Columbus Commons is a 6-acre, privately owned park that is open to the public in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, located at 160 South High Street. The space features manicured gardens, a state-of the-arts performance stage (Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion), an artisanal hand-carved carousel, an outdoor reading room, a NEOS play system, Bocce ball courts and two cafes. It's also home to a slate of more than 200 events annually that includes the Food Truck Festival, Cap City Half Marathon, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's Picnic with the Pops concert series.
Columbus Commons presently stands on the spot that once housed the City Center, a historic shopping destination in Columbus. Underneath the park's green lawns, the mall's original garage still operates as a parking facility for guests and Downtown businesses. The park's construction began in 2010, and Columbus Commons made its debut in May 2011. In its first year, the park played host to 130 events and more than 300,000 people.
Columbus Commons continues to evolve. In 2009, when the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation (CDDC) & Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (Capitol South) first announced the plan to demolish the City Center Mall and create a clean, green slate, Columbus Commons was presented as a mixed use development, filled with privately developed residential, retail and commercial space, all anchored by greenspace. Since its opening in 2011, the Commons has been a place where people can gather and this sense of community will only be enhanced by the residential and retail. The result is a walkable Downtown community with outlets for retail, living, work, entertainment and play.
The project was developed by CDDC and Capitol South, organizations renowned for their success in bringing Columbus Downtown to life. Also instrumental in this project were the Georgetown Company, the site's development manager, and a design/build team made up of construction manager Corna Kokosing, architects Moody Nolan, and landscape architects EDGE Group. CDDC and Capitol South have also been the lead on many other city-changing projects, including the renovation of the Lazarus Building, the transformation of Scioto Mile and are currently working on the construction of the new Veterans Memorial and Museum, the Scioto Peninsula redevelopment plan, and more.
