Downtown digs

CSU unveils design, $30 million construction plans for downtown art and theater complex

Posted on Fri, Jul. 23, 2004

BY TONY ADAMS
Staff Writer

The discussion and planning are over. Columbus State University is preparing to kick its $30 million downtown expansion into high gear.

Beginning in mid-August, signs will be erected informing residents that Bay Avenue will be permanently closed in early September to make way for the construction crews.

Their mission will be to tear down about a third of the old Pillowtex cotton warehouse by early 2005 so that construction can begin on CSU's new Uptown Art and Theatre Complex that is expected to pump more life into the downtown area.

"Students, by studying here, will make the place alive and will create an attraction that will draw adults and tourists and more development to the downtown area," CSU President Frank Brown said Thursday moments after architects unveiled the design of the new complex.

Minneapolis-based Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc. and Atlanta-based Stevens & Wilkinson Stang & Newdow Inc. are the designers who will turn the Pillowtex property and One Arsenal Place into a collection of classrooms, art and acting studios, theaters, and faculty offices.

The project is expected to be completed by fall 2006, with the university estimating an enrollment of about 500, including the 200 Schwob School of Music students now housed in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts and the Rankin Building on Broadway.

"Probably the most difficult thing is uniting a new building that has very specific functions to an old warehouse, which is perfectly suited to studio arts," said Kara Hill, an architect with HGA.

All the amenities

The design calls for gutting One Arsenal Place to house faculty and some additional classroom space. The interior heavily landscaped courtyard will be retained. About two-thirds of the 75,000-square-foot Pillowtex warehouse, with its 20-foot-high ceilings, will be renovated for an art department that will allow students to work with clay, metal, ceramics, paint and photography.

A third of the Pillowtex structure's northwest corner will be demolished, renovated and then expanded onto Bay Avenue to make way for the theater department. It will include a 350-seat main theater and a 200-plus-seat black box theater, along with dressing, costume and rehearsal rooms.

A glass-lined lobby on the west side of the complex will overlook the grassy promenade area between the new building and the Chattahoochee River. The park-like greenspace will be used by students, but remain open to the public after construction. A fence will be erected in the greenspace during construction to allow for material storage, however.

"We're very well aware of public concern about the greenspace," Brown said. "So we have promised that we will not build on the greenspace. We're going to use the park instead to sort of flow into the building, and it will be an extension of our buildings, with activities out on the greenspace."

Beds wanted

Brown said he knows the project will cause some disruption, but downplayed any inconvenience the project might have on those living, playing and working downtown.

"We'll all have to learn how to get around a little differently," he said. "But, overall, I don't think the construction is going to be too restrictive, and it's going to be fairly short-lived, a year and a half to two years at the most. And when we're finished I believe everybody who comes by will agree that it was well worth the price."

Plans call for adding more parking and 250 more beds for CSU students in the downtown area, likely in the form of loft apartments, Brown said. The university already has 108 student beds in the Rankin Building.

He ruled out using the Eagle & Phenix Mill on the north end of Front Avenue to house students. The old textile mill, also formerly Pillowtex Corp. property, is now owned by the W.C. Bradley Co. It is facing major renovations during the next 10 years.

"We're looking at some other smaller buildings around town," Brown said. "Some that are vacant, some that are occupied at this point. We really haven't settled yet on it, so I can't talk about exact locations. But in the near downtown area, so that it's not too inconvenient for our students to get back and forth to all of the facilities."

The $30-million complex is being funded through an $80-million fund-raising drive by Columbus State University Foundation Inc., the school's development arm. The additional parking and student housing is not included in the current price tag.

Dreaming big

Several city and civic leaders attending Thursday's unveiling of the complex design expressed extreme optimism over what the project will mean to the community.

"This will complete the dream to make Columbus State University the premiere music, art and drama school in the South," said Bill Turner, retired chairman of the W.C. Bradley Co.

The project, which was approved by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents in 2002, is being partially funded through a $25-million gift to the university from the Bradley-Turner Foundation.

"This will be done right," said Jack Key, chairman of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce board of directors. "CSU, through the foundation, has amassed a lot of money. The capital investment in this project is huge. They have hired the highest quality people who specialize in this type of work."

HGA architect Loren Ahles said it is unusual for mid-sized cities such as Columbus to invest so heavily in a unique project like that being done by CSU.

"We specialize in performing arts spaces and spaces for the arts and museums all over the country," he said. "To have a town this size say, 'No, we're not thinking about it on a campus,' -- which is typical -- 'we're moving our departments downtown.' It's a fabulous civic thing."

Staff writer Chuck Williams contributed to this report.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Erin Simpson at (706) 571-8586 or esimpson@ledger-enquirer.com