April-May 2026.
The Center of Science and Industry (COSI) is Columbus’s well-known science museum. The contemporary building incorporates the former Central High School, a Beaux-Arts design built as part of the downtown Civic Center project and incorporating ideas from the City Beautiful movement. I’m not the biggest fan of the modern design, but it mostly leaves the historic high school alone and responds to some of its architectural cues.
COSI is located at 333 West Broad Street in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Broad Street and the new National Veterans Memorial to the north, Town Street to the south, the Scioto River and Scioto Mile to the east, and Belle Street and the gentrification-special contemporary apartment buildings to the west. Historically, Central High School used the address 75 South Washington Boulevard.
History
I’m intertwining the histories of Central High School and COSI, since the two ended up connected anyways. It begins all the way back in 1847, with the establishment of Columbus High School, the city’s first high school.
Map snippet of the North Building, which was likely similar in design to the Middle Building. (Wikimedia)
Beginning in 1847, Columbus High School occupied a long rectangular school known as the “Middle Building.” This building was located on 3rd Street and built in 1845, and based on map drawings of the “North Building” and “South Building” (which were built in the same year), it was likely a Greek Revival design. Columbus High School only occupied the Middle Building until 1848. The Middle Building itself was demolished in 1860 and replaced with the Italianate-style Rich Street School.
254 E Town, also known as the “Covert Building.” (HathiTrust)
After Columbus High School’s relocation from the Middle Building, it briefly occupied a house at 254 East Town Street (also since demolished, possibly during the Market-Mohawk District’s urban renewal) on two occasions. It first used it from 1848 to May 1849, and then again from the winter of 1849 until 1853.
205 E Town, the third home of Columbus High School. (HathiTrust)
In a brief period encompassing the months between May and the winter of 1849, Columbus High School was located in the basement of the “Old Reformed Church” at 205 East Town Street. Again, this building has since been demolished.
A drawing of the State Street School circa 1867. (New York Public Library)
Beginning in 1853, the school finally occupied its own purpose-built structure. This was the State Street School, which stood on East State Street near 5th Avenue. It seemed to be an Italianate design with a large tower in front. The high school used the State Street School for about a decade, until its penultimate relocation. State Street School itself was demolished circa 1871 for the construction of the Sullivant School on the same site (also demolished in 1961, but I’ve visited its site, where its datestone is preserved).
Old Central High School in 1889. (Wikimedia)
In 1861, Central High School finally received its current name (though it was a nickname, and the school was officially called the Commerce High School) and a newly-constructed Italianate building. This ostentatious design stood at the 300 block of East Broad Street at the southeast corner of its intersection with 6th Street. It was designed by Nathan B. Kelley (who did the Ohio Statehouse), with a capacity of 300 students, and the corner tower stood at 150 feet tall.
c. 1897 view of Old Central High School after its 1890 addition. (Wikimedia)
Two additions were made to the building, one in 1876, and another in 1890. I wasn’t able to find any information about the former, but given the latter’s eclectic design (it has Richardsonian Romanesque arches and Gothic Revival pinnacles), I assumed it to be a work of Yost & Packard at first. Indeed, a perspective view on the Wikimedia page for this building is annotated “F. L. Packard, Archt.”, meaning that it was designed by Yost’s partner Frank Packard. This addition expanded the school’s student capacity.
Old Central High School closed in 1924, coinciding with its relocation to its current site. The building was demolished in 1928, and the site is currently occupied by the Capital University Law School.
1930 photo of the existing Central High School’s exterior. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
In 1924, the final incarnation of Central High School opened. (This coincided with many of the city’s existing high school buildings, such as East High School in 1922, North and South High School in 1924, and West High School in 1929.) This building has a Beaux-Arts design, and it was designed by St. Louis architect William B. Ittner, who was nationally recognized by the AIA for his school buildings. The site was formerly an industrial area of Franklinton, and these factories were demolished for the school’s construction.
Aerial photo of the building c.1988, showing its alignment with the Civic Center. Also note the two shorter 1955 additions on the west side. (Columbus Dispatch)
A very important facet of the design is its adherence to the 1908 Columbus Plan, and it was the first such structure to do so. It is perfectly on-axis with the Ohio Judicial Center across the Scioto River, though that building was completed 25 years later. The Columbus Plan was inspired by the Beaux-Arts and City Beautiful movements, which were architectural and city planning movements meant to beautify chaotic, smog-choked American cities at the turn of the 20th century with beautiful new classical buildings surrounded by copious green space. Central High School is a great example of a City Beautiful-inspired project, due to its monumental scale, prominent placement across the river, classical-inspired design, and surrounding green space.
