The Center includes state archives and library spaces, a gift shop, and administrative and educational facilities.

The museum site is wide and open, with the free-standing structure appearing as a monument in its center.

[3] The building is in the Brutalist architecture style, featuring a monumental scale, exposed concrete (béton brut), and simple use of other materials.

Other materials used include Ohio-made silo tiles, dark-stained oak, terrazzo, and glass.

The plan utilized platforms and sunken spaces, allowing objects to be displayed without cases.

[3] The building overall was designed to sandwich together the society's multiple functions previously held in separate locations.

It was also designed to circulate guests efficiently, with school groups entering from the west at a school bus drop-off area and exiting the east side, and general visitors entering the east side by parking lots, though the main entrance has since been relocated.

[3] The first-floor roof appears as a raised podium, largely grass-covered, and mounded over the building's auditorium and offices.

The society began hosting the state archives at the Old Governor's Mansion on Broad Street in the 1950s.

In 1964, Governor Jim Rhodes proposed $290 million for state projects, including a new historical center.