March 2026.
The Columbus Museum of Art at The Pizzuti (The Pizzuti for brevity) is an auxiliary location of the Columbus Museum of Art. Located in Victorian Village, it was the former home of the United Commercial Travelers.
The Pizzuti is located at 632 North Park Street in the Victorian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Russell Street to the north, Millay Alley and the former Zanerian College of Penmanship to the south, a parking garage and the Short North Historic District to the east, and Park Street and Goodale Park to the west.
History
The Dennison-Peters House, UCT Supreme Council’s former home. (All Columbus Data)
What is now The Pizzuti was built as the national headquarters of the Order of United Commercial Travelers, an organization of traveling salesmen that also served as a secret society (similar to the Freemasons/Knights of Pythias). It was founded in 1888 by six men who met at the Neil House downtown. The organization was meant to financially assist members and their families, but it also aspired to become an order of “traveler’s masonry.” Their leadership was known as the “Supreme Council,” which as of 1903 was housed in an Italianate mansion known as the Dennison-Peters House. It was built in 1873 and later occupied by William Dennison Jr., Ohio’s 24th governor, and George Merion Peters of the Columbus Buggy Company and Peters Dash Company.
A historic postcard of the present building. (Columbus Dispatch)
The current Beaux-Arts building was built in 1923 (according to the 1921-1961 Sanborn map) and first occupied by the Supreme Council in 1924, which entailed the demolition of the Dennison-Peters House. Something that is odd to me, which no sources address, is the extensive presence of UCT in the area. Before this building was completed, it seems that the UCT itself met in a nearby YMCA on Goodale Street (demolished) beginning in 1911. I am also aware that they used the John Sater/Freshwater House on Buttles Avenue for various meetings and events, and they also owned the Circus House for a time. Why this organization needed so many houses and meeting places is unclear.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as part of the Near Northside Historic District. UCT moved to Grandview Heights and ceased using the building in 2008, and it was acquired by the Pizzuti family, who own a local real estate company. The Pizzutis have collected contemporary art since 1977 and renovated the building for gallery use, which was completed in 2013. This involved a demolition of a portion of the building for a parking garage. The museum and part of the collection were donated to the Columbus Museum of Art in 2018. It is now known as the Columbus Museum of Art at the Pizzuti. The museum’s roof is currently being replaced and will be completed in spring 2027.
Photos
An oblique view of the building today:
It has a simple tripartite composition with a large central module flanked by two smaller units. The exterior is clad in masonry, most likely limestone.
The symmetry, materiality, and ornamentation are all indicative of Beaux-Arts architecture. There isn’t much classically-inspired work in the Goodale Park area--most are older Victorian houses or newer Commercial buildings on High Street.
The briefcase--a traveling salesman’s best friend--is centered on the UCT’s seal:
Doubled Corinthian pilasters and a cornice above:
From the corner of Russell and Park:
The northern wing is both a story lower and one bay shorter:
What remains of the brick eastern wing, which has largely been demolished for the present parking garage:
This one was a bit of a nothing burger. I had intended to just put it in one of the Goodale Park posts (most likely part 2), but it passed my photo quantity threshold that qualifies things for their own post, and that was a large article already. I also didn’t expect there to be so little history about the building or UCT after some cursory digging. (Again, I typically find it hard to justify hours of extensive research on buildings like this one when I have 10,000+ photos awaiting processing.)
Sources:
https://www.artandobject.com/articles/pizzuti-art-collection-showcases-visions-india
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988521
https://www.columbusmuseum.org/the-pizzuti
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/22403/
https://www.uct.org/about-us/uct-history/
https://allcolumbusdata.com/short-north-historic-buildings/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/postcard/id/8230/
https://www.columbusmonthly.com/story/news/2014/02/06/game-changer/22778786007/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/columbusmaps/id/4891/rec/8
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g06656192101/?sp=82&st=image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzuti_Collection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_United_Commercial_Travelers_of_America
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