Throughout the years, Columbus has torn down some truly iconic buildings.
One of the most interesting of these lost icons is the Christopher Inn. After the Alfred Kelley mansion was demolished in 1961, the Christopher Inn sprung up in its place at 300 E. Broad. The hotel opened on July 29, 1963, and it became a nearly instant icon.
The unique cylindrical exterior of the hotel and the mid-century modern decor was luxurious and very trendy. Each room had floor-to-ceiling glass walls with panoramic views of Columbus. The hotel had 16 floors, 137 pie-slice rooms, and a heated pool.
After just 20 years, the hotel was facing a variety of problems. The size of the hotel wasn’t accommodating the larger crowds that Columbus was drawing in. The hotel went into foreclosure and was sold in February 1988.
Two months after the sale, the hotel was demolished and turned into a parking lot.
In January 2020, Columbus Business First reported that a former Karlsberger & Associates employee had hopes to rebuild the iconic hotel. Clyde Gosnell, who was the lead architect on the project in the 1960s, was putting together drawings to recreate it, though incorporating modern technology.
It would have been really amazing to see this hotel reach it’s original design potential. Having our very own Space Needle would have been kind of wild!
Imagine if the full plans for the Christopher Inn had been realized. Columbus could have had its own space needle.
From the Columbus Citizen Journal, 1972 (colorized) pic.twitter.com/WvEb2GYd1K
— Cycle Cbus (@CycleCbus) March 25, 2023
Here’s hope that the next time someone builds the Christopher Inn, it lasts a lot longer than 25 years.