Nice photo set, mrclifton... Initially there was some grumbling that the County Admin services building might look bland/ugly... Now, it looks anything but.

Interesting  they replaced the panels on Breuer where the construction elevator was. And they didn't clean them?  Seems it would've been easier to clean them before reinstalling them.

Looked like cleaning may have begun this evening as I walked by.

 

What happens if, after they're all done cleaning, they come back down to street level, look up and realize they didn't quite clean it well enough to match the other cleaned areas??

What happens if, after they're all done cleaning, they come back down to street level, look up and realize they didn't quite clean it well enough to match the other cleaned areas??

 

"Well, gosh darn, Phil, it looks like we're going to have to go up there and do it all again."

Nice photo set, mrclifton... Initially there was some grumbling that the County Admin services building might look bland/ugly... Now, it looks anything but.

 

Might be just me at this point, but I still think it's pretty hideous and will likely age poorly.

Looked like cleaning may have begun this evening as I walked by.

 

 

We need to get the white a little whiter, and the black granite a little more polished......excellent....we have a building that looks like the Death Star.

 

Might be just me at this point, but I still think it's pretty hideous and will likely age poorly.

 

Boo!

Seems like it would have been easier to clean the windows when they were removed earlier.

^It would have been easier. So easy in fact that the removed panels would have looked cleaner than the others and the building would basically have a racing stripe running down it.

Seems like it would have been easier to clean the windows when they were removed earlier.

Why?  They would need to be reinstalled and during that process messed up and dirtied.  I think it makes sense to clean the windows after all processes.

Granite going up on base of county building. If I recall this was extra granite from the Breuer Tower or P&H Buildings. Can't remember exactly 

New Cuyahoga County headquarters scheduled to open July 15

 

By  Andrew J. Tobias, Northeast Ohio Media Group 

Email the author | Follow on Twitter

on July 03, 2014 at 5:48 PM, updated July 03, 2014 at 6:18 PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County's new administrators headquarters at the site of the former Ameritrust complex will open for business later this month.

 

The county inspector general's office and the county public works departments will be the first offices to move into the new eight-story building, located at East Ninth Street and Prospect Avenue.

 

Both county agencies are scheduled to be up and running in their new digs on July 15, according to a Thursday press release from County Executive Ed FitzGerald. Another 11 county offices will move in phases -- the entire relocation is expected to be complete by August 11.

 

The Ameritrust complex, which is now known as "The 9," will also include a new Heinen's grocery store in the iconic rotunda, as well as a mixed-use building at 1010 Euclid Ave. The tower will be renovated into a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel and luxury apartments.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2014/07/new_cuyahoga_county_headquarters_scheduled_to_open_july_15.html#incart_river_default

That is CRAZY that this is opening in 9 days! Like the fastest project ever in the CLE. :-)

Here's a few pictures taken from the game against the Royals on Sunday (which we won!). Not sure they capture the eye-catching vibrancy of the digital advertising boards on either end of the parking lot. You almost feel like they are part of the stadium. Which is pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

^ Nice! I never realized the top of the County garage must have some really nice views of the field.

^ Nice! I never realized the top of the County garage must have some really nice views of the field.

 

It's also a good place to watch post-game fireworks on Fridays etc., especially if you're sitting in the bleachers or the outfield seats and have to move anyway.

I wonder if the video board on the left is a distraction to hitters.

I don't think you can see it from home plate, which is below street level.

 

I don't think you can see it from home plate, which is below street level.

 

Correct. You really can only see it from the upper deck. I noticed it back when I sat up there during the Boston series.

The Breuer Tower sure looks nice on ESPN :-) 

 

GO TRIBE

 

^It does but I can't take the ESPN Jeter lovefest anymore, going back to kyc...

 

New door color

 

 

Not the easiest to see but from left to right: refurbished window, stripped window, untouched window. The finished ones look really nice

 

 

 

I see a 9!

 

 

 

Finishing up

 

 

What a view, ;)

It looks like the red square background on THE 9 was eliminated.  Good choice

It's definitely visible from afar... Sorry terrible pic but this is from the LC bridge

It will be so wonderful when everyone can walk down both sides of East Ninth Street without obstructions!  Both sides of Euclid Avenue east of Ford Drive, too....

 

The 9 still looks like the Action News logo.  Goes to show that you can have all the money in the world, but you can't buy taste.

A construction worker let me poke my head (and cell phone cam) into the rotunda yesterday. Not much to see.....

 

w28th: What kind of logo for The  9th would you consider better taste?  Looks fine to me.

 

The only wish I would have liked with "the 9" was if it was incorporated into the square cutout. 

I passed the plaza yesterday and it's looking absolutely amazing. The pictures don't do it justice at all. But here goes ....

