
Tower City Center is a large mixed-use facility in
downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square, Cleveland, Publi ...
, Ohio, in its
Public Square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
. The facility is composed of a number of interconnected office buildings, including
Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower is a 52-story, , landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in the downtown core of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the second-tallest building in the world when ...
, the Skylight Park mixed-use shopping center,
Jack Cleveland Casino
Jack Cleveland Casino (formerly Horseshoe Cleveland) is a casino in the downtown core of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, owned by Vici Properties and operated by Jack Entertainment.
Casino
Jack Cleveland Casino is located in the former Higbee ...
,
Hotel Cleveland,
Chase Financial Plaza, and
Tower City station
Tower City station, known alternatively as Tower City–Public Square and Tower City Center is a rapid transit station in Cleveland, Ohio, part of Tower City Center. It is the central station of the RTA Rapid Transit system, served by all lines ...
, the main hub of Cleveland's four
RTA Rapid Transit
RTA Rapid Transit (generally known as The Rapid) is a rapid transit and light rail system owned and operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). The system serves Cleveland and surrounding areas in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, ...
lines.
The structure was built in 1929 as Cleveland Union Terminal. On March 17, 1976, the complex was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
History
Rail terminal

The building complex was originally commissioned by the
Van Sweringen brothers
Oris Paxton Van Sweringen (April 24, 1879 – November 22, 1936) and Mantis James Van Sweringen (July 8, 1881 – December 12, 1935) were American brothers who became railroad barons in order to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio. They are better k ...
, prominent local railroad moguls and real estate developers. The center of the complex was Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT), a
terminal for all trains coming into Cleveland via the various railroad lines in a concept similar to
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
When Cleveland Union Terminal was built, the train station allocated the northern set of tracks for
interurban
The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
or
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
service and the southern set of tracks for
inter-city rail
Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...
service. The portion of the station above the interurban tracks was called the Traction Concourse and the portion above the intercity train tracks was called the Steam Concourse. The Van Sweringen brothers envisioned a network of interurban lines extending from the CUT in all directions. They even acquired
right-of-way for some of the lines.
The complex was designed by the firm of
Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Graham, Anderson, Probst & White (GAP&W) was a Chicago architectural firm that was founded in 1912 as Graham, Burnham & Co. This firm was the successor to D. H. Burnham & Co. through Daniel Burnham's surviving partner, Ernest R. Graham, and Burnh ...
. Site preparation began in 1922, and approximately 2,200 buildings were demolished. Construction began in 1926, and structural work was completed by 1927. At the time, it was the second-largest excavation project in the world after the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
. The Terminal Tower opened to its first tenants in 1928. From its completion until 1964, the Terminal Tower was the tallest building in North America outside of New York City. Three other office buildings, the Medical Arts Building, Builders Exchange Building, and Midland Building, were built in addition to the Terminal Tower. The three
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
buildings are collectively known as the
Landmark Office Towers Complex
The Landmark Office Towers is a complex of three historically renovated 1930-completed 259 foot 22 story high-rises that are located on the property of Tower City Center in Downtown Cleveland's Public Square district. The building features very ...
and were completed in 1929. In addition to the new buildings, the 1918
Hotel Cleveland was connected to the complex. Cleveland Union Terminal was dedicated and officially opened in 1930.
The facility included a number of retail stores and restaurants. Original designs for the complex show that at first the brothers did not plan on building an office tower within the complex. However, they eventually decided to build the 52-story
Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower is a 52-story, , landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in the downtown core of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the second-tallest building in the world when ...
on the northeast side of the complex facing
Public Square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
.
In 1931, the
Higbee Company
Higbee's was a department store founded in 1860 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1987, Higbee's was sold to the joint partnership of Dillard's department stores and Youngstown-based developer, Edward J. DeBartolo. The stores continued to operate under ...
moved its main
store to a new building connected to Cleveland Union Terminal. In 1934, the
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
moved its main Cleveland office to Union Terminal in a new building designed by the firm of
Walker and Weeks
Walker and Weeks was an architecture firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, founded by Frank Ray Walker (September 29, 1877 - July 9, 1949) and Harry E. Weeks (October 2, 1871 - December 21, 1935).
Background
Harry Weeks was born October 2, 1871, in W. ...
