<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,21706.msg449691.html#msg449691"> Terminal Tower Private Tour </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24393.msg510696.html#msg510696"> Cleveland 18 floors up! </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24406.msg511446.html#msg511446"> Cleveland 18 floors up! (Part 2) </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26786.new.html#new"> Top of the Key </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24769.msg524771.html#msg524771"> Chicago Summer 2010 </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27520.0.html"> ClevelandOhio in Pittsburgh - Part 1: River tour </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27529.0.html"> ClevelandOhio in Pittsburgh - Part 2: Incline and Downtown </a>

<a href="http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27530.0.html"> ClevelandOhio in Pittsburgh - Part 3: Oakland and Carson Street</a>

 

 

Here are some pictures from the visit

...

Wow, Ive never seen the Greenbriar suite

I'm drooling insane with envy! Neat photos!

Technically...where is level 52 when viewed from the outside.  Also....On what floor is the G-Brier Suite? What a cool spiral staircase... Just needs some polishing up! Does that spiral staircase lead to the G-Briar suite?  :-D

Technically...where is level 52 when viewed from the outside.  Also....On what floor is the G-Brier Suite? What a cool spiral staircase... Just needs some polishing up! Does that spiral staircase lead to the G-Briar suite?  ;D

 

The Greenbriar suite is on It's several floors.  12-14 If memory serves me correctly.  When I was at SOHIO we used it to entertain guest. 

This is the coolest...what do I need to do to go on this tour?!

Neat!

Whoa!

The floors from i believe 43 to 52 have never been planned to be used for office space or to be open to the public due to the lack of elevator access and limited space.

 

I have pictures of i believe the 34th floor which is a vacant floor with original furnishings. I could put them up if you'd like.

Cool extra photo!!!..... Looks like those rooms could use some TLC. This will be fun....    Despite no elevator access...  How about some suggestions that those floors could actually be used for.... Maybe very small private meeting room for a few people....a snack bar...museum for the tower.... Wolfman Jack's broadcast room...... weather station... maybe quarters for Rumpelstiltskin? Maybe a small ob deck.....charge admission.... kind of like going up into the torch on the Statue of Liberty...although they don't use that anymore, right? Anyway, if they're sitting empty....it would be great to use one of them for something if possible. Maybe even small pre-paid tours?

The floors from i believe 43 to 52 have never been planned to be used for office space or to be open to the public due to the lack of elevator access and limited space.

 

I have pictures of i believe the 34th floor which is a vacant floor with original furnishings. I could put them up if you'd like.

 

yes, please do.  that would be interesting to see.

Cool extra photo!!!..... Looks like those rooms could use some TLC. This will be fun....    Despite no elevator access...  How about some suggestions that those floors could actually be used for.... Maybe very small private meeting room for a few people....a snack bar...museum for the tower.... Wolfman Jack's broadcast room...... weather station... maybe quarters for Rumpelstiltskin? Maybe a small ob deck.....charge admission.... kind of like going up into the torch on the Statue of Liberty...although they don't use that anymore, right? Anyway, if they're sitting empty....it would be great to use one of them for something if possible. Maybe even small pre-paid tours?

 

Many of the rooms in TT cannot be used for gatherings or functions because its a historic structure and to use them and be federally compliant they would need to construction which cannot be done.

 

A lot of TT buildings/corridors met standards when built (like no lights in elevators in narrow waiting areas) because a window is strategically placed in front of the elevators with individual eliminated floor markers.    A lot of these innovations (at the time) are unique to the building and cannot be changed.

^ Good points...    But how about the private tour component? That wouldn't be a public thing...  but on occasion like the subway tour.

Thanks for the awesome photos. I've been to the Greenbrier Suite -- it's bizarre because you feel like you're in someone's home (ok, mansion!) but you're actually near the top of a skyscraper.

 

And even though you cut yourself out of the photo, I can see your reflection in the window! :)

Interesting stuff...not at all what I was expecting.

^ Good points...    But how about the private tour component? That wouldn't be a public thing...  but on occasion like the subway tour.

 

Thats what they plan on doing with the observation deck when they are done working on it

and the terminal tower's elevators have been renovated and are the smoothest elevators ive ever been in.  But they stop at floor 42

^ So how often could the deck be open for tours? It would be interesting that as a part of the tour...the uppermost floors are a part of the tour..  How did you get to do this.... Or can that not be revealed right now?