 

 

 

 

I'm not always crazy about your use of filters, but in the first photo the effect is quite remarkable. Thanks.

Thanks PaulI for some snapshots of this new little "pocket park."

Makes me wonder what would it take to get all that awful looking equipment off the roof of the old Ohio Bell Tower.  It really could be one of the most stunning contributors to the skyline.

Thanks PaulI for some snapshots of this new little "pocket park."

Makes me wonder what would it take to get all that awful looking equipment off the roof of the old Ohio Bell Tower.  It really could be one of the most stunning contributors to the skyline.

 

I have been saying that for YEARS, and was just pointing it out to my boyfriend when we were at the Indians game Friday night. It's such a beautiful top, but no one has any clue, because it's marred by all that crap on top. :-(

Come on, there are bigger fish to fry here folks.  There's equipment on every single building and this one has had a revolving door of it for 60 years.  Think we need to live with this one.

The Ohio Bell Building has few offices and instead is crammed with communications equipment on most floors, sitting atop a cross-country high-capacity telecom line. So it's going to have telecom equipment on top....

 

And even more importantly, it's OFF TOPIC!

w28th: I'l just say I like the "9" as is.  It balances well with the dark but deep sculptural square.  I hope they're the same distance from the corners.

Not surprisingly, I'm with 28th on the logo. I'm relieved the facade presence is kind of subtle (unless there is red neon at night), but the italic script is completely incongruous with the architecture and aura of the building. Another bizarre choice that seems oblivious of the raw material the developer is working with.

I hate the "9" sign.  It looks like 1980's television news font. 

Wow so many opinions on one friggin number. Talk about bigger fish to fry. OK I'll play along. The Breuer was completed in 1971. Just do a Google image search for  1970's font  as I just did and you will see many example of that 9 from that era. Judging from some of the interior room examples I think that's the look they are going for.

 

Wow so many opinions on one friggin number. Talk about bigger fish to fry. OK I'll play along. The Breuer was completed in 1971. Just do a Google image search for  1970's font  as I just did and you will see many example of that 9 from that era. Judging from some of the interior room examples I think that's the look they are going for.

Still hate it.

This is what i wish they had done

Wow so many opinions on one friggin number. Talk about bigger fish to fry. OK I'll play along. The Breuer was completed in 1971. Just do a Google image search for  1970's font  as I just did and you will see many example of that 9 from that era. Judging from some of the interior room examples I think that's the look they are going for.

 

Right, it looked like an old fashioned font to me.  That combined with the font on 1717 building, E 9th is becoming the 1960's way.  I always have issues with naming buildings.  Unless it's being named after a major tenant (key, Oswald, Huntington), it seems "hokey". 

Regarding dave68's illustration, the unfamiliar viewer might assume the hotel company constructed the tower and the cutout was designed with the logo.  Or the cutout was created when the logo was added.  In this case, however, this proposal diminishes the significance of Breuer's special personal signature, so I don't go for it.  A little simplistic for all the decoration up there to be combined.  Thanks for posting your idea, dave68, though.  I did want to see what you had in mind.

 

Come to think of it, why isn't "Metropolitan" the name featured to be seen from a distance?

Right, it looked like an old fashioned font to me.  That combined with the font on 1717 building, E 9th is becoming the 1960's way.  I always have issues with naming buildings.  Unless it's being named after a major tenant (key, Oswald, Huntington), it seems "hokey". 

 

They're the urban versions of "Deer Run Estates" or "Willows on the Fairway" suburban branding.

^^I appreciate the cleverness of dave's scheme, but I agree that keeping the logo out of the cut-out preserves a signature element of the design, so I'd be surprised if the preservation folks would even permit the signage going there.

 

And regarding the logo/font discussion, I forgot my boilerplate "I realize this discussion will seem extremely silly to many UOers, but some of us care even about the little stuff like this, and if we can't discuss it here, where can we :)"  That said, the signage is a highly visible part of the restoration/conversion, so it shouldn't really be that weird to have an opinion on it. And yes, opinions will vary. 

 

Also FWIW, there are already some fonts associated with the complex: see the second and fourth photos of MayDay's definitive photo thread from two years ago: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=27803.0

I don't mind the 9 at all.  I think it's simple, not really taking away much from the rest of the building.

I still don't know why they didn't just call it The Breuer Tower. Sounds a thousand times better, and the name actually stands for something significant.

^ The Breuer family might not approve of a for-profit company using their name in the hotel branding. Though I agree it would be the best name for the rest of us.

^ The Breuer family might not approve of a for-profit company using their name in the hotel branding. Though I agree it would be the best name for the rest of us.

I wonder if anyone reched out to the Estate?  There are other optional names that would make the brand better.  The current name comes across cheap and not well conceived, compared to the upscale product that is being offered.