Bier Stube, a south campus bar, faces potential demolition due to a new apartment complex, and Moritz College of Law students voice their concerns. Credit: Josie Stewart | For The Lantern
Wednesdays have one thing in common for a group of law students at Ohio State: cheap beer and “Jeopardy” at longtime campus bar Bier Stube.
On one of the first warm Wednesdays of the year, Ty Kiatathikom, Em Lowes and a few of their fellow first-years at Moritz College of Law celebrated the weather on the bar’s patio, laptops in one hand and $1 beers in the other.
Lowes said despite many of them just moving to Columbus, the bar is full of fond memories of meeting one another there and studying for exams together. Now, the group is attending zoning meetings around the city to oppose a current plan by developer Buckeye Real Estate to replace Bier Stube on the corner of Ninth Avenue and North High Street with a six-story apartment building.
“We like having a place, once a week, that’s an escape from everything that’s stressful,” Lowes said. “It’s just pleasant and cheap. It seems like a lot of the recreation available to students and a lot of things you can use to balance your crazy are so expensive.”
Lowes, Amanda Wallin and several other Moritz friends heard about the plan through Kiatathikom, who sent an article about the proposal to the group. Kiatathikom said they were inspired to voice their concerns at the Jan. 30 University Impact District Review Board meeting in which the proposal was receiving feedback.
“I think if we’re going to profess that we have beliefs, and if we’re going to profess that we care about our community, we have to follow what’s going on in every level of government, possibly from the bottom up,” Kiatathikom said.
The proposal to replace the bar with an apartment building passed the University Area Commission Zoning Committee Monday night. It will next be voted on at the full commission meeting March 15, and if passed, will be recommended to Columbus City Council for a final vote.
Besides the possibility of losing Bier Stube, Kiatathikom and Lowes said they have concerns with affordability of housing in the University District and loss of communal spaces. The proposal would replace three other businesses — 14-0 Express, Portofino’s Pizza and Yau’s Chinese Bistro — in addition to the bar.
“We need housing, but if we build more housing, it’s completely meaningless if the vast majority of people who actually live in the city can’t even afford to live in that new housing,” Kiatathikom said.
At the University Impact District Review Board Jan. 30, Buckeye Real Estate did not give an estimated rent price for the proposed housing. The group did not respond to a request for comment.
Similarly, Wallin said she is not against development generally but does not want it to replace areas that add character to the university area.
Though they have a love for the bar, Lowes said there wouldn’t be the same level of resistance if their concerns about affordable housing were addressed.
“If [Bier Stube] were being replaced with safe $600-700 a month one-bedroom apartments, we would all be sad. We’d all buy T-shirts, but we wouldn’t be showing up at meetings,” Lowes said. “I think we’d all be like, ‘OK, it’s unfortunate our favorite bar is gone, but it’s moving the city in a direction I want to see.’”
Lowes and Kiatathikom said they think it’s important for residents to voice concerns and try to reach compromises to improve the community.
Kiatathikom said the group has since tried to encourage other law students to speak at the meetings to see changes they hope are included in the proposal.
Kiatathikom also spoke against the current proposal by American Campus Communities to replace The Little Bar with student housing on the corner of North High Street and Norwich Avenue, also worried about affordability for students. The proposal also includes tearing down the University Baptist Church of Columbus. However, UAC failed to pass it twice, most recently Feb. 15.
Sam Newman, a representative of ACC, did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Wallin said the students plan to keep attending the meetings when possible to find a compromise if the projects pass and are encouraging others to do the same.
Even if affordable housing concerns are addressed, Kiatathikom said the group is ultimately not ready to say goodbye to Bier Stube, its music or choice of TV programs, and they are hoping the establishment will remain.
“If you’re going to tear down Bier Stube — at the very least — you have to make it so that your five-over-ones have speakers that blare out Springsteen at four in the afternoon on Wednesday for all of South Campus to hear,” Kiatathikom said.
