| Terminal Tower | |
|---|---|
 View of Terminal Tower from the Cuyahoga River | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Location | 50 Public Square Cleveland, Ohio |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 41°29′54″N 81°41′38″W / 41.49833°N 81.69389°W |
| Construction started | 1926 |
| Completed | 1927 |
| Opening | June 28, 1930 |
| Cost | $179 million |
| Owner | K&D Management, LLC |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 235 m (771 ft) |
| Roof | 216 m (709 ft) |
| Top floor | 52 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 577,000 sq ft (53,600 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Graham, Anderson, Probst & White |
| Developer | Van Sweringen brothers |
| Structural engineer | Henry Jouett |
| Other information | |
| Public transit access |  Tower City |
| Website | |
| www | |
| References | |
| [1][2][3][4] | |
.png)
Terminal Tower is a 52-story, 235 m (771 ft), landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the second-tallest building in the world when it was completed. Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America outside of New York City from its completion in 1927 until 1964.[5] It was the tallest building in the state of Ohio until the completion of Key Tower in 1991, and remains the second-tallest building in the state.[5] The building is part of the Tower City Center mixed-use development, and its major tenants include Forest City Enterprises, which maintained its corporate headquarters there until 2018, and Riverside Company.[6]
The tower, owned by Forest City Realty Trust since 1983, was purchased by Cleveland's K&D Group on September 15, 2016 for $38.5 million. K&D added a mixed-use element to the building, converting 11 of the lower, larger floors to residential use, with 293 one and two bedroom apartments. Many other historic downtown buildings are undergoing similar conversions. The largest privately held owner/manager of apartment buildings in the area, K&D maintains the tower's upper floors as office spaces.[7]
Built for $179 million by the Van Sweringen brothers, the tower was to serve as an office building atop the city's new rail station, the Cleveland Union Terminal. Originally planned to be 14 stories, the structure was expanded to 52 floors with a height of 708 feet (216 m). It rests on 280-foot (85 m) caissons. Designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the tower was modeled after the Beaux-Arts New York Municipal Building by McKim, Mead, and White. The Terminal Tower was completed in 1927 and opened for tenants in 1928, though the Union Terminal complex wasn't dedicated until 1930.
It remained the tallest building in the world outside of New York City until the completion of the main building of Moscow State University in Moscow in 1953; it was the tallest building in North America outside of New York until the Prudential Center in Boston was completed in 1964.
In the late 1960s through 1980s, radio station WCLV-FM (Cleveland's fine arts station) maintained studios on the 15th floor. The transmitter was on the 43rd floor with transmission line running up the outside of the building to the antenna assembly attached to the flagpole atop the building. In the tiny cupola, which is technically the 52nd floor, there was equipment for the antenna heaters and a small telephone.
Radio station WHK placed antennas on the building to increase the range of its 1420 kHz signal.
In the 1980s, developers sought approval to make their proposed BP Building taller than the Terminal Tower, but city officials forced them to scale it down. The Terminal Tower remained the tallest building in Ohio until the 1991 completion of Society Center, now Key Tower.
On a clear day, visitors on the observation deck can see 30 miles (48 km) from downtown Cleveland.[8]
After a 1976 incident involving a man with a gun,[9] direct access to the floor was removed. The observation deck reopened after Chessie left the building.[citation needed]
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the observation deck was again closed to the public. In 2007, a proposal was brought to Forest City to reopen the deck. The proposal included a renovation of the deck and the addition of an express elevator to take visitors to it. This was to be done after the upper floors were renovated and the scaffolding removed. In 2010, Forest City Enterprises finished renovating the complex's elevators, upper floors, and spire. The observation deck reopened on July 10, 2010[10][11] for a limited period, with plans to expand public access.[12][13]
To reach the observation deck, visitors take the elevator to the 32nd floor and then transfer to another elevator to reach the 42nd floor. Before its original closure, the deck was open only on weekends to prevent disruption to the law firm that has offices on the 32nd floor.
The Terminal Tower was lit when it opened in 1930. A strobe light on top of the tower rotated 360 degrees. It helped ships in Cleveland's port and airplane pilots landing at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The external spotlights that lit the tower at night were turned off as a safety measure at the beginning of World War II. They were not turned on again until September 22, 1974. They were relit on the same day that the annual Greater Cleveland United Torch Drive (a precursor to the United Way) began. Lights were installed on the 44th, 48th, and 52nd floors.[14] In the 1960s, the strobe was retired and replaced with conventional aircraft warning lights. The tower only once went dark, during the 2003 blackout.
Today, the tower's external lights include 508 LEDs that can be configured into various color schemes, such as red and green during the Christmas season and red, white, and blue for various federal holidays.[15][16]
Many Cleveland social and medical groups light Terminal Tower for their causes. In February, Terminal Tower is red for the American Heart Association Go Red for Women campaign, and pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. Some of Cleveland's ethnic groups have had the Terminal Tower lit in their traditional colors, such as green on Saint Patrick's Day. On Polish Constitution Day, usually May 3, Cleveland's Pol-Am community lights the tower in white and red (Polish flag colors), and the tower goes red, green, and white (Italian flag colors) for Columbus Day.
Terminal Tower also sports the colors of the various sports teams in town, such as red, white, and blue for the Cleveland Guardians, orange and brown for the Cleveland Browns, and wine and gold for the Cleveland Cavaliers.[17] During the 2014 Gay Games, the tower was lit in a rainbow pattern (representing the gay pride flag).[18] In January 2015, Terminal Tower was lit in scarlet and gray in support of the Ohio State Buckeyes during the football team's National Championship run as Cleveland has a large OSU fan and alumni base.[19]
Terminal Tower was lit in teal blue on Friday, May 15, in honor of the Class of 2020 Cuyahoga Community College graduates.[20] The Tower was lit with blue and yellow in support of Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[21]