^ So how often could the deck be open for tours? It would be interesting that as a part of the tour...the uppermost floors are a part of the tour.. How did you get to do this.... Or can that not be revealed right now?

 

They would open up the observation deck on special occasions such as possibly winterfest but that would be it. The upper floors would remain closed to the public

This is where the photos were taken

^ So how often could the deck be open for tours? It would be interesting that as a part of the tour...the uppermost floors are a part of the tour..  How did you get to do this.... Or can that not be revealed right now?

 

They would open up the observation deck on special occasions such as possibly winterfest but that would be it. The upper floors would remain closed to the public

I could have sworn I read an article that FC wanted to open the deck, but is trying to find a way to market it and make it affordable.  IIRC, it has to do with timing and the maximum number of people a on the deck.

Thanks for the awesome photos. I've been to the Greenbrier Suite -- it's bizarre because you feel like you're in someone's home (ok, mansion!) but you're actually near the top of a skyscraper.

 

And even though you cut yourself out of the photo, I can see your reflection in the window! :)

 

CSI and NCIS are joining forces to clean up the image in the window and soon we will know her identity!!

Thanks for the awesome photos. I've been to the Greenbrier Suite -- it's bizarre because you feel like you're in someone's home (ok, mansion!) but you're actually near the top of a skyscraper.

 

And even though you cut yourself out of the photo, I can see your reflection in the window! :)

 

CSI and NCIS are joining forces to clean up the image in the window and soon we will know her identity!!

 

hahah that was a friend i was with

^ So how often could the deck be open for tours? It would be interesting that as a part of the tour...the uppermost floors are a part of the tour.. How did you get to do this.... Or can that not be revealed right now?

 

They would open up the observation deck on special occasions such as possibly winterfest but that would be it. The upper floors would remain closed to the public

I could have sworn I read an article that FC wanted to open the deck, but is trying to find a way to market it and make it affordable. IIRC, it has to do with timing and the maximum number of people a on the deck.

 

I remember reading that story too, i think it was in the plain dealer, but after talking to the guys in charge i learned that the observation deck will be open to the tenants of the building to use as party space or to bring clients to. But they also plan on opening it like the bridge a few times a year and make an event out of it to bring people downtown.

I think it would be an attraction that could lure family's downtown to do such an activity. It did in the past. I used to volunteer up there many years ago....and it was such a nice atmosphere. I believe it was at that time open on weekends. These family's would then shop Tower City and ask many other questions about Cleveland and places to see. I know this because I fielded a barrage of questions all day when it was open while volunteering for the visitors bureau back then.

 

There were locals who visited and re-discovered their city...as well as international guests who loved it. There was also an admission. Such a scenario seems to be in the best interest for getting more business. A city with such a structure needs that added attraction. I would say the benefits gained from this would pay for itself in one way or another. I have continually written FCE about this as well. Our city's most prominent and loved landmark is closed to the public. Great!

 

In the past, by the way, small groups at a time were taken up by a guide....had so many minutes to browse...then had to go back down to let another group go up some time later..maybe an hour a part...

Thanks for the awesome photos. I've been to the Greenbrier Suite -- it's bizarre because you feel like you're in someone's home (ok, mansion!) but you're actually near the top of a skyscraper.

 

And even though you cut yourself out of the photo, I can see your reflection in the window! :)

 

Wait the Greenbriar suite is on the side with the Renaissance.  I could swear its on floors 12/13/14.

 

The inside is the BG Suite is very similar to South Park.

they have steps that lead down to the 9th floor with a big room at each floor.

they have steps that lead down to the 9th floor with a big room at each floor.

Then maybe it's floors 9/10/11/12

they have steps that lead down to the 9th floor with a big room at each floor.

Then maybe it's floors 9/10/11/12

 

Or maybe 9-14 since the lower floors were not really living areas for them, they possible were servants quarters

Ok then it is 12/13/14.

 

You kids are trying to make me crazy.  It's not gonna happen!  LOL

The observation deck (former Chessie System boardroom, if I remember correctly) was open weekends when I visited in 1985; I took some photos from there. They're about a third of the way down in this set.