Central High School received several additions over its lifetime, very common for historic school buildings. The first was a shop addition by then-Columbus Public Schools in-house architect and future Ohio State university architect Howard Dwight Smith, which was completed in 1926. In 1955, the firm Freshwater-Harrison designed two Modern additions to the northwest and southwest ends, which used similar stone cladding as the original building. Finally, the school was renovated in 1966 by Brubaker/Brandt. Surprisingly, despite these mid-century modifications, the NRHP listing noted that its interior was highly intact with many historic features remaining as of 1985.
Foucault pendulum inside Memorial Hall. (Old COSI)
The idea of a science and industry museum in Columbus originated in 1957, when Columbus executive Sanford Hallock II visited my native Chicago on a business trip and was struck by the Museum of Science and Industry there. (Interestingly, the MSI has a similar architectural history, as it is a permanent reconstruction of an exhibition building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which sparked the Beaux-Arts and City Beautiful movements in America.) Hallock discussed his idea with his acquaintance Herschel Stephan, who also happened to be president of the Franklin County Historical Society. The group was working to preserve the deteriorating Memorial Hall on East Broad Street, which they occupied and the city considered a white elephant. However, in 1962, the county commissioners approved funding to renovate the building, and its renovation began in 1963. COSI opened to the public on March 29, 1964.
COSI during their occupancy of Memorial Hall, featuring the alteration to its facade. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
The futuristic black facade that was built on top of Memorial Hall, known as the “solar front,” was built in 1973. It was apparently intended to preserve the original facade while harmonizing the building with its Modernist neighbors. This coincided with an addition of a third floor to the building. I don’t think the design is bad in a vacuum, but it’s unfortunate that it obscured the original facade. (It was removed in 1999 after COSI moved out, and Memorial Hall remains how it originally appeared.)
Central High School closed following the end of the 1982 school year. This was due to several factors, namely, declining enrollment and the aging building. The declining enrollment can be attributed to a 1979 Supreme Court ruling based on a lawsuit levied by students of West High School, which required the city to bus students in an effort to desegregate schools. This led many white families to flee to the suburbs. It remained unused for the following six years, though in 1984 it was used as a set for the film Teachers. In 1988, the city sold the school building to COSI (which had announced its move around that same time), and granted them a 28-year lease in 1994. During this period, Central High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and Columbus Register of Historic Properties in 1991. However, COSI remained in Memorial Hall until the late 1990s.
Construction ongoing on the addition in 1998. Note that a large portion of the original school was demolished. (Columbus Dispatch)
The building’s current appearance is the result of an addition designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. With a sweeping, ribbed west facade, he described the duality established by the addition as “the blimp and the block.” The addition broke ground in 1997, and COSI moved into the newly completed building on November 6, 1999.
However, upon moving into Central High School and its addition, COSI quickly faced funding issues. The addition’s construction and maintenance was very expensive, and combined with expensive utility bills and lower ticket sales, COSI could no longer rely on admission profits alone to stay operating. It was proposed to charge Franklin County residents extra property taxes in return for free admission, but the measure failed. This resulted in the closure of the entire addition and many of the museum’s exhibits, and its hours were reduced to five days a week instead of seven. Over time, many of these exhibits have reopened. However, it seems like in practice the museum never really recovered, as I constantly see posts on Reddit such as this one lambasting the quality of the new exhibits. It seems like COSI's current focus is on upcharging on traveling exhibits, while the ones that come with admission have not been updated for decades and are frequently out of order.
Photos
I didn’t go inside COSI, mainly because I’m cheap, so I can’t vouch for how historically intact Central High School is today. However, given that a good portion of the building was demolished for the addition’s construction, it probably has been altered since the NRHP listing was written. At least the east facade is fully original, minus the addition sprawling out behind it:
This vantage point is in front of the Ohio Judicial Center and nearby the Scioto Mile.
It must have been a field trip day--lots of buses.
These buses say Pike County, so it must have been some kids from Waverly that day.
