Diamond Jubilee: downtown Cleveland

After West Side Market, AQ and I were hungry for something more substantial than snacks. COVID hit a lot of eateries hard in Cleveland, so he recommended we try East Fourth Street downtown. He knew there were many options there. