I third that...the plaza that was just build on the Huron side should do well when those buildings are occupied.  Huron creates a great little corridor (with storefronts) between Gateway and Playhouse Square and with plazas at each end, it represents one of my favorite pieces of urban desing/planning in present day Cleveland!

I'm very unhappy that they want to tear down that building on Euclid.  I think that it could make an awesome conversion to housing or be rehabbed for offices.  I'm sure what we'll get is a goddam parking lot.

Here's an article about San Jose's new 1,700 employee City Hall.  Hopefully the County will be equally ambitious in planning it's new 1,200 employee headquarters at ninth and Euclid. 

 

http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/urban_planning_design/index.html

 

Back to the Future at New City Hall

Is this the city hall of the future? That's what Governing asked back in 2000, when San Jose was planning its new civic center. Well, the place opened a few weeks ago. City employees, formerly scattered about in offices all over town, have finally moved in.

 

 

Five years after seeing this design for the first time, it's grown on me. The complex was designed by Richard Meier, one of today's most well-known starchitects. Meier has lopped the traditional dome off its granite pedestal, and plunked one of glass and steel down in the middle of a sweeping public plaza.

 

That rotunda is primarily a ceremonial space--a grand entry point to the office tower behind it, and to another building off to the right (called "the wing") where the city council chambers are located. The rotunda is where mayors are expected to deliver state of the city addresses, and where, for a price, you can host a wedding or corporate banquet. With front doors that are almost always open to the breeze, the rotunda is also the Grand Central clock of the whole place. "If you want to meet someone at city hall the rotunda is the natural place to meet," says Tom Mannheim, San Jose's public information officer.

 

The 18-story office tower is where 1,700 employees work. The bottom four floors are laid out for customer service functions. Need to pay your water bill or get that building permit: that's where you go. Agencies who get less face-time with the public work out of upper floors; the mayor and city councilors are in the penthouse. The tower also features numerous conference rooms that are open after business hours to neighborhood groups who need places to meet.

 

Technology in the city council chambers allows any pre-sentation, from Power Point to old-fashioned transparencies, to be projected onto large screens that are easy for the public to see. Public seating is stadium-style. Unlike the old council chambers, where members sat high above the audience, here the public sits in the high chair. Citizens speaking at the podium stand exactly at eye level with the council.

 

The civic center has many "green" features. The tower is only  70 feet wide, which allows natural light to come in to offices so that less artificial lighting is needed. A com-bination of sunscreens in the west-facing windows and open-air vents allow natural heating and cooling. San Jose didn't bother to try and get the building "certified" green, however. ("In order to get certified you have to document what you did to the building," Mannheim says. "Documenting that can be expensive.")

 

My favorite feature of this building, though, is that it has no cafeteria. Why do I care about this? Because self-contained cafeterias suck pedestrian life away from city streets and local bus-inesses: you never have to leave the building, so most people don't. San Jose's City Hall resolves that problem in a satisfying way.The building comes with space for street-level retail. The plan is to have three restaurants fill the space: a sit-down restaurant, a deli and a bakery/coffee place. "One of the goals of building a city hall downtown was to revitalize the economy in this part of San Jose," Mannheim says. "Four new restaurants have just opened up, and there are easily another six or seven in the area. And suddenly 1,700 employees have plopped down right in the middle of them."

 

But then again, all I've seen are pictures. We must have some 13th Floor readers working in this place. What's it like? What's your favorite thing about working there? What are the flaws that the architect's press releases and the design magazines forget to mention?

 

Photos: City of San Jose

 

 

I'm now leaning toward the tear down the Ameritrust Complex and rebuild around the Rotunda camp.

Its good to see some movement on this project:

 

County taps project honcho for planned downtown HQ

 

By JAY MILLER

 

Cuyahoga County has taken the first steps to get the ball rolling on its planned $100 million administration building at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.

 

The country commissioners last week approved moving Joyce Burke-Jones — a principal planner with the county planning commission — under the wing of the county administrator and the county’s central services department to be project administrator for the building. Ms. Burke-Jones salary will be $86,000 a year.

 

Also last week, the commissioners gave the go-ahead for the central services department to begin the process of hiring a construction manager.

 

I get the feeling that that this is going to be a very loooong and drawn out project...

Did everyone see this -- Ohio awarded a grant for Ameritrust asbestos removal.

