The original Ohio Union – located in present-day Enarson Hall at 154 West 12th Ave. – was the first student union at a public university and only the fourth union in the country. At that time, it was only for male students as women were expected to use Pomerene Hall by Mirror Lake. In 1951, a student campaign to build a sophisticated co-ed union resulted in the construction of the second Ohio Union at this location. With all the embellishments a modern facility could afford, this 1950s wonder was considered one of the finest student unions in the Midwest.
The charm of the building began to fade by the 1970s, and in June 2004, the OSU Board of Trustees approved plans to demolish the building and construct the third and present Ohio Union. In addition to incorporating student input at every design and decoration phase, Ohio State also saved six original stone relief carvings from the building designed by Ohio-born Art Deco Sculptor Marshall Fredericks. Working with the Ohio Historical Society in the 1950s, the University chose six moments in state history for Fredericks’ panels, including the peaceful 18th century Miami Indians; Ohio’s prominence as the first state in the Northwest Ordinance; Johnny Appleseed planting a tree; Rutherford B. Hayes and William Holmes McGuffey representing statesmanship and education; the nation’s first ceramic engineering department created in 1894 at Ohio State by Dr. Edward Orton, Jr to represent industry; and a model of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s airplane to represent innovation.
When the new union opened in 2010, these panels were placed on the south façade and joined by two new ones carved from the same Indiana limestone. Designed by contemporary artist and OSU alumna Linda Langhorst and sculptor William Galloway, the new panels celebrate famous Ohio art and literary figures, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe, poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and OSU Alumni artists George Bellows and Roy Lichtenstein and humorist James Thurber.
Additionally, the state-of-the-art building is a LEED Silver-Certified Green Building and an official Columbus GreenSpot . And, in supporting the University’s commitment to sustainability, the building features a “pulper” that collects food waste for reuse, bicycle storage, water-efficient landscaping, and virtual bulletin boards.