The Drake Performance and Event Center is located at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. It was a

student activity center A student center (or student centre) is a type of building found on university and some high school campuses. In the United States, such a building may also be called a student union, student commons, or union. The term "student union" refers mos ...

named Drake Union. The center is located on the west campus of Ohio State between Morrill Tower and Lincoln Tower off the east banks of the

Olentangy River The Olentangy River is a tributary of the Scioto River in Ohio, United States. History It was originally called ''keenhongsheconsepung'', a Delaware word literally translated as "sharp tool river", based on the shale found along its shores ...

Background

With the construction of residence halls on west campus, Ohio State students living there found the walking distance to travel to the

Ohio Union The Ohio Union serves as a student activity center for students of The Ohio State University. When the Union was established in 1910, it was the first student union at a public university. The Ohio Union provides facilities for student activities ...

long, especially in the winter. The Board of Trustees approved the construction of a second union in 1969. Designed by architect

Todd Tibbals Todd Tibbals (1910March 22, 1988) was an American architect who was active in the Columbus, Ohio area in the middle part of the twentieth century. Early years Tibbals was born in 1910 to a successful engineer and entrepreneur, Charles E. Tibbals ...

, the union was officially named after Edward S. Drake, a former manager at the Ohio Union for 33 years, in 1971 and officially opened in 1972 at a cost of $4.5 million. Following the construction, there were plans to build additional structures surrounding Drake Union, but those plans were cancelled.Union to celebrate 25th b-day
Shelly Rashid, ''The Lantern'', May 7, 1997, Retrieved October 14, 2007
Although it would appear Drake Union would rival the existing Ohio Union as Ohio State's second union, both unions worked together as community centers for students and visitors.

Current uses

Drake Center houses the Department of Theater at Ohio State. The center offers Buckeye TV and houses The Ohio State University's on-campus marina. The center once housed Archie's Alley, which included bowling alleys, pool tables, and a bar, but closed in 1999 due to low patronage.

Future plans

The Department of Theater will be moving to a new building being constructed on the corner of West 18th Avenue and College Road. Once the Department has moved to this new building, the Drake Union may be demolished to make room for a new green space and riverfront commons along the Olentangy River.

References

External links

* Ohio State University buildings Student activity centers in the United States University District (Columbus, Ohio) {{ColumbusOH-struct-stub