 

 

TAFT ANNOUNCES CLEAN OHIO FUND PROJECTS

More Than $40 Million Awarded To Clean Up Brownfield Sites

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 14, 2005

 

Columbus, OH -- Governor Bob Taft announced more than $40 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grants to 15 brownfield clean-up projects throughout the state. The funding will allow for the reuse of idle commercial and industrial properties and are expected to initially create and retain 2,153 jobs.

 

“The Clean Ohio Fund is preserving green space and farmland, improving outdoor recreation, revitalizing blighted neighborhoods by cleaning up and redeveloping polluted properties and improving the lives of Ohioans,” said Taft. “The Clean Ohio Revitalization Funds awarded today are powerful tools that help communities jumpstart local economic development and improve quality of life for their citizens.”

 

The Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund is one of four competitive funding programs within the $400 million Clean Ohio Fund program, which voters approved in November 2000. The Clean Ohio Council was created to administer the fund, offering grants and loans to local governments and other public entities to clean up brownfields. Members of the Council represent the interests of counties, townships, municipal corporations, business and development entities and statewide environmental advocacy organizations.

 

According to Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson, who also serves as Director of the Ohio Department of Development, which administers the Revitalization Funds, 22 communities across the state submitted applications requesting more than $53 million for clean-up projects. Johnson also serves as Chair of the Clean Ohio Council.

 

“Brownfield redevelopment allows a community to reclaim and improve its lands, making previously developed property viable for new development, new businesses and new jobs,” said Johnson. “I am pleased we are able to provide such important assistance to Ohio’s communities.”

 

The following projects have been awarded Clean Ohio Revitalization Funds, pending State Controlling Board approval:

 

Cincinnati (Millworks Redevelopment) – The City of Cincinnati will receive $3 million to acquire, and perform demolition and remedial activities at, a portion of the former Cincinnati Milacron industrial facility, which was developed in 1911. The Cincinnati Planer Company, the Alvey-Fergeson Company, and the Kirk & Blum Manufacturing Company subsequently used the 15.23-acre site, located at 3120 Forrer Street. The Kirk & Blum Company will purchase a larger, more updated facility within the City of Cincinnati. The property will be redeveloped into retail and commercial space with a 75,000 square-foot Jungle Jim’s Supermarket as an anchor tenant. This project is expected to create 150 jobs.

 

Columbus Regional Airport Authority (Gowdy Field) – The Columbus Regional Airport Authority will receive $3 million to properly close a former unlicensed landfill. The property, located along the Olentangy River, between W. Third Street and Goodale Avenue, was first used as a community garden and ball fields. In the late 1950s the site was mined for material for road construction and the excavations were filled with solid waste. Time Warner’s 160,000 square-foot regional headquarters will be constructed on the site. Gowdy Partners is also planning to construct an additional office building to allow for expansion or additional tenants on the property. This project is expected to create and retain 650 jobs.

 

Cuyahoga County (Ameritrust) – Cuyahoga County will receive $3 million to conduct asbestos abatement in the former Ameritrust complex at 900 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland. The 1.66-acre property contains four buildings including the Rotunda, Prospect, Huron and 1010 Euclid Avenue buildings. The Rotunda opened in 1908 as an office for the Cleveland Trust Company. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and will be preserved during the course of this project. The remaining buildings were used as the Ameritrust Bank headquarters. The site is to be the new County Administration Complex. This project is expected to create 130 jobs.

 

Cuyahoga County (Flats East Bank) – Cuyahoga County will receive $3 million to conduct demolition and remediation activities at the 5.27-acre project site, which includes portions of Old River Road, Front Street and Main Avenue. Since the 1880s, the property was developed for many uses including: coal and coke storage, furniture manufacturing, warehouses, paint, chemical, and oil manufacturing facilities, a metal grinding company, and trucking companies. The property was converted into clubs and restaurants during the 1980s and 1990s and contains two vacant buildings. The County and development partner The Wolstein Group will create a mixed-use neighborhood, which will reconnect residents and visitors to the Cuyahoga River. This project is expected to create 133 units of housing and 440,000 square-feet of office/retail space.

 

Dayton (TechTown) – The City of Dayton will receive $3 million to demolish and remediate a portion of the former GM Harrison Delphi site located along the Mad River at 719 E. Monument Avenue. The City of Dayton is redeveloping this blighted, former General Motors property to become a technology business park close to downtown Dayton. It will include new greenspace, parks and office/industrial spaces. One on-site building will be renovated and reused and the City of Dayton has secured three tenants for the new 44,000 square-foot advanced technology building.

