The Society for Savings Building, also known as the Society Corp. Building, is a
high-rise building on
Public Square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...
in
Downtown Cleveland, Ohio
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out b ...
, United States. The building was constructed in 1889,
and stood as the tallest building in Cleveland until 1896, when it was surpassed by the 221-foot (67 m)
Guardian Bank Building
The Guardian Bank Building (originally known as the New England Building and later known as the National City Bank Building) is a high-rise building on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
Description and history
It was built in 1896 and ...
. The building stands 152 feet (46 m) tall, with 10 floors.
The Society for Savings Building is often considered to be the first modern
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
in Cleveland and the state of Ohio.
It was designed by
John Wellborn Root
John Wellborn Root (January 10, 1850 – January 15, 1891) was an American architect who was based in Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School style. Two of his buildings have been designated a National H ...
of the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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-based architectural firm
Burnham & Root
Burnham and Root was one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century. It was established by Daniel Hudson Burnham and John Wellborn Root.
During their eighteen years of partnership, Burnham and Root designed and ...
.
Design
The Society for Savings Building was designed with a combination of
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Romanesque, and
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
architectural styles. It contains elements of each in its granite pillars, arched window frames and red
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
facade.
History
The Society for Savings Building was constructed to serve as office space
for Cleveland's
Society for Savings. Though structurally complete in late 1889, the building did not officially open until June 23, 1890. The building was at the time dubbed "Ohio's skyscraper" by locals, as it was the first modern high-rise building to be constructed in the city and the state. It went on to serve as the headquarters of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the US. A year lat ...
, or BLE, from 1896 until 1910. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on November 7, 1976.
In modern times, the building is one of several structures located at Key Center.
Key Tower
Key Tower is a skyscraper on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Designed by architect César Pelli, it is the tallest building in the state of Ohio, the 39th-tallest in the United States, and the 165th-tallest in the world. The buildin ...
(formerly known as the Society Center), the tallest building in Cleveland and in the state of Ohio, was built adjacent to the Society for Savings Building by Society Bank 100 years after it; the lobbies of the two buildings were integrated, and in the process the Society for Savings Building underwent an extensive restoration and renovation project headed by the architectural firm of
van Dijk, Pace, Westlake & Partners.
The building contains 147,089 square feet (13,665 m
2) of office space.
See also
*
Marriott at Key Center
*
List of tallest buildings in Cleveland
Cleveland, the second-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio, is home to 142 completed high-rises, 36 of which stand taller than . The tallest building in Cleveland is the 57-story Key Tower, which rises on Public Square. The tower has be ...
References
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1890s architecture in the United States
Skyscraper office buildings in Cleveland
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
Burnham and Root buildings
Commercial buildings completed in 1890
National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio
Office buildings completed in 1890