Proposal
from The Druker Company
Commitment to Community Involvement
Outreach
to Date
An illustration of this commitment to seeking advice and listening is
the basic approach which we took in preparing this development proposal.
Before the architects commenced work on our design, we recognized the
need to spend the necessary time to meet with students (both undergraduate
and graduate), university and government officials, University District
and community group representatives, High Street merchants, numerous housing
and job training professionals and other community residents and business
people. We did so to understand the community and the role that University
Gateway Center can play in contributing to the many community improvement
efforts, which are ongoing.
Also, recognizing the particular opportunity of this development to respond to the needs of undergraduate, graduate and professional students of The Ohio State University, in October of last year we engaged Blackwell Associates, Inc., a Columbus-based market research firm headed by Roger Blackwell, Professor of Marketing at the Fischer College of Business, to sample student opinion concerning what students wished to see in the University Gateway Center development. Surveys of 400 students were conducted, a summary of the results of which appear as Appendix B to this proposal.
In addition, shortly thereafter The Druker Company and Blackwell Associates
conducted a focus group of thirteen undergraduate and graduate students,
including representation of international and minority students. This
discussion, together with the results of our many meetings in Columbus
and the survey results, helped mold the proposed development plan for
this proposal. In like fashion, the forums and open houses held in Columbus
in mid-January served to reinforce many of the impressions previously
formed. We would endorse this kind of interaction moving forward, as well.
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