 

Dayton (University of Dayton Riverfront Development) – The City of Dayton will receive $2,540,743 for asbestos abatement, demolition, and soil remediation of 11 acres of property with one vacant office structure. The project property, located at 1300 Patterson Blvd., along the Great Miami River, is part of a 49-acre tract of land historically utilized by National Cash Register primarily for heavy manufacturing purposes. The University of Dayton purchased the property in June 2005 to develop academic, research, and commercial facilities. The University plans to construct a 100,000 square foot mixed-use retail, office, and residential development. This project is expected to create six jobs, and catalyze redevelopment in the area.

 

Gahanna (Bedford I Landfill) – The City of Gahanna will receive $2,999,990 to conduct demolition and remedial activities at the Bedford I Landfill. The 136.8-acre property contains approximately 21 acres of the former Columbus Tile Yard, a brick manufacturing facility; 26.3 acres of undeveloped commercial property; and 81 acres of landfill. The privately operated Bedford I Landfill accepted municipal and industrial waste from the 1970s to 1995. Gahanna has formed partnerships with the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation and Value Recovery Group to redevelop the property. This project is expected to initially create 157 jobs. Gahanna is currently negotiating with companies for build-to-suit developments equating to an additional 1,800 jobs, 400,000 SF, and $56 million in capital investments.

 

Greenville (Corning Glass) – The City of Greenville will receive $2,020,637 to clean up and reuse the property containing the former Corning Glass facility. The site, at 1025 Martin Street, was developed by Corning in 1957 and was the only development on the property. Currently Hughes Supply operates a portion of the facility connected to the former furnace area to be remediated. Once clean and redeveloped, Hughes will expand their business to this portion of the facility adding an additional 100,000 square feet to their current operation. This project is expected to create 30 new jobs and retain 104 jobs.

 

Hamilton (RiversEdge) – The City of Hamilton will receive $3 million to cleanup the former Mercy Hospital site. Developed as a hospital in 1892, the property, at 100 Riverfront Plaza, is currently vacant. The existing facility nearly covers a city block not including the large asphalt parking lot directly adjacent to the Great Miami River. The city and its development partner, Towne Development Group, intend to provide community access and amenities to a waterfront area by constructing 8,000- 12,000 square feet of retail and office/commercial space and 100-120 residential units. This project is expected to create 16 jobs.

 

Jackson County (JISCO) – Jackson County will receive $2,303,775 to acquire, demolish and remediate the former Jackson Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) site located in Jackson. The 56-acre property, near Jisco West and South Streets contained the JISCO furnace that made pig iron for Chrysler from 1900 until 1969. The property is currently vacant and littered with structures in various states of disrepair. US Rail plans to redevelop the property as a locomotive and rail repair facility. This project is expected to create 50 jobs.

 

Lake County (Lakeview Bluffs) – Lake County will receive $3 million to remediate the former Diamond Shamrock coke and cement plant site. The project property consists of 78.349 acres along the Lake Erie shoreline and the Grand River corridor. The property was utilized as an aluminum smelting operation, a pickle liquor transportation and truck repair, and coke manufacturing from 1912 until 1982. The site developer, Hemisphere Corp. will team with IMG to develop the IMG Resort Academies, delivering world-class amateur athletic instruction in all major sports, and a hotel and business conference center. This project, located on Fairport Road in Painesville Township, is expected to create 52 jobs.

 

Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority (Hamilton County Regional Business Park) – The Port Authority will receive $2,882,130 to acquire and conduct remediation and demolition activities at the 27.9-acre property. Roofing material production companies occupied the property for 118 years. The most recent company on the property was Celotex. The property currently contains several vacant buildings. The developer intends to redevelop the site into a business park with office, warehouse, retail, and commercial space. Petro Environmental plans to occupy an existing on-site building. Other planned tenants include ICS Equipment, Napier Truck Driving Training, and Steel Quest. This project, located at 320 S. Anthony Wayne Avenue in Lockland, is expected to create and retain 102 jobs.