. It was known as M.K. Ferguson Plaza under the ownership of
Forest City Enterprises
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., formerly Forest City Enterprises, was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings, shopping centers and apartments in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and the great ...
.
The Union Terminal served most rail lines: the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...
,
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...
and
Nickel Plate Road
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States from 1881 to 1964. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of ...
. Exceptions were the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
and initially the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...
.

Notable trains, particularly for their destinations included:
*Baltimore and Ohio Railroad:
**''
Cleveland Night Express
The ''Cleveland Night Express'' was an American named train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The B ...
'' (Cleveland–Pittsburgh–Baltimore)
**''
Washingtonian'' (Cleveland–Pittsburgh–Baltimore)
*Erie Railroad, with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad:
**''Steel King'' (Cleveland–Pittsburgh, with morning and evening variations)
*New York Central Railroad:
**''Chicagoan'' (Chicago–New York)
**''
Cincinnati Mercury'' (Cincinnati–Cleveland) (beginning in fall, 1951)
**''
Cleveland Mercury'' (Detroit–Cleveland)
**''
Empire State Express
The ''Empire State Express'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (a predecessor of the later New York Central Railroad). On September ...
'' (Cleveland–New York)
**''Fifth Avenue Special'' (Chicago–Cleveland-New York)
**''Iroquois'' (Boston–Chicago; in most years operating westbound only; in some years terminating in Cleveland, in some years having New York as the eastern terminus)
**''
North Star
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude t ...
'' (New York–Cleveland; in most years operating westbound only)
**''
Ohio State Limited'' (Cincinnati–Cleveland–New York; in some years stopping for east-bound trips only, in other years running through the city without stopping)
**''Pacemaker'' (Chicago–Cleveland–New York; in some years stopping for east-bound trips only; in latter years: Cleveland–New York)
**''
Southwestern Limited'' (St. Louis–Indianapolis–Cleveland–New York)
*Nickel Plate Road (
Norfolk and Western
The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...
in final year of service):
**''
Nickel Plate Limited'' (Chicago–Buffalo)
ater named ''City of Chicago'' westbound/''City of Cleveland'' eastbound**''Blue Arrow'' (Cleveland–St. Louis)/''Blue Dart'' (St. Louis–Cleveland)
However, the station was never particularly popular with the railroads. It required deviating from the quicker route along
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...
. As the city would not allow trains to operate under steam power near the downtown area, trains were forced to switch from steam to electric power at a suburban
rail yard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of Track (rail transport), tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for k ...
when heading inbound and then reverse on the way out at another yard. As a result, some lines began to bypass the station entirely, heading along the lake route, and some trains stopped serving the city altogether (examples of the latter case: the New York Central Railroad's ''
Lake Shore Limited
The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an Amtrak Long Distance, overnight passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the Northeastern United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. The central segment of the route runs along the s ...
'' and the ''
New England States'').
Several east–west routes on the circuit of trains bound east from Chicago through northern Ohio bypassed the city, traveling slightly to the south, passing through Akron and Youngstown, as in the case of B&O and Erie mainlines. In addition, national passenger rail travel had already passed its peak and was starting its gradual decline in favor of the automobile and, later, the airplane. The Erie Railroad, owned by the Van Sweringens, could not afford the electric transfer and continued to use its own nearby station until 1948, when it replaced steam with diesel locomotives and was able to serve the Union Terminal under its own power.
By the end of 1965, the B&O and the Norfolk and Western (the successor to the Nickel Plate) had terminated their last trains that had served Cleveland. By the end of 1967, the New York Central had discontinued all named trains that had run through Cleveland. All that remained as passenger trains were unnamed successors to trains #51 (westbound ''Empire State Express''), #90 (eastbound successor to the ''Chicagoan''), #27/28 (successor to the ''New England States'') and #63/#64 (Chicago–New York) trains.
In the lead-up to the arrival of Amtrak, in 1970 the Erie Lackawanna ran an unnamed train to Youngstown. The
Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
(successor to the New York Central) Chicago-bound trains stopping at the terminal included an unnamed remnant of the ''Empire State Express'' and another unnamed train. East-bound, there was an unnamed successor to the ''New England States,'' as well as two other unnamed trains. Southwest-bound there was an Indianapolis-destined remnant of the ''Southwestern Limited'' and an ''Ohio State Limited'' remnant bound for Columbus.
