The Broad Street Methodist Church building was designed by Joseph Warren Yost, a well known Columbus architect. In 1885, Yost designed the exterior of the church in the High Victorian Gothic Style which was popular for churches and other public buildings in the 1870s and 1880s. Elements of this style can still be seen in the present structure in the use of polychromatic masonry materials with contrasting textures, pointed arch bays, asymmetric massing and complex gable roofs with dormers and towers. The distinguishing feature of the exterior is the use of green serpentine stone, which was replaced by artificial stone in 2007-08 because of severe deterioration, along with Columbus limestone and Berea sandstone.
The sanctuary features Victorian woodwork, a sloping floor and semi-circular pews, accented by art glass windows on 3 sides. The art glass windows on the west wall were originally in Central Church and were reconfigured and installed in the building in 1936, perpetuating the heritage of Wesley Chapel, Third Street and Central congregations. The art glass windows on the east wall of the sanctuary were designed and installed in 1908 by the Von Gretchen Studios of Columbus as a memorial to Mrs. David S. Gray, a member of one of Broad Street’s founding families, whose home on Town Street is now the Kappa Kappa Gamma Museum. Gray, who eventually moved to a Grandview mansion, owned a chic dress shop on East Broad across from the Athletic Club.
Throughout the years, the “Church in the Heart of the City” has served former Ohio Governors Joseph Foraker and William McKinley and the community with an emphasis on programs for people affected by homelessness, poverty, HIV/AIDS, addiction and incarceration.
The Broad St. Church, which is on the National Register of Historical Places, was honored with the Ohio Historical Society’s Preservation Merit Award in 2009.