 

Sandusky (Bayfront Paper District West) – The City of Sandusky will receive $2,744,267 for acquisition, remediation and demolition on the Gradel property located 931 W. Water Street along Lake Erie. This project is a continuation of the waterfront revitalization activities, which were catalyzed by the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund Round 2 Bayfront Paper District Project. The project property is currently a material storage dock and marine operations facility with no public access to the water. The developer, Mid States Development Corporation, plans to construct a new marina with 200 boat docks, 12,000 feet of commercial space, and 300 condos.

 

Springfield (Hauke Block) – The City Springfield will receive $901,401 to demolish and remediate the former Hauke Complex on W. Main Street. The subject property was historically developed with a series of small businesses, including a tin shop, livery, and filling station. The Hauke Company, a plumbing supplies and repair complex, operated on the site since 1960. The property contains vacant commercial buildings. The City of Springfield and the Community Mercy Health Partners will develop a new medical-office-building on the project property. The building will support various hospital and doctors’ offices. This project is expected to retain and create a total of 85 jobs.

 

Summit County Port Authority (Akron Airdock) – The Port Authority will receive $3 million to remediate the former Goodyear Airdock facility on Massillon Road. In 1928 the Goodyear Zeppelin Co. constructed the Airdock facility to build lighter-than-air ships. Lockheed Martin purchased the site in 1996 and will develop technologies to construct advanced unmanned High Altitude Airships. The United States Missile Defense Agency recently awarded Lockheed Martin a $148 million contract to develop and launch a proto-type airship by 2008. The Airdock is the only available facility in the country capable of producing the airships. This project is expected to create 93 new jobs and retain 528 current jobs.

 

Thanks, CHJake.

Any update on whether they're going to demolish the Breuer?

^We probably won't hear about that for a while. Whether they demolish the Breuer tower, or rehab it - the asbestos needs to be remediated either way. It should be noted that Jacobs is kicking in $4 million of their own funds for the asbestos remediation.

 

Here are some renderings from the press conference held by the Jacobs Group back in 2003 when they first applied for brownfield funds from the State of Ohio:

 

The project inches forward ever so slowly...

 

 

11 vie for county building job

 

By JAY MILLER

 

6:00 am, February 27, 2006

 

 

 

Cuyahoga County's plan to move 1,500 county employees to new quarters along East Ninth Street — at a cost of $100 million-plus — has piqued the interest of 11 architectural/engineering teams, several of which include the country's largest and most prestigious design firms.

 

Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc. of St. Louis, No. 1 on Architectural Record magazine's 2005 list of largest firms, and the No. 2 firm on that list, Gensler of San Francisco, both have united with local firms to respond to the county's call for professional services to help it figure out what to do with the site that once was home to former banking concern Ameritrust.

 

HOK is teaming up with Collins Gordon Bostwick Architects of Cleveland, while Gensler is joined by Vocon Design, a Cleveland space planning firm.

 

Last May, the Cuyahoga County commissioners paid The Richard E. Jacobs Group real estate concern $22 million for a complex of buildings that stretches south along the east side of East Ninth Street from Euclid Avenue. But the commissioners have not decided which, if any, buildings on the site to knock down.

 

Only the 1908 Cleveland Trust rotunda building at the southeast corner of East Ninth and Euclid is considered untouchable. Even the 29-story, 35-year-old Ameritrust Tower is under the shadow of the wrecking ball.

 

 

The architectural firms' responses — hefty bound 'resumes,' essentially — to the county's call for architectural/design teams are the first step in a process that is expected to select a team by June.

 

Many of the submissions also included a long list of other consultants who would handle parking, security, historic renovation and other specialties they anticipate might be needed for the project. The supporting casts in these submission are intended to show the breadth of each team's capabilities and their ability to satisfy small business employment goals.

 

Others submitted proposals solely in their names and said they would flesh out full teams as needed.

 

The county sees the headquarters project not only as a way to solve its space problems, but also as a bold attempt to provide a much-needed economic boost to Euclid Avenue.

 

The submission from the Cleveland-based Oliver Design Group goes so far as to describe the new county headquarters as 'the most important (project) in Cleveland in the last 50 years because the critical mass of (the county's) headcount has the potential' to catalyze redevelopment in the surrounding area.

 

That said, the project won't be easy.

 

Tower presents challenge

 

One proposal, from Westlake Reed Leskosky of Cleveland and Pelli Clarke Pelli of New Haven, Conn., describes the project as presenting 'several enormous design challenges related to the various buildings now existing at the site.'