Really zoomed in on the main entrance (this is still from the same vantage point):
Those three photos were from April, and I completely neglected visiting again until May. It was pretty late in the day, as I recall, and there was some sort of science fair going on outside that was being dismantled. I started on the south end of Washington Boulevard:
You can see here that the “blimp”-like nature of the addition ends abruptly, and there are just bare corrugated metal walls with the building’s systems outside.
I went down onto that lawn (which was formerly parking) and got the south facade of the school:
It has a simple and very regular facade, with large window openings separated by Doric pilasters.
Hidden-away entrance:
But Virgil…have you considered hoarding billions of dollars of wealth like a dragon? Who cares about the commoners? They just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Here is the school’s southeast entrance:
It feels rather bare to me, as it lacks windows entirely and has minimal classical decoration, only a slight cornice, pilasters, and some decor on the entrance itself.
Detail of the entrance portal:
It was really common for grander schools in this era to have inspirational quotes relating to education/intelligence engraved into their facades. This one is no exception. Another frequent occurrence is the last names of famous people on the frieze, here authors:
Columbus Metropolitan Library has a similar frieze with authors, too.
The balustrade nearby has this more fanciful urn (planter?) with lions carved onto it:
Balustrade itself--the balusters seem a little far apart:
It seemed like some workers or volunteers were busy taking down the stuff outside for the science fair:
Here, the facade is similar to the south with its large window openings; however, it has a taller third floor with smaller window openings. The stone has weathered differently, one of the telltale signs of an addition, but it is original to the building.
The main entrance has a large portico with three Ionic columns supporting an entablature with “CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL” engraved on the frieze:
Could you imagine entering your high school through a giant columned entrance? Architectural theory discourse aside, it really is a shame we don’t build like this anymore.
One of the entrances, very similar to the ones we’ve seen earlier:
A look at the entire entablature and the carved frieze:
Some ornamental swags can be just made out behind the orange banners, too.
This shot is meant to condense the entablature’s ornamental details in one image:
There are many classical ornamental patterns here, namely, the key pattern, denticulation, and the natural designs along the cornice and below the frieze. Two of the Ionic capitals can be seen, too.
Angled detail of an Ionic column capital:
Two wreaths on the end of the frieze that align on-center with the column:
This entrance portal area is the one lavishly decorated place on the entire building. It certainly ennobles it and gives it presence.
Lion head:
I think these lamps are Postmodern recreations of the common claw-footed designs on classical buildings:
Each end of the school here north and south of the portal has a sunken plaza, which formerly had fountains (since removed):
Similar fenestration pattern here, though with the addition of a lower level:
Northeast entrance now:
Now we have some presidential names here:
I first thought that these referred to the presidents during the construction of each building. Old Central High School’s president and date coincide (Lincoln in 1861), but not for the existing building (Teddy Roosevelt was 1901-1909 and FDR was 1933-1945). Calvin Coolidge was president in 1924, when Central High School was built.
Very Founding Father-like views on education here:
Doesn’t that shed a little bit more light on the current wave of anti-intellectualism?
Uh oh, we seem to have made a wrong turn and been transported to the surface of the Moon:
This is Isozaki’s addition, which uses prefabricated concrete panels to create a curvy, ribbed appearance. It really does look like an old canvas-covered dirigible that crashed down to earth.
Random exhibits on this side:
When you stand perfectly centered with the middle of the addition, the building curves backward and creates an interesting perspectival effect:
Groovy. What a weird building.
It is a meaningfully designed addition and I do like the way its curves contrast with the straight lines of the original Central High School, but I’m not pleased with how much of the school was demolished to build it.
The western entrance is a large gold cylinder:
The blimp’s shell abruptly yields to reveal it, slightly recessed.
Nearby park and the stupid contemporary apartments:
It is remarkable how much this area has changed over time--if a Central High School student was running on the track that once winded through here, they would see factories, not fancy new apartments. If you know Columbus’s history, you’re probably aware of Franklinton’s susceptibility of flooding, and how it became a working-class neighborhood as a result. Its current gentrification is reversing the status it has had for almost a century and a half now.
Sources:
https://cosi.org/about-cosi/history-of-cosi
https://oldcosi.com/newcosi.htm
https://oldcosi.com/history.htm
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988471
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435058825225&view=1up&seq=156
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2c324710-c5ee-012f-e36d-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/12741/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll19/id/1002
https://www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2012/06/08/photos-central-high-school/543529007/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_High_School_(Columbus,_Ohio)
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