Toledo Design Center

"Promoting Design and Planning Excellence."

What is the TDC?

The Toledo Design Center (TDC) is a public advocate that promotes design and planning excellence. This "mission" is accomplished by exploring, assisting, and supporting opportunities for urban and community growth and revitalization through preservation, renovation, and adaptive reuse of existing structures and developments and by adding compatible new structures and developments.

Appropriate streetscaping, landscaping, lighting, graphics, and signage also helps to enhance open and public spaces. This exploration, assistance, and support leads to creating a beautiful and livable community that helps to assure a high quality of life and sustainable positive growth.

Education is one of he primary components of the TDC. Working together with educational institutions -- such as The University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, or the Toledo Public School -- and also consulting with government agencies, architects, planners, developers, contractors, and others; the TDC hopes to instill an awareness of the importance of design and planning excellence throughout the community.

Programs and Activities

• Design/Planning Education and Mentoring
  • Assist/critique public, private, and student design/planning projects.
  • Urban studio for students pursuing design/planning degrees.
  • A location for various presentations and mentoring/charette activities.

• Design Review Program
  • Assist Toledo Plan Commission with implementing design, planning, and code standards by reviewing and providing input on various projects to help expedite the approval process.

• Facade Improvement Program
  • Assist City of Toledo providing low-cost, quality design concept services to help owners and the city improve public building facades.

• Main Street Program
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation Main Street Program.
  • Assist in revitalizing/stabilizing local neighborhood business districts.

• TOADS Program
  • Temporarily Obsolete, Abandoned, Derelict Structures/Sites (TOADS) throughout the City are identified and provided a design "kiss."
  • Program strives to motivate owners and developers to redevelop structures by pointing out the design potential of various buildings/sites.

Governing Board and Staff

The TDC, a recognized not for profit corporation, is overseen by a Governing Board consisting of professionals representing the design community. The TDC is staffed with various unpaid volunteers -- professional/retired architects, landscape architects, planners, and "loaned" design professionals, landscape architects and planners from local design firms.

These and other volunteers, along with students and faculty from local universities/colleges, work together on various activities and programs that help further the mission of the TDC.

Who is served?

• Toledo Government Agencies

• Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions

• Non-profit organizations, such as neighborhood community development corporations

• Businesses, developers, contractors, and real estate professionals in the Toledo area

• University and college design and planning programs

• High school and elementary school design and planning awareness programs

• Community design and planning awareness programs

Location

The Center is located in a convenient and high pedestrian area of Downtown Toledo and provides ample studio and exhibition space. It is within close proximity to the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions, Government Center, the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, and the offices of the Downtown Toledo Improvement District.

Contact info

• Mailing address: Toledo Design Center, P.O. Box 1354, Toledo, OH 43603

• Street address: 322 N. Huron Street, Toledo, OH 43604

• E-mail: tdc@accesstoledo.com

• Phone: 419-242-9129

• Fax: 419-242-9130