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 Terminal Tower Building - Cleveland, OH Posted by:  Rayman
N 41° 29.920 W 081° 41.617
17T E 442107 N 4594348
Terminal Tower is one of the anchor buildings on Public Square in downtown Cleveland. It was once the city's tallest building.
Waymark Code: WM4A5X
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 07/28/2008
Views: 86
The following is from The Ohio Guide in the Cleveland points of interest section:
The TERMINAL TOWER BUILDING (observation floor open 9-5:30 weekdays, 12-4 Sun., adm. 25c), SW. corner of Public Square, 52 stories high, stands 708 feet above concourse level and is Ohio's tallest building. With the railroad station beneath, it was constructed at a cost of $119,000,000 as a monument to the railroad-building and financial success of Cleveland's Van Sweringen brothers and was opened January 26, 1930. Adjoining the Terminal Tower Building on the east is a large department store; a hotel forms the north wing, and to the south on Prospect Avenue are three office buildings, all units of the development. Built to tie in with the terminal project and regarded as a part of the group, the new United States Post Office on Prospect Avenue connects directly with the terminal facilities. All of the buildings, except the hotel which was erected several years prior to construction of the terminal group proper, and the post office have limestone exteriors. Architecture of the office buildings, the department store, and the lower part of the tower building is modern, relatively free from suggestion of any historical period or style. The tower itself, following no particular architectural form, appears extremely ornate above the simplicity of the lower portion of the building. It is 98 feet square to the 37th floor, where it assumes a polygonal form with buttresses as far as the 39th floor; there, with a series of encircling turrets, it becomes cylindrical before culminating in a cone surmounted with a flagpole. At night floodlights illuminate the tower above the 34th floor.
Seven great arches embellished by free-standing columns of Indiana limestone form the Public Square entrance to the building. From the high vaulted portico within, broad ramps descend to the ticket lobby and main concourse of the railroad station. The floor of the portico is Tennessee marble, and the walls are Botticine marble. Seven paintings by Jules Guerin depicting industry, transportation, and commerce adorn the ceiling. Walls of the concourse are Botticine marble with high fluted columns. The tremendous weight of the building is supported by a caisson foundation that extends 200 feet to bedrock. Architects were Graham, Anderson, Probst & White of Chicago.
The physical description given by the Guide is, for the most part, a pretty accurate representation of how the building still stands today. The exterior of the tower has been undergoing extensive renovations for the past year and should look excellent when finished. The tower still contains office space, however the observation tower has been closed since the terrorist attacks of September 11. Train service no longer continues to Terminal Tower, but the lower level is the main hub for Cleveland's rapid transit system which provides service to the suburbs and within downtown. The side that faces Prospect Ave, and now continues underneath the street, is occupied by the Tower City Mall and contains a Hard Rock Cafe. There are now two hotels, the Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance Hotel, that is part of the complex.
The entire complex of buildings is quite impressive and occupies a lot of area. It's worth the time to take a walk inside the tower, the mall concourse, and outside to see the details and great architecture throughout.
Book: Ohio
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 229-230
Year Originally Published: 1940
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