Does anyone know if there has been any consideration to convert the TT to condo's?

Does anyone know if there has been any consideration to convert the TT to condo's?

 

Why would that happen?  Or what would make you ask that? It's a commercial building a darn near full commercial building.

Those extra photos of the vacant space are great!  That room looks like the offices of those insurance lawyers who Walter Matthau ("Whiplash Willie") was up against in the movie "The Fortune Cookie!" which was filmed in Cleveland.

 

  I enjoyed those. Thanks for posting.

The structural aspects of the tower are impressive even now, and in 1928 they were unprecedented. Let me see if I can dredge up a little bit from memory;

 

The area where the tower now stands was low-quality commercial at the time, unsuited for significant development because it was old river-delta sediment that would not support the weight of a substantial structure.

 

The builders got around that problem by sinking two hundred concrete caissons two hundred feet deep to reach bedrock. Some of the caissons are ten feet in diameter.

 

The tower cost $88 million in 1928 dollars.

 

The excavation for the track approaches was the second-largest amount of earth moved in history up to that point, exceeded only by the digging of the Panama Canal.

Very cool!

The structural aspects of the tower are impressive even now, and in 1928 they were unprecedented. Let me see if I can dredge up a little bit from memory;

 

Not first hand I hope!

good work! shameful how so much has been left to fall to pieces -- if they cant find a use for those rooms they could at least keep them in better shape.

^ agreed...  At least if there were special occasion tours...they'd look nice...maybe a new wall coating, black and white checkered tile on the floor shining nicely....some art about the building's history...a small gallery. I actually think that spiral staircase is really nice.... 

The structural aspects of the tower are impressive even now, and in 1928 they were unprecedented. Let me see if I can dredge up a little bit from memory;

 

Not first hand I hope!

 

Of course. I personally dug those two-hundred-foot holes with a shovel, a bucket, and a ladder. It took all week.  :wink:

 

Seriously, there are a couple of good sources, The Nickel Plate Story by John Rehor, and a reprint of an extensive and detailed article from Railway Age magazine from the time of the station's dedication.

yeah and i'm not even talking about that much effort. just at least some basic upkeep like paint and plaster here and there and sweeping up. while i am not surprised it is still a shock to see it so completely ignored. i'd bet reinstating the observation deck tours would as a bonus go a long way toward publicizing the plight of the abandoned levels of the terminal tower.

^ True...  Yeah...at least keep it respectable looking. It kind of looks forgotten.

 

Many of the rooms in TT cannot be used for gatherings or functions because its a historic structure and to use them and be federally compliant they would need to construction which cannot be done.

 

This says everything about what is wrong with our government!  Here we have a beautiful historic structure that no one can see because it is not compliant!  I feel sorry for those who couldn't manuever the spiral staircase (traces) but life is full of disappointments!

 

Many of the rooms in TT cannot be used for gatherings or functions because its a historic structure and to use them and be federally compliant they would need to construction which cannot be done.

 

This says everything about what is wrong with our government! Here we have a beautiful historic structure that no one can see because it is not compliant! I feel sorry for those who couldn't manuever the spiral staircase (traces) but life is full of disappointments!

 

It was never intended to be used by the public or by anyone besides communications

 

Many of the rooms in TT cannot be used for gatherings or functions because its a historic structure and to use them and be federally compliant they would need to construction which cannot be done.

 

This says everything about what is wrong with our government!  Here we have a beautiful historic structure that no one can see because it is not compliant!  I feel sorry for those who couldn't manuever the spiral staircase (traces) but life is full of disappointments!

 

It was never intended to be used by the public or by anyone besides communications

 

Dan.  What exactly are you saying.  You can see the TT or are you speaking of the observation deck.  I think your confusing my comments about the small rooms and mechanical about the building itself.

did anybody notice the body looking thing in the first picture???

did anybody notice the body looking thing in the first picture???

 

Thats the terminal tower "ghost".

yes it is

Ok then it is 12/13/14.

 

You kids are trying to make me crazy.  It's not gonna happen!  LOL

 

Hey i found that it is on the 12/13/14 floors. http://williamneff.com/Images/TerminalTower.pdf

but it also has the steps and single rooms going down to the 9th