Amtrak's short-lived ''
Lake Shore'' served Union Terminal for seven months in 1971. However, Amtrak found the rents prohibitive, and Cleveland's declining rail traffic did not begin to justify such a large facility. When the new ''
Lake Shore Limited
The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an Amtrak Long Distance, overnight passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the Northeastern United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. The central segment of the route runs along the s ...
'' began in 1975, Amtrak chose to construct
a new station near
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...
adjacent to the
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. The new Amtrak station is located near the former
Cleveland Union Depot, once served by the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
. The former Erie Railroad commuter service, ultimately inherited by
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...
, was discontinued on January 14, 1977, ending the facility's use as a railroad station.
However, in 2021, a rail advocacy group by the name of 'All Aboard Ohio', voted in favor of returning Amtrak service to Union Terminal, in the anticipation of a proposed dramatic increase in rail service.
File:C.U.T. Steam Concourse.jpg, Concourse in 1987
File:Terminaltower2.jpg,
File:Tower City Concourse sign.jpg,
File:C.U.T. Steam Concourse & Traction Concourse.jpg,
File:Tower City parking decks.jpg, Platforms converted into parking decks
Shopping mall
Most of the platform area was demolished in the late 1980s renovation of the building. The station area itself was converted by
Forest City Enterprises
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., formerly Forest City Enterprises, was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings, shopping centers and apartments in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and the great ...
into a three-story, 367,000 square foot
shopping mall and food court known as The Avenue, which opened on March 26, 1990. As part of the renovation, RTA rebuilt its rapid transit station beneath the center. The rest of the platform area was turned into a parking garage for the new complex. When the already renamed Tower City Center reopened, the mall housed many high-end
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesal ...
s, including Bally of Switzerland,
Barneys New York
Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks F ...
,
Fendi
Fendi Srl () is an Culture of Italy, Italian luxury goods, luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925 by fashion designers Edoardo Fendi and ...
,
Gucci
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
,
Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...
, and even had a letter of intent from
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...
to build a 120,000-square foot anchor store in 1992. Over the following 25 years, many of those shops were replaced by more-modest stores, some of them local retailers.
In 1991, two new 11-story office towers, the
Skylight Office Tower and the
Chase Financial Plaza, were added. The Chase Building houses Cleveland's
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...
Hotel and The Skylight Office Tower once housed the
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...
. After the completion of the nearby
Gateway project in 1994, RTA built an indoor walkway connecting Tower City to the complex. A second walkway was built in 2002 to connect Tower City with the
Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse.
Higbee's (by then bought by
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company a ...
) closed its department store in the complex in January 2002.
Positively Cleveland
Destination Cleveland (formerly the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, Inc., Positively Cleveland and originally the Convention Board of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce) is the convention and visitor bureau for the Greater Cl ...
(formerly the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland) and the Greater Cleveland Partnership (the local
chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
) opened offices in the Higbee Building in 2007. Until late 2010, the
Cleveland Plus Visitors Center occupied the first floor. The building was opened on May 14, 2012, as the
Horseshoe Casino Cleveland. After Rock Gaming LLC assumed management of the Horseshoe, the casino was transformed into Jack Cleveland Casino and reopened on May 11, 2016.
In 2001,
Time Warner Cable Amphitheater opened as an outdoor stage along the
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River (see ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie.
As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...
near the Tower City Complex. A site on the Cuyahoga River side of the complex was proposed as a location for a new Cleveland
convention center
A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...
, but in January, 2009 the
Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...
Commissioners decided to redevelop the
existing facility.
In July 2021 businessman
Dan Gilbert's company Bedrock announced plans to convert the mall into a "retail marketplace" with a blend of retail and entertainment. After renovations were completed in 2022, the main atrium was renamed to "Skylight Park".
Former rapid transit stations
Former Cleveland Transit System station
The Red Line took the place of a never-completed interurban line. An additional vault for that line was located at Mayfield Road, now the
Little Italy–University Circle station
Little Italy–University Circle station (signed as Mayfield Road, Little Italy–University Circle) is a station on the RTA Red Line in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. It is located at the Mayfield Road (U.S. Route 32 ...
.
