After 57 years, the Golden Bear Center is being torn down to make way for a new development that will be taking place on the property. This new development has displaced several prominent local businesses.
One such business was Colin’s Coffee, a local coffee shop run by Colin Gawel. Gawel is a UA local and musician who began working there in 1996 when the business was called Brewster’s Coffee.
“I’m in a band called Watershed and we would tour a lot,” Gawel said. “ When I came home I always worked at the coffee shop.”
In 2006, Gawel became the owner of the shop and changed its name to Colin’s Coffee. After 17 years, it has become a community staple.
Even though the doors are closing, customers will soon be able to enjoy some morning joe and a lively conversation at a new location. Plans are underway for the business to begin sharing space with the Daily Growler across the street from the previous location.
“A lot of coffee and bars, they share space,” Gawel said. “That’s what we’re planning, it’s not 100 percent, but it’s looking real good.”
Gawel also says that he expects all employees who want to will be able to transfer to the new location.
“We’re hoping anyone who wants to will have shifts and hours,” Gawel said.
Another local business that has been displaced by the new development is Figlio Wood Fired Pizza, a small Italian restaurant chain started by Peter and Laurie Danis. They opened their first Figlio restaurant in Grandview 33 years ago, and their UA location followed five years later. They too say they’re making plans to relocate.
“We have been casually looking for other locations, some of which are in Arlington but others in other communities,” Danis said. “We have no timeline in mind for opening another store, but we have stored in a storage facility much of our equipment that we can then access and utilize in another location if we find one that fits our criteria.”
All of Danis’s employees who wanted to continue working with Figlio have been transferred to their Grandview and Dayton locations.
The old building at Golden Bear Center, which was constructed in 1965, will be torn down and replaced with a new development by Arcadia Development. According to Scott Patton, a representative for Arcadia Development, they plan to build a five-story building with 24,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, 25,000 square feet of office space on the second floor, and 76 luxury apartments spanning the final three floors.
Construction should be complete by the end of summer in 2025. Patton stresses Arcadia’s desire to improve the community and preserve the value of the center to the community.
“It’s gonna be a great improvement,” he said. “There’s a lot of sentimentality to the existing site. The golden bear that everybody’s asking about, it will stay on site. It will be a landmark on that site for many years to come.”
In an old community, buildings getting torn down in the name of progress is extremely common. The way everyone involved has handled the move shows the unity and connectivity within the Upper Arlington community.
“Thankful [for] how great the community’s been to us through all the years,” Gawel said. “Change happens, but everyone’s treating this so well you can’t help but feel amazing.”
