The new WOSU headquarters is expected to be finished by mid- to late-April with staff in the building by June, normal capacity at the beginning of fall semester and a grand opening weekend in October. Credit: Mary Kidwell | Lantern Reporter
The WOSU Public Media office, which has been located in the basement of the Fawcett Center on Olentangy River Road on Ohio State’s campus for the past 50 years, is moving into a new building located at East 14th Avenue and North Pearl Street beginning this summer.
As part of the 15+HIGH project, WOSU’s new building is expected to be finished by mid- to late April, Amy Tillinghast, senior director of marketing and communications for WOSU Public Media, said in an email. Staff are expected to start moving into the new offices in June, with normal capacity to be reached in October.
WOSU Public Media serves more than two million people with radio, television and digital distribution of a variety of noncommercial programming, according to its website. Its mission is to “enrich lives across Ohio through content and experiences that engage, inform and inspire.”
In its nearly 100-year history, Tillinghast said WOSU has never had a facility custom-built for multimedia. The new headquarters is closer to campus core and will allow the station to engage more with students and academic units.
Tom Rieland, general manager of WOSU Public Media, said the relocation will enable more student employment and an expanded role in the community. There is currently a $1 million endowment to fund student employment in the building.
“We have students from the broad spectrum,” Rieland said. “Certainly we welcome communications and journalism students, they’re primary, but we’ve had students from all over the place on campus, arts and sciences, etc. because we’re not just broadcast.”
Rieland said unlike the basement of the Fawcett Center, the new building will have specific spaces for student employees and staff.
“We are basically on campus even though we’re not technically on campus,” Rieland said. “It’s just going to be perfect for students and easy for them to now be employed at WOSU.”
Rieland said the concept of the new building was developed in 2017 and construction began April 2019. The entire project cost more than $30 million, with $12 million contributed through community fundraising efforts by WOSU.
The project has been a collaboration between Campus Partners, Meyers + Associates Architects in Columbus, Messer Construction and the WOSU team, Rieland said.
“The transformation of 15+HIGH continues to take shape with WOSU’s new home being the first to debut in this important effort to establish a connection between the university and nearby neighborhood,” Amanda Hoffsis, president of Campus Partners, said in a statement. “With a street level community space, WOSU will bring distinct energy to the area.”
That street level community space, the Ross Community Studio, will host events ranging from live musical performances to audience-attended tapings of local productions such as “Columbus on the Record,” “All Sides with Ann Fisher” and science show hosted by immunologist and COSI president and CEO Frederic Bertley, “QED with Dr. B.” Other events will include yoga classes, educational workshops and monthly kid’s days on Saturday mornings.
The area surrounding the new building is going to be dynamic, Rieland said, as multiple other buildings in the 15+HIGH project are still under construction.
“Once [15+HIGH is] done and the square is done, and we have retail and we have restaurants and we have bars, that’s going to be a hopping area, and we’re going to be right in the middle of it,” Rieland said.