History
The Shaker rapid transit remained the only service using the interurban portion of the CUT for 25 years. When the
Cleveland Transit System built its rapid transit (later designated the Red Line) in 1955 (using much of the right-of-way previously developed by the Van Sweringens), another rapid transit station was built in the former interurban area of the CUT to serve it. Since the CTS Rapid Transit (Red Line) and the Shaker rapid transit (Green and Blue Lines) were owned by different entities at the time, there was no fare transfer between the trains, and the stations were entirely separate.
In 1968, the
Cleveland Transit System line finished its extension through Cleveland's west side to
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a city-owned international airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state, as w ...
and Cleveland became the first North American city with direct
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
access from downtown to an airport.
Both lines became part of the
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County in Ohio, United States. RTA is ...
when it assumed control on September 5, 1975.
The two stations remained separate until December 17, 1990, when an entirely new station was completed with the development of Tower City Center.
File:RTA Red Line Public Square Station Platform west.jpg, Platform looking west
File:RTA Red Line Public Square Station Entrance.jpg, Main Red Line entrance in 1980s
File:RTA Red Line Public Square Station Second Entrance.jpg, Secondary Red Line entrance in 1980s
File:RTA Red Line Public Square Station Platform east.jpg, Red Line platform in 1980s looking east
File:RTA Red Line platform.jpg, End of platform
File:19680225 26 Cleveland Union Terminal.jpg, The entrance to the CTS station in 1968
Former Shaker Rapid station
These platforms opened with the extension of the
Cleveland Interurban Railroad from just east of the ramp at East 34th Street and Broadway in 1930.
History
Since the Van Sweringens-owned Cleveland Interurban Railroad which served the suburb of
Shaker Heights
Shaker or Shakers may refer to:
Religious groups
* Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect
* Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination
Objects and instruments
* Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone
* Cockta ...
, the interurban portion of the CUT was immediately occupied by the Shaker trains upon completion on July 20, 1930. (Previously, the Shaker trains had used streetcar tracks to reach downtown from East 34th Street, which caused significantly slower service.) The Shaker rapid transit station was located along the northernmost tracks of the complex, and it included a small yard for the storage of a few trains and a loop to allow trains to reverse direction. Development of the other interurban services, however, was stalled by the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, which hit the Van Sweringens particularly hard. By 1944, ownership of the Shaker rapid transit passed to the city of Shaker Heights.
The Shaker and Van Aken lines became part of the
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County in Ohio, United States. RTA is ...
when it assumed control on September 5, 1975. The two stations remained separate until December 17, 1990, when a completely new station was completed with the development of Tower City Center.
The platform was temporarily re-opened for westbound passengers in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2024, and 2025.
File:Tower City Shaker platforms, December 2020.jpg, Stair and Elevator Access
File:Tower City Shaker platforms, December 2020 (3).jpg, Platform signage
File:Tower City Shaker platforms, December 2020 (4).jpg, Former Shaker platforms
File:Tower City Shaker platforms, December 2020 (8).jpg, Platform view of turnstiles
File:RTA Blue and Green Line Public Square Station Platform..jpg, Platforms in the 1980s
See also
*
Public Square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
*
List of Registered Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio
*
Railroad terminals of Cleveland
Connected components of Tower City Center
*
Tower City station
Tower City station, known alternatively as Tower City–Public Square and Tower City Center is a rapid transit station in Cleveland, Ohio, part of Tower City Center. It is the central station of the RTA Rapid Transit system, served by all lines ...
*
Chase Financial Plaza
*
Jack Cleveland Casino
Jack Cleveland Casino (formerly Horseshoe Cleveland) is a casino in the downtown core of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, owned by Vici Properties and operated by Jack Entertainment.
Casino
Jack Cleveland Casino is located in the former Higbee ...
*
Hotel Cleveland
*
Skylight Office Tower
*
Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower is a 52-story, , landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in the downtown core of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the second-tallest building in the world when ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Mall websiteCleveland Union Terminal Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tower City station
1930 establishments in Ohio
Art Deco architecture in Ohio
Beaux-Arts architecture in Ohio
Buildings and structures in Cleveland
Forest City Realty Trust
Hotels in Cleveland
National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1930
Shopping malls established in 1991
Shopping malls in Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations
Former New York Central Railroad stations
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
Former New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad stations
Tourist attractions in Cleveland
Union stations in the United States
Repurposed railway stations in the United States
Former Amtrak stations in Ohio