. Things Columbus are just getting Mobile was getting when I was in high school there 8-10 years ago. There are bars, restaurants on Mobile's Dauphin St that have been open since the early 90's and some that never left for sprawl. Birmingham has multiple areas with more to do than Broadway. Southside, Lakeshore, Downtown Homewood, and the various villages of Mountain Brook all have more to do individually than Downtown Columbus, much less if you combine them. Part of the problem I see in Columbus (aside from the lack of college/young professional class that feeds this scene) is the relatively uninteresting and spasely developed downtown. Lots of parking decks, wide open parking lots, random lawns in front of buildings. Broadway is the only relatively continuous urban street in downtown. All others have had buildings destroyed, empty lots, large empty parking areas, etc that detract from the "downtown feel". Plus the average citizen of Columbus/PC does not seem to appreciate these types of things. Many would rather go to a chain out at CPC than come downtown to eat at a place like The Loft. Just my observation after about a year here. The positives for downtown do seem to be improving though, but they need more support to continue to exist. Rivecenter and CSU downtown need to continue to build and improve offerings because they do more for downtown than anything else. Tsys, Bradley, Synovus, and Aflac also have to help leep the momentum moving with all of the weight they can throw around. Aflac games are moving to downtown riverwalk and whitewater is coming. All of these things will continue to get people downtown which will improve the nightlife. Concerts on the river/downtown music festival would be a nice addition. Mobile's Bayfest has run for almost 20 years with pretty big acts. It gives a boost to downtown. Mobiles downtown survives off of a steady diet of regulars from the three local universities, a decent professional class, and a long history of locals appreciating entertainment/alcohol (I think it comes from being a port city with a ton of history). But what gives it a shot in the arm and ensures that it thrives is a constant stream of events downtown that draw people in that might not come to downtown weekly. These big events (Bayfest, Mardi Gras, Senior Bowl, GMAC Bowl, St Paddys, Chili Cookofff, Azalea Trail Run, 1st light marathon, New Years Eve, Conserts at the Saenger,etc) ensures bars and restaurants of 10-15 huge weekends to go along with the steady diet of regular weekends that may or may not get them through. I bet bars/restaurants in downtown Mobile cover the majority of their yearly expenses during Bayfest, Mardi Gras, and Senior Bowl and then run break even or deficit for the majority of the year. Columbus can do it, but it is a slow process. Mobile started in the late earliy nineties, with a lot of built in advantages over Columbus, and it has really only recently (since early 2000s) seen a more rapid growth in condo development, national chains moving in with more local restaurants, retail, new hotel development, etc.

This post has been edited by nimsjus: Today, 07:19 AM

[mitchella81]

Well this has been going on for a while, but I noticed no one has posted it yet. Columbus new year round indoor Ice skating rink is nearing completion between the Civic Center and Golden Park. Not only will the facility serve as a lesiure Ice skating Rink, but it will also be a trainning facility for the Columbus Cottonmouths Hockey as well as home to the Auburn University Hockey Team part of the brand new SEC hockey League

[mitchella81]

This is kind of good economic news for the area. Columbus has landed its third HBCU game. Columbus has already been home to the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic for nearly 80 years. Also the Fountain City Classic Between Ft. Valley State & Albany State University for 21 years now COlumbus will be home for the Pioneer bowl for the next 3 years at least. hopefully the city will become home to the game permanantly. The Pioneer Bowl is the only NCAA sancationed game involving HBCU colleges and only one of three sanctioned bowl games for division II schools. The game is the Championship game for the CIAA and SIAC conferences. This will be a major economic impact for the city. THe first game will be played December 4th 2010 at the AJ Mclung Memorial Staduim near South Commons.

[aboutmetro]

This is kind of good economic news for the area. Columbus has landed its third HBCU game. Columbus has already been home to the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic for nearly 80 years. Also the Fountain City Classic Between Ft. Valley State & Albany State University for 21 years now COlumbus will be home for the Pioneer bowl for the next 3 years at least. hopefully the city will become home to the game permanantly. The Pioneer Bowl is the only NCAA sancationed game involving HBCU colleges and only one of three sanctioned bowl games for division II schools. The game is the Championship game for the CIAA and SIAC conferences. This will be a major economic impact for the city. THe first game will be played December 4th 2010 at the AJ Mclung Memorial Staduim near South Commons.

I know the Memorial Stadium is now smaller than Troy State's, but I think we should try to start a tradition like the one we had with Georgia-Auburn. Maybe an out of conference game with Troy and some team in Georgia.

[aboutmetro]

Whitewater model is cool precursor to the real thing... Cat 5 rapids. See WRBL Story here-

Design group page here -

[aboutmetro]

Mercer College is bringing football back to the future - GPB article here. I only mention it because there's still an opportunity for CSU.

[aboutmetro]

The Civic Center is nice, but it was built too small to attract really big names. With just 8,000 seats (I know they advertise 10,000, but they have to 'kill' about 2,000 seats next to the stage in a concert), the numberss just don't work out for a big name act. Say an act expects to bring in $500,000 for a concert, that would put the ticket price for every single ticket over $60. That would mean either the ticket prices couldn't be scaled (some higher or some lower). The public would have a fit if it cost $120 for date night or $240 for a family of 4. With the market numbers that ALTman1 shows, a major concert would be able to draw say, an 18,000 audience.

I wouldn't be opposed to adding another penny to the next splost to increase the size. Maybe Aflac would do some sort of funds matching if we called it Aflac Arena and put a giant duck on top...

Well, the city government is back to considering the naming rights issue for Civic Center - CLE article here. Still, at the heart of the matter, is the center's size. It's too small to be both profitable for major acts with affordable tickets for spectators.

[mitchella81]

Well, the city government is back to considering the naming rights issue for Civic Center - CLE article here. Still, at the heart of the matter, is the center's size. It's too small to be both profitable for major acts with affordable tickets for spectators.

If they are able to rename it I seriously think it would be a local company who purchases the naming rights. Something like Alfac or Carmike Arena

[Columbus1984]

If they are able to rename it I seriously think it would be a local company who purchases the naming rights. Something like Alfac or Carmike Arena

Aflac Arena sounds cool to me!