 

The main stumbling block is the 29-story tower on the site. Its small floors make it awkward to keep on a single floor offices such as those of the county treasurer and county recorder. But the building also has some architectural cachet. It was designed by Marcel Breuer, a leading modernist architect of the 1960s, and the building's demolition likely would bring architectural preservationists out of the woodwork.

 

The 11 submissions reflect the attractiveness of a commission on a pricey project at a time when the largest architectural firms have consolidated into hungry giants with as many as 30 offices and, in the case of HOK, 1,700 employees to keep busy.

 

For the local firms, the county administration building is a choice plum in what was described as a slowly recovering market for architectural work by John C. Waddell, co-president of the Cleveland chapter of the American Institute of Architects and head of Waddell Associates Architects Inc.

 

Mr. Waddell said the teaming of national firms with local firms creates a level of comfort for bodies such as the county commissioners, for whom hiring an architect is a once-in-a-career event.

 

'These organizations don't think the smaller guys can handle (a big project) and want the depth and experience the larger firm can offer,' Mr. Waddell said.

Its good to hear some news on this. Also, I like to hear about all the national interest.  In the end, I would hope that a local firm submits the best proprosal.

Sun had an article yesterday which offered more detail on this project. It's pretty much a certainty at this point that the Ameritrust tower will be demolished, as each floor lacks enough space on it. Even the county commissioners offices would have to be spread among multiple floors if the Ameritrust tower is re-used.

 

I'll see about getting the article (it's not likely to be posted online).

Please do - the updates weren't on cleveland.com (and they're normally up by Thursday afternoon).

Well, this saddens me...but it could be worse.  Someone could be knocking it down speculatively.  As it is, we know that if it gets demo'd that there will be something significant built in its place. 

 

Any word on the building fronting Euclid just east of the rotunda?

"He said the tower had no historical significance and was not a landmark."

 

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man...

 

As much as I'd like the building to remain, I can understand the need for it to come down if the cost and end result of rehabbing it are just not practical.  But what's this about taking down 1010 Euclid and replacing it with a parking garage with 200-300 spaces???  How does it make sense to front our great avenue and its fancy new BRT corridor with a parking garage???  And right next to a historic structure like the rotunda?  I say, leave 1010 there, as it fits its context to a "T" and has never done anything to hurt anyone!  Tear down the Breuer beauty if you must and take the Prospect-Huron Building with it, but come on, why would you want to ruin the architectural contiguity of one of the most intact blocks of pre-WWI buildings in Cleveland?  Where would Spidey swing his wonderful webs?  If you look at both sides of the street on that stretch - between E.9th and 12th - none of the buildings were built after 1920.  With the plans to rehab the stretch from 1001 - 1021 across the road, why not add to that with a rehab of 1010?  I know, it's early, but I'm gettin' ready for a fight!

Wasn't Euclid Ave. through downtown declared a National Register Historic District last year?  If so, then 1010 Euclid is certainly a contributing building to that Historic District.  That gives some traction for preservation.  Also, they have a parking garage already as a part of the complex.  How much do they need?

This may be a stupid question, but what was the point of buying this tower to tear it down and replace it with a new tower.  I assumed that it was acquired because it was an empty building and it would make more financial sense to rehab than build a new.  Why not acquire a parking garage/less substantial building, slightly farther south on E 9th and build the complex there.  Wouldn't tearing down a building of that size be cost prohibitive?

Not a dumb question at all! And welcome aboard. The county wants their HQ to be on Euclid Avenue, but you raise an interesting question. Why not build on the parking lot just west of East 9th Street, where the Hippodrome building stood?

 

I suspect the goal is to reduce the office vacancy rate downtown to boost prices and create demand for more Class A office construction. I don't like losing an office tower either, but I suspect that's a big reason why. I'm with the others, too, on why there is a desire to demolish the 1010 Euclid building. I think that could make for terrific loft housing and/or live-work spaces.

 

Start making noise, since they are still early in this process. Write those letters to the commissioners and to the local papers. Make it an issue!

will do...

 

and about that space between 668 Euclid (Atrium) and the City Club building... it looks like the garage in between Euclid & Prospect was build in anticipation of buildings being built on either side of it.  As it sits, it's an ideally located site between two major avenues that features a parking garage fronted by two surface lots...this is my idea of the IDEAL site for new construction...there's already a garage on-site and Euclid and Prospect are both seeing a large influx of new investment.  If someone builds another garage fronting the existing garage, I'm going to scream!

