Rhodes Tower renovation completed, under budget and just in time

The largest state renovation project in a generation has wrapped up, $5 million under budget and a few hours before deadline.

Workers finished the nearly four-year renovation of the 43-story Rhodes Tower on Dec. 21, a few hours before its scheduled completion. The final cost came in just under $65 million, less than the $70 million budgeted, said Ned Thiell, who managed the project for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.  

On Thursday, the commission celebrated the completion at the 1.2-million-square-foot East Broad Street building, which opened in 1974 and remains the tallest building in Columbus.

“It’s really exciting to be able to talk about this true success story, taking a building that’s a high-rise iconic symbol of Downtown Columbus and really modernizing it,” said Cheryl Lyman, executive director of the commission, which oversees state construction projects.

The project was the largest renovation of a state building since the $120 million statehouse renovation, completed in 1996.

For Downtown workers, the Rhodes Tower renovation seemed like the project that would never end.

While the official start of the project was Oct. 1, 2018, scaffolding was erected around the building almost a year earlier, making the construction impossible to avoid for pedestrians on Broad, Pearl and Lynn streets. With the removal of the scaffolding last summer, the project’s end appeared in sight.

For some Pearl and Lynn street restaurants, the construction was more than an eyesore. They said the scaffolding damaged their businesses.

The renovation involved two main parts: replacing the building’s 3,144 windows and replacing the anchors that held the building’s 13,108 granite panels, some of which had cracked and chipped. (By the end, 204 panels had to be replaced altogether.) In addition, insulation and a vapor barrier were installed during the renovation.