Terminal Tower Building, Cleveland Union Terminal, 50 Public Square, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH

Significance: The Terminal Tower Building is one of seven buildings built in the 1920's, known as the Terminal Group, an urban business complex comparable to and predating Rockefeller Center in New York City. Air rights, then a new concept, were required to construct the complex consisting of the train station (Cleveland Union Terminal) on the lower levels and the various buildings on top of it. Literally built in layers, the railroad tracks run directly beneath the buildings. For the first time in the United States, electric locomotives were in operation. The design development of the Terminal Tower Building, Cleveland Union Terminal examined several design concepts. The existing 52-story skyscraper replaced the original concept of a 14-story building capped by a cupola. The tower and main entrance of the Terminal Tower Building are designed after the New York Municipal Building. The Terminal Tower Building rises 708 feet and until 1967 was the second tallest building in the country. Fred Harvey concessions which were located in the concourses of the 72.5 level of the station, created the world's largest railroad service operation.
Survey number: HABS OH-2280
Building/structure dates: 1930 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: after 1960 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: after 1970 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1982 Subsequent Work
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 72001018