What are the odds that they will build a replacement tower of at least the same height as the old one?

^ yea im wondering would they build a taller building??  since they need 550,000 sq ft of space???  or would it be spread out among the whole "complex"

I got the impression from past news articles it would be in the 15-20 story range.

The Breur building works so horribly at ground level that I will be happy to see it gone and replaced with something (hopefully) more street friendly.  Same with the shorter building behind it.  I'd love for it to be tall, but I'd rather enliven that stretch of East 9th St. and the plaza on the corner of East 9th and Prospect.

Does anybody know when the AT last had any tenants?

That would be the early 1990s (late 80s possibly) when Cleveland Trust was Ameritrust and getting ready to relocate into the (now unbuilt) Ameritrust Center.

^ I thought Society had some people in there for a while, but I won't challenge the Cleveland Skyscraper aficionado

You might be right - I wasn't living in Cleveland at the time. I do know it's been vacant since the 1990s but I'm not sure how far back.

Could progress on this project *be* any more glacial??

 

Friday, April 28, 2006 

 

County considers razing Breuer-designed Ameritrust Tower'

 

By Steven Lit

Plain Dealer Architecture Critic

 

A Cleveland office tower designed by a giant of 20th century architecture could be razed to make room for a new county administration building.

 

“We are exploring the viability of tearing it down,” Cuyahoga County Administrator Dennis Madden said Friday, speaking of the 28-story Ameritrust Tower, designed by Marcel Breuer and completed in 1971.

 

But first, the Cuyahoga County commissioners want some free advice. Earlier this week, the county sent a letter to 11 architecture teams vying for the job of designing the new county offices.

 

The letter asks each team would it approach the assignment. It also raises implicitly the question “whether the architects want to go on record as to tearing down the Breuer building,” said Mig Halpine, director of communications for the New Haven, Conn., architecture firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli, one of the firms seeking the job...

 

Despite the "low ceilings" mentioned, would it be possible to build an "addition" of some sort against one or two faces of the Breuer tower to provide additional floor space while preserving some of its exterior appearance? 

 

Personally, I don't care for it and wouldn't be upset to see it taken down, but if there is a way to make it functional then I could be persuaded to keep it.

 

I had a British colleague visiting yesterday and she was amazed at the number of old buildings that we have that are still substantially the same as they were when they were built.  I (and she) might not understand entirely why that is so, but she thought that since most old buildings in London have been in continuous use and have been continuously updated for 1000 years, they don't have many buildings left that haven't been completely remodeled inside the facade.  Need for the space has outweighed preservation.

Tear that ugly, gloomy, "brutal" thing down!

 

 

 

(sorry MGD)

I had a British colleague visiting yesterday and she was amazed at the number of old buildings that we have that are still substantially the same as they were when they were built.  I (and she) might not understand entirely why that is so, but she thought that since most old buildings in London have been in continuous use and have been continuously updated for 1000 years, they don't have many buildings left that haven't been completely remodeled inside the facade.  Need for the space has outweighed preservation.

 

Most of our "old" buildings were built in the era of modern plumbing and electricity, so I would think their functionality has perisisted a bit better than pre 20th century English buildings (the ones that weren't bombed to the ground in WWII).

 

I'll be curious to see what this corner looks like in 10 years.  My biggest fear (perhaps unfounded) is the demolition of the Breuer tower, the demolition of the nice old office building on Euclid next to the old bank building, and the construction of a fat ugly new building that "clasps" (and overwhelms) the old bank building.

10 years? If we're lucky, the conceptuals *might* be done by then... ;)

I could go either way with the building. Part of me likes it and another part says that the govt needs an efficient space.  I just wish that they would get moving with it. 

I don't see why they can't save the tower and connect lower floors with new construction of whatever goes on Huron & E.9 and the new parking garage they plan to build where the existing building is on Euclid.

 

It seems with some creative design work on the lower levels, the tower can be incorporated into larger floor plates, maybe even cutting out floors in the existing building to create a grander center area.  The upper floors could then be used for smaller departments requiring smaller floor plates or for other uses, where departments could de divided among floors.

 

The other thing was that this building was always designed to have the 2d tower abut the Euclid side with no windows.  Some creative work here could incorporate a smaller, 'lighter' tower on this side.

 

I think that Cleveland has to learn to appreciate what it has architecturally, and tearing things down that still have significant useful life, doesn't make much sense to me.

