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    Plan for Elevated ‘Park Walk’ Approved by Downtown Commission

    A plan to transform a decades-old elevated walkway into an open air park was approved by the Downtown Commission this morning.

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    The roof and glass walls of the existing skybridge will be removed and landscaping added to create a public walkway above East Capital Street. The 1970s-era walkway, which currently runs from the Capital Plaza Parking Garage to the PNC Building, would also be widened in places and extended to South Third Street, where stairs and an elevator would provide public access to the space.

    It’s an idea that was first brought before the commission over a year ago. Developer Jeff Edwards, whose Edwards Companies is behind the concept, told the board at the time that he saw it as “a Columbus version of the High Line in New York.”

    Instead of reimagining an abandoned elevated rail line, as the High Line does, “we’re taking an enclosed walkway, built in 70s, and making a convertible out of it, and then we’re expanding it,” said Tim Schmalenberger, who was part of group of planners and landscape architects from Columbus-based MKSK presenting the latest iteration of the plan to the commission.

    MKSK’s Karen McCoy explained that the biggest changes were to the design of the stairway and elevator on Third Street. The area directly underneath the westernmost section of the sturcture was also reworked to function as an outdoor dining area for a yet-to-be-named restaurant tenant in the adjacent Galleria building, at 20 S. Third St.

    An illuminated public art piece is planned for the part of the walkway that stretches over Lazelle Street, and just to the east of that, “there’s also the possibility of having a juice bar and coffee bar that has a serving window,” McCoy added.

    The new walkway will connect two Edwards Companies projects – the PNC Building, which the company bought in 2016 and plans to renovate, and a recently-approved 13-story building at the corner of Broad and Young streets that will be called the Gilbert Apartments.

    Commissioners had requested last time that another public access point be added to the walkway at its eastern end, but McCoy said “we could not physically find a way to put a staircase [there],” because of limited space, although she pointed out that there is an existing staircase just east of South Fourth Street that will remain, as well as a stairway and elevator inside the Capital Plaza Parking Garage which is currently open 24 hours a day.

    Commissioner Robert Loversidge suggested that – since the garage has a different owner – Edwards Companies will need to provide evidence that there is an agreement in place with the owner to continue to provide that access.

    Resolving that issue was made a condition of the approval of the plan – the applicant will have to come back to the board to address it, and will also need to return to discuss security issues and signage.

    “I think it’s amazing…beautiful,” said commissioner Ted Hardesty, “but I also think it’s important to stress that this is a one-off; I don’t want us to get into the habit of taking people off the street, but in this case, with the existing structure, it was a really unique opportunity.”

    For more information on the Downtown Commission, see www.columbus.gov.

    All renderings by MKSK.

    A site plan shows the extent of the landscaped walkway.
    The South Third Street end of the structure.
    A space for outdoor dining would be created.
    Looking east, with the Galleria Building on the left.
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    Brent Warren
    Brent Warrenhttps://columbusunderground.com/author/brent-warren
    Brent Warren is a staff reporter for Columbus Underground covering urban development, transportation, city planning, neighborhoods, and other related topics. He grew up in Grandview Heights, lives in the University District and studied City and Regional Planning at OSU.
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