Ruling Halts Work on Glass Addition to 1904 Building at Denison U.

An Ohio judge has stalled renovations to a 1904 gymnasium at Denison University after critics argued that local zoning laws prohibit adding a sleek new glass cube planned for one side of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The zoning laws require buildings within a specified Architectural Review Overlay District to be “stylistically compatible with other new, renovated and old structures” in the district.

One of the chief critics is Jack Thornborough, who writes Jack Thornborough’s GranvilleBlog. He told The Denisonian that downtown Granville, where the university is located, is “like a museum.”

“It doesn’t matter how beautiful the building is, you can’t put a Manhattan-like building in the middle of Granville,” he said.

The $14-million renovation of the old gym, Cleveland Hall, was planned by Beyer Blinder Bell Architects and Planners. The red-brick building, now home to art and art-history courses, was originally designed by Richards, McCarty and Bulford, of Columbus, Ohio, in what the college refers to as a “Jeffersonian Federal Revival” style.

The renovation is already well under way. The university will continue with parts of the project not covered by the judge’s ruling.