What's the building along 1-71 under construction near Ohio History Connection?
What's that building going up along Interstate 71 on the the Ohio History Connection grounds?
It's the private nonprofit history organization's latest facility for storing over half the volume of more than 1.8 million items related to Ohio history.
The new Collection Care Center, which will feature 16,500 square feet of storage space and 12,800 square feet of office and work space, will be located on the northeast part of Ohio History Center's campus at 800 E. 17th Ave. on Columbus' North Side, adjacent to I-71, The Dispatch previously reported.
The new $17 million facility will house historical artifacts for the history museum and research center, will be climate and humidity-controlled, and offer other modern solutions to storage of historical artifacts. Over half the volume of the collection, including the natural history collection and many of the items from other history collections.
Construction began last year and is expected to be completed by spring of 2024, according to Ohio History Connection spokesperson Neil Thompson. The collection items will be moved after construction is completed.
The Ohio History Connection, formerly the Ohio Historical Society, is a statewide history organization tasked under the Ohio Revised Code with preserving and maintaining Ohio history. The organization received the financing for the collection center project through state appropriations going back to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s administration and as recently as last year.
New building: Ohio History Connection breaks ground on $17 million artifacts storage facility
Most of the Ohio History Connection’s collections of historical artifacts are currently being stored at several warehouses at an unpublicized location to avoid risks of theft or vandalism.
Thompson previously told The Dispatch the Ohio History Connection has been using the warehouses for many years, and they create limitations that the new facility aims to solve by storing Ohio historical material in with such things as high-end climate controls.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: $17 million Ohio History Connection facility going up along 1-71
