The structures, built for state offices in the 1960s, are situated immediately north and south of the Ohio Judicial Center.

Architects for the building were Bellman, Gillett & Richards; Potter, Tyler, Martin & Roth; and Tully & Hobbs.

By April of that year, the Ohio Department of Education was looking for a new headquarters, and eventually chose the building, which it still occupies today.

[1] Renovation plans were announced in August 2022, to create a mixed-use project called The Civic (named for its governmental use and institutional design).

The project would add 94 apartment units, 47,000 square feet of office space, a 4,000-square-foot café on the first floor, and a pool above an entrance to underground parking.

The café is proposed to span from Front Street to Civic Center Drive, helping to activate the latter to pedestrians.