Campus Re-Christening: New Names For UC s New Face

Safety first.  That’s one of the main motivations behind the overhaul of campus addresses, building names and street names – changes that will be most visible in new names for long-standing buildings.

We’ve had a massive redevelopment on campus:  building implosions, new construction and pedestrian and vehicular-pathway changes.  The remake of campus via the university’s Master Plan has meant that city police, fire and other emergency-response records for campus have gradually become outdated over the last ten years.

City officials and university planners, architects and public-safety personnel have agreed on new street and building names on campus to ensure that local fire, police and other emergency-response units will know, without question, the specific destination in the event of a medical emergency, fire or other crisis.

The re-christening of campus spaces is also designed to coordinate street and building names as much as possible, according to Lucy Cossentino, senior environmental graphic designer in the UC architect’s office.  “For instance, Brodie Garage will be renamed Clifton Court Garage because its access is from Clifton Court, formerly called College Court.  The drive accessing Langsam Garage is called Woodside; therefore, the new name of that garage will be Woodside Drive Garage.  It simply makes sense for the street and building names to match, allowing visitors, students and parents an intuitive way to navigate campus,” she said, adding that all changes had to be coordinated with the city so that campus addresses wouldn’t conflict with identical or very similar names already extant in nearby neighborhoods.

Campus street names will similarly be rechristened and new pathways will be added as construction continues.  Following is a listing of street name changes:

Newly Named or Re-Named Pedestrian and Vehicle Pathways

• Backstage Drive will be the new name for the service drive that extends north from Corbett Drive, passing in front of the base of Blegen Library and continuing to the back of Dyer Hall and half-encircling CCM.

• Bearcat Way will extend north from CCM Plaza and intersect UC MainStreet. 

• The two single-lane drives extending between Corry Boulevard and CCM Plaza will be renamed CCM Boulevard.

• Campus Drive, running south from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, between the former Langsam Library Garage and the former CBA Garage, will become Woodside Drive and will connect to UC MainStreet in front of the under-construction recreation center.  Eastern portions of Campus Drive will become Campus Way.

• Campus Green Drive will also run south from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and will half encircle the College of Business before connecting to Woodside Drive.

• Champions Avenue will extend north from Corry Boulevard to West Charlton Street, providing access to the adjacent baseball field.

• College Court in front of DAAP will be renamed Clifton Court.

• College Drive will extend east from Clifton Court, running between Rieveschl and Zimmer halls.

• UC MainStreet is the thoroughfare extending from McMicken Circle in front of University Pavilion, connecting McMicken Commons with Bearcat Plaza, Sigma Sigma Commons and Campus Green, ending at Woodside Drive.

• The drive extending north from the MarketPointe at Siddall facility toward CCM Plaza will be renamed Varsity Village Drive.  It will continue across Corry Boulevard and extend to the east side of Nippert Stadium.  Dever Varsity Village Garage and the new Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility will both have access from Varsity Village Drive.

• O' Varsity Way will extend north from Corry Boulevard, providing access to the under-construction Richard E. Lindner Athletic Center, tennis courts and athletic lawn.

• Scioto Street, behind French Hall-West, will be renamed Commons Way between University Avenue and Daniels Street.

• West Daniels Street will extend itself further west to provide access between Dabney Hall and French Hall-West.

In some cases, building names and their official addresses are changing in line with campus and city needs in regard to safety.  In other cases, only the numbered address of a building is changing because of safety and Master Plan needs. 

Below is a list of West Campus building and address changes now in effect.  Further below are East Campus changes. 

East campus street, building and address changes are as follows:

• Levine Drive will extend south from Albert Sabin Way, running between Logan Hall and Levine Park.

• The entrance drive from Goodman Drive to Kingsgate Garage will be renamed Kingsgate Circle.

Campus maps with all of these changes will be available midway through fall quarter by contacting Lucy Cossentino of UC’s Architects Office at lucy.cossentino@uc.edu