Spaghetti Warehouse building - Columbus

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The Spaghetti Warehouse building, originally the Crystal Ice Manufacturing Co. building, is a historic structure in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The building was constructed in 1891, serving the Crystal Ice Co. and its successors until 1977. Late in that year, the Old Spaghetti Warehouse, a restaurant chain based in Dallas, announced it would renovate the building and open a restaurant within. The restaurant, today known simply as Spaghetti Warehouse, operated in the building from 1978 to 2022. After a portion of the building's roof collapsed in 2022, the restaurant closed, reopening on High Street in Downtown Columbus about 20 months later. In January 2024, developers working with the restaurant group announced plans to demolish the building and replace it with a new structure, potentially moving the restaurant back into the new building.

Site and structure

The building in 2019

The building is located at 397 West Broad Street near the Scioto Peninsula. It sits in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, near its downtown. For a portion of its history, the building was partially obscured from Broad Street, as the Macklin Hotel was situated to the north, from c. 1905 to 1955.

The building, as first built, measured 230 by 131 feet, four stories in height, and with a 120-foot-tall smokestack. The building was designed by John Flynn, an architect most known for designing Columbus's early 1890s fire stations. These included Engine House No. 1, 5, 6, and 13, and potentially others. Engine House 5 and Engine House 6 are still extant, although no longer seeing fire service. Engine House No. 1 was the headquarters of the fire department, downtown at Long and Front.

The restaurant operated for 44 years in the space. It had 45,000 square feet and could seat 700 or 800 guests, making it the largest restaurant in the company with the highest sales.

History

Illustration from 1897

The building was constructed for the Crystal Ice Manufacturing Company, an early manufacturer of ice (by 1914 or earlier, the company diversified to additionally sell water and soft drinks). The company was founded in 1891 as a joint venture between Joseph and Bill Bott and J.F. Cannon. The Bott brothers were known for their Bott Bros. saloon, first established in the Brunson Building before moving to the Columbia-Larrimer Building. Their saloon is now operated as the Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus bar and restaurant.

1914 Illustration

In the late 1800s, when the brothers came to Columbus, ice was still being harvested from rivers and streams in winter. From February to September, 1891, the company built the factory and warehouse building. The structure could manufacture 250 lbs. of ice per day, with storage for 100,000 tons more. It was the largest facility of its type at its opening.

In 1904, the company was awarded a contract to supply Columbus public schools with water, and drilled new wells at the Douglas, Mound Street, Avondale, and Hubbard Street schools, adding to wells at the Highland and Medary Avenue schools.

Ice would typically be distributed by wagons, but, in 1914, news reported the company established a “flying squadron” of motorcycles to answer urgent requests for ice; carrying 50-100 lbs. of ice each. By 1916, the company innovated in establishing “ice supply stations” to sell ice at a discounted rate to customers, as delivery cost would not apply; customers would have to haul it away themselves. By 1920, the company operated stores called “White Stores” across the city to sell ice year-round, with about 12,000 lbs. kept for over the summer

In 1918, an ice storage plant was constructed adjoining the building, while in 1927, a two-story portion of the structure was demolished while preparing to build an oil station on the site.

Company logo, 1897In 1923, the company merged with others in Columbus which then merged into the City Ice & Fuel Co. of Cleveland and Cincinnati. In 1953 the building or business again changed hands, to the City Products Corporation. The building was operated for manufacturing ice into the 1970s, lastly as City Products Corporation. It became vacant in mid-1977 and was sold that year. In November 1977, the Old Spaghetti Warehouse was announced to open in the building. The Dallas restaurant corporation had four restaurants in Texas at the time.

In Jan 1978, during renovations to open the restaurant, the company knocked a hole in the wall to fit the old trolley car into the space, brought in from San Francisco. On April 25, 1978 the Spaghetti Warehouse was set to open in the space. In 1979, Nancy Recchie cited the restaurant as an exemplary form of adaptive reuse in an unlikely space. The “successful formula” became used in Spaghetti Warehouse locations in Texas.

In March 2022, a portion of the building's roof collapsed, leading to the restaurant's prompt closure. In November 2023, it auctioned off about 130 of its antiques and reopened in Downtown Columbus, on South High Street near Columbus Commons. The new space was smaller, with 8,000 square feet and seating for 300 people.

In 2024, the restaurant owners and the Robert Weiler Company, a local developer, announced plans to demolish the building and replace it with a 15-story structure, incorporating 534 apartments, 577 parking spaces, and 15,000 square feet of retail/commercial space. The new building was reported to potentially house the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant, while the Downtown location would become Warehouse 72, part of the Bistro 72 chain owned by the restaurant group. This idea was walked back after a few days, and the company reaffirmed its commitment to the Downtown location. The Franklinton space, between the new Gravity and Peninsula developments, is seen as a space "ripe for development", though preservationists including the Columbus Landmarks Foundation have spoken out about the building's importance.