When Columbus was founded, the only planned green spaces downtown were around the Ohio Statehouse and in front of the
Carnegie Library. The 1908 Columbus Plan recommended more green spaces, public promenades, and beautification. The plan urged the removal of the numerous factories, coal yards, boarding houses, and tenements stretching along the riverfront downtown. The city's prison, storage facilities, and a junk shop were also located on the riverfront there. Overall, about two dozen buildings deposited untreated sewage directly into the Scioto and
Olentangy rivers between
Clintonville and the
South Side. The cleanup was urged to present a positive view of the city for travelers on the
National Road entering Columbus from the west. Following a local version of the
City Beautiful movement, the Columbus Plan first envisioned a riverfront civic center in 1908. The plan aimed to visually unite both banks of the river along with the nearby
Capitol Square, and build classically inspired yet simple buildings, surrounded by open spaces, parks, and parkways. Development was slow, though the
Great Flood of 1913 in Columbus dramatically affected the area, destroying many riverfront buildings and both of its bridges. It gave the city the opportunity to redevelop the riverfront into its planned civic center, though with added flood control - a retaining wall and low head dam. The civic center layout was expanded to two to three times its original size. From 1917 to 1922, the Broad Street and Town Street Bridges, parallel
Neoclassical structures, were built, along with the still-intact retaining wall between the bridges. The site's government buildings were built next, between 1926 and 1934. Other government buildings, offices, and museums have been built in the civic center in years since. ==Gallery==