Did you catch where Steven Litt said I had "acquired taste?" 

 

I'm glad that this discussion is being undertaken in a serious way.  If the project takes a little longer, but comes out with a solution that stands out as the best possible design, then I can accept that.  I'm not "in love" with Breuer's tower, but I do like that it adds to the diversity of our Downtown and high rise architectural portfolio.  I also like the ideas presented here that would incorporate parts of the existing structure in a significant remodel.

 

No mention in this article of the building next door (1010 Euclid)

i think i heard some where that cleveland construction company R B Carbone was hired to demo the tower . . .

Carbone was selected to manage the entire construction project. 

Wow; what a decent Litt article. I think he is a smart guy, but most of the time I can't stand his cynism and negative bias. The one thing about the new Cuyahoga County administration headquarters that I think makes the modernist structure worth saving is the neoclassical component of the building directly on the intersection of E.9th and Euclid. I find the combination of the two stuctures really intesting and unique. The Cleveland Museum of Art's renovation has choosen to preserve their brutalist Breuer component while increasing the status of the neoclassical component. Perhaps a similar approach should be taken with the Ameritrust complex. I don't think it would be necessary or wise to demolition the Breuer tower. However some renovation is probably necessary, but most significantly is probably a facade cleaning and restoration. Once the exterior is cleaned, I think it would be a much more appealing structure.

I know I am going to receive a verbal ass kicking for this....but I absolutely HATE that tower....it looks like an old abandoned beehive.  The only thing I would miss about that tower gone is the height.  I would hope if a new tower is built, it would be at LEAST the same height.  On a side not...I wish that section of downtown would be better lit to show off the buildings...when you roll into town up 71 or 77, it looks like there are only three buildings until you get very close. 

^ I don't disagree with you. There's nothing I find visually appealing about the tower, except the height -- like you said. Plus, one side of it is barren of windows because a second "wing" of the tower was proposed to front Euclid where the 1010 building is. I understand totally why the county wants the tower demolished -- small floor space is a big reason.

 

But I don't understand why the 1010 building has to be demolished. I would have thought demolishing the small, ugly Ameritrust "annex" just south along East 9th from the tower would provide the county with all the floor space it would need. The county then can put its parking deck where the current deck is on East 9th at Huron/Prospect -- the one connected to the Ameritrust complex by the overhead walkway.

 

The 1010 needs to be saved! What a terrific housing conversion that would be.

So.. why not?

 

 

 

You want Erieview Tower in blue and Ameritrust Center in quasi-color ecstasy?

hello-I am new to this site. I am glad to see there others who are as obsessed with downtown development as I am. I would hate to lose a 27 story structure downtown-we need all we can get. The problem is if they decide to demo it-it will be 5 years before we will see anything standing there again. With all of the heavy hitters they have brought to the table, I hope someone will suggest that they can re-skin it and bring it up to date. Although I would like to see something new and progressive, remember we are talking about the county and my fear is they could give us something worse than we already have.

^the skin is not the problem.  The poor floor plans are what the county doesn't like.

 

By the way, welcome to the forum.

^ Then why did the county buy the building in the first place?

Does anyone remember those "hypercolor" t-shirts from the late 80's?  That's what that hot pink/blue Ameritrust Center reminds me of.

^ Then why did the county buy the building in the first place?

 

Cuz Dick Jacobs probably did a $licker job at lobbying than the other property owners.

^ Then why did the county buy the building in the first place?

 

Cuz Dick Jacobs probably did a $licker job at lobbying than the other property owners.

 

Exactly - although in my opinion it is a great location and using the Rotunda building will be great.

^ I agree. Something had to be done with that huge, vacant skyscraper and the lovely rotunda. To have them sit there empty was almost as big of an embarassment to the city as having a parking lot on Public Square. Gee, I wonder who owns that property ? ? ? ?

From today's peedee

Breuer office tower worthy of saving, say architects

By Steven Litt

Plain Dealer Architecture Critic

 

Cuyahoga County could save tens of millions of dollars by renovating a 35-year-old downtown office tower designed by Marcel Breuer instead of tearing it down and replacing it.

 

So says Cleveland architect Douglas Hoffman, a member of a firm seeking the assignment of designing the new administrative center for the county.

 

More at http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/entertainment/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_entertainment/archives/2006_05.html#139262

again, no mention of 1010, but a very informative article nonetheless... now, what about the other 10 applicants?