Cleveland SSP/Urbanohio.com Meet
September 3, 2005
All images © 2005 by Robert E. Pence
We started with a tour of the former streetcar deck of the 1917 Detroit-Superior High Level Viaduct (now known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge)
The model streetcars actually drew their power from the overhead catenary!
The bridge was built with enough room on the lower deck for six streetcar tracks, but only four were installed. Streetcar operations ended in 1954, and for a short time the lower deck was used for additional automobile lanes, but too many cars crashed into the support pillars and the practice was discontinued.
Views of the Cuyahoga River as it flows toward Lake Erie. Outsiders sometimes still bring up the river fires, but the last one of those was more than forty years ago. The river is in much better shape now, aside from the mud that's a consequence of the nature of the river's watershed and muddy bottom.
The two smokestacks belong to the buildings that once housed the powerplant for the city's streetcar system.
The 1917 bridge replaced an 1867 stone viaduct that crossed the river on a swing span. As both street traffic and river traffic increased, the time required to open and close the swing span became an impediment to both. Recent development has seen the construction of new residential units beside the Old Viaduct in an area that was long a rubble-strewn wasteland overgrown with weeds.
The 1901 Center Street Swing Bridge extends under the Veterans Memorial Bridge when closed. The bridge's pivot is on the river bank, and when open the bridge stands entirely over dry land, parallel to the riverbank.
Heading down West 25th Street toward Ohio City and the West Side Market.
There has been a public market in this location since 1845. The West Side Market is an old-fashioned working city market that reflects the ethnic diversity of a Great Lakes industrial city. Perishables are sold from refrigerated glass and stainless steel counters inside the market hall, and a covered produce arcade lines two sides of the market square.
This little piggy went to market and never came home.
Great Lakes Brewing Company, great atmosphere, food and service and widely-acclaimed local brews.
Heading for the Rapid (Cleveland's rail transit) Red Line Station to go to Public Square
A westbound train headed for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Tower City Center is a multi-tiered shopping mall adjoining Terminal Tower on the former site of the former Cleveland Union Terminal. The heavy and light rail lines are both accessible here.
At 57 stories / 947 feet / 289 metres, Cesar Pelli's Key Tower is the tallest building in Cleveland and in Ohio.
The Grand Dame of Cleveland skyscrapers is Terminal Tower, designed for the Van Sweringen Brothers by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, successor firm to D.H. Burnham & Co. and completed in 1930. It stands 52 stories / 708 feet / 216 metres and until 1967 was the tallest building in the world outside New York City. To support its weight above old river delta soil it stands on concrete caissons up to ten feet in diameter that extend nearly 200 feet to bedrock.
In addition to Terminal Tower, the Van Sweringens built the Nickel Plate Railroad and developed Shaker Heights and the light rail line that connects it with downtown.
BP Tower stands 45 stories / 658 feet / 201 metres, was designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum and was completed in 1985. It hold 1.2 million square feet of office space.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument honors Cuyahoga County's 9,000 Civil War veterans. It was opened in 1894.
The 1889 Society for Savings building was designed by John Wellborn Root of Burnham and Root.
The Old Stone Church was built in 1854 and reconstructed after fires in 1857 and 1884. In its current incarnation it features windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and John La Farge. The congregation has occupied this site since 1820.
The Arcade, with its 300-foot skylight, was built in 1890. It spans the space between two nine-story buildings.
East 4th Street, formerly a blighted low-quality retail district, offers popular entertainment and dining venues.
Generally I favor harsh measures against taggers, but the iconoclast in me has to give props to the guy who did this (second from top, second from left)
A Sunday visit to University Circle
University Circle takes its name from a 19th century streetcar turnaround, and encompasses approximately 550 acres that are home to Case Western Reserve University, Severance Hall, Cleveland Museum of Art and several other cultural attractions and medical facilities.
The Peter B. Lewis Building houses the Weatherhead School of Management. It was designed by Frank Gehry and dedicated in 2002.
Severance Hall, completed in 1931, is home to the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Cleveland Museum of Art houses a collection of more than 40,000 objects representing 6,000 years of cultures around the world.
Lake View Cemetery
September 4, 2005
Lake View Cemetery was founded in 1869 and covers 258 acres with more than 100,000 graves. Many prominent industrialists, inventors, political figures and other people prominent in national and local history are buried there.
James A. Garfield, twentieth President of the United States, was assassinated in July, 1881 after serving only six months. He died just a few days short of his fiftieth birthday.
The Garfield Monument in Lake View Cemetery gives a commanding view of the area, with Lake Erie visible from its entrance and balcony.
