Tag Archive for: Columbus Commons

Columbus Commons

Former downtown mall is now an eventful lawn for all

As I walk through the grassy lawn of Columbus Commons, I can’t help but think of the Talking Heads song “Nothing But Flowers.”

“There was a shopping mall, now it’s all covered with flowers,” sings David Byrne in the ’80s hit. “Once there were parking lots, now it’s a peaceful oasis.”

In 1989, about the same year the song came out, the Columbus City Center opened in downtown Columbus. The shopping center offered more than a million square feet of merchandise in the heart of downtown.

The mall closed in 2009, and to the surprise of many it reverted to a huge public lawn in the center of the city, where food trucks now converge and friends gather to play kickball.

Columbus Commons is a 7-acre green space featuring gardens designed by Franklin Park Conservatory, an outdoor reading room sponsored by Friends of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and a whimsical carousel carved by the artists at Mansfield’s Carousel Works.

Children can ride the carousel for free during Commons for Kids, a family-friendly event held Fridays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. through Aug. 29. They also can romp on the lawn, play with a life-size chess set, make structures out of interlocking foam shapes and participate in organized crafts.

The park even has a state-of-the-art performance space called Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion. More than 200 programs are held there annually, including Picnic with the Pops and Shakespeare in the Park.

If all this play makes you hungry, get some pizza  at Mikey’s Late Night Slice or a creative cone at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams – two Columbus originals that now have permanent shops at the park.

Columbus Commons is open daily from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Parking is available at nearby garages at 55 E. Rich St. and 191 S. Third St.

For a list of family-friendly events, visit columbuscommons.org/happenings/families.

Stay tuned to the park’s events calendar at columbuscommons.org/happenings/event-calendar.

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Grand Illumination

Columbus brightens holiday season with impressive light displays

Even though the holiday shoppers are long gone, downtown Columbus is more festive than it’s been in years thanks to exciting bursts of light and color at the city’s impressive new parks.

My family and I experienced the city’s holiday display firsthand after attending the kickoff event, called the “Grand Illumination,” on Dec. 2. That’s when Mayor Michael B. Coleman flipped a switch to power more than 80,000 lights at the recently revamped Bicentennial Park and Scioto Mile park along the Scioto River.

More than 100,000 lights also were lit in Columbus Commons, a 9-acre green space in the heart of downtown, where shoppers had flocked to the City Center mall for two decades.

These lights, as well as other displays at City Hall and the Ohio Statehouse, will remain lit each night through early January.

My family loves to drive around central Ohio looking at Christmas and other holiday light displays, but the illumination event introduced a new way of appreciating downtown’s outdoor lights – on foot. We began our adventure at Columbus Commons, where parking is available in lots accessible from 3rd and Rich streets.

My two young children, Rosie and Max, enjoyed taking a spin on the commons’ carousel, amidst twinkling trees and the vibrant downtown buildings. (Visit columbuscommons.org/visit/carousel/ for the carousel’s holiday hours.)

We then walked west on Rich Street toward Bicentennial Park, where Rosie and Max frolicked around the park’s fountain – its waterspouts replaced by colorful, animated lights. Nearby at the new Milestone 229 restaurant, customers sipped wine and noshed on gourmet eats while gazing outward.

We listened to a children’s choir singing on the Bicentennial Park stage before the mayor began the holiday light display. Then, we journeyed north along the Scioto Mile walkway, called the Promenade, which runs parallel to Front Street. We saw the LeVeque Tower reflected in the river, its multi-colored lighted top resembling a rocket pop.

We then walked east along Broad Street, passing the Christmas tree at City Hall, where children can drop off letters for Santa. Our path took us past the Palace Theatre and to the luminous corner of Broad and High, where we turned south along High street to view the big tree at the Ohio Statehouse and the decorated window displays at the former Lazarus building.

Max liked pressing his face against the glass to see a family of mannequins staged around a Christmas tree with toys piled high beneath. We saw more decorated along Town Street, including the original 12 Days of Christmas display from the Lazarus department store.

To view the lights, you might head downtown Dec. 16-18 for the Columbus Commons Holiday Fair, which will feature a Secret Santa Shop, train rides and a petting zoo. It’s worth the trip.

Visit ColumbusCommons.org for more information.

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