All performances have an end, including Ohio State’s Drake Performing and Event Center.
Demolition on the 50+ year old building is now underway, kicking off a long-anticipated second phase of the Cannon Drive relocation. The project should be finished sometime next year, but today we are looking back on the historic building. Consider this its final encore.
Early days
The university invested $4.5 million to build Drake Union, which opened in 1972. It was supposed to rival the Ohio Union as a hub for student community.
Name game
Buckeye alumni Edward S. Drake is who the building is named after. He’s a certified campus legend, with two student-focused endowments also named in his honor.
Most recently
Before closing, it was where the Department of Theatre operated. It also had a brief stint as a bar in 1999 — Archie’s Alley — but that didn’t last long due to low customer support.
