Acting Dean's Welcome
End of the Cinder Block Era
The College of Optometry has constantly been under one form of construction or another since 2015, when a remodel of the first floor of Fry Hall provided a modern aesthetic in the renovated spaces for the Low Vision and Binocular Vision and Pediatrics Services. Since then, the College of Optometry underwent an enabling project to allow a complete remodel of the Fry Bridge, the two-story art deco building that extended from Fry Hall to Starling-Loving A Wing. As that project neared completion and the remodel of the Fry Bridge was nearing kick off, the university established a new plan that included demolition of Fry Bridge and Starling-Loving A Wing to create the interdisciplinary health sciences center that would eventually unite Fry Hall with Hamilton Hall on Neil Avenue. In order to accommodate those losses, the sixth floor of Fry Hall was reimagined as an administrative floor, new conference rooms were created on the fourth and fifth floors of Fry Hall, and the new first floor was converted to clinical research space.
The biggest change, though, was a new building at the corner of 11th and Neil to house all of our clinical operations, including faculty and staff offices. The building was completed near the end of 2020 and provided our students, staff, faculty, and patients with a clean, modern look that was planned – for the first time in the history of the College – with optometric patient care and education in mind. When the new interdisciplinary health sciences center was complete, it included two dedicated classrooms and two laboratory spaces for our students’ use. This enabled the final phases of construction to begin this year, with faculty and graduate student offices in the basement, and expansion and modernization of the basic science laboratories on 3 Fry. To begin 2025, a new laboratory classroom will be opened in the basement, a new lasers and procedures lab will be opened on the second floor of Fry Hall, and the binocular indirect simulators will finally have a permanent home also on the second floor of Fry.
There are no more cinder block, institutional-appearing long hallways in Fry Hall. Everything is now updated to a bright, modern look and will soon have the College of Optometry vibe that can be viewed throughout. Our physical facilities are finally indicative of the culture of leadership and enthusiastic participation that has long been a part of The Ohio State University College of Optometry.
Come for a visit in 2025. You’ll need a tour because much has changed, but we are so happy to showcase our new facilities and reminisce about OUR storied past.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Walline (OD, MS’98, PhD’02)
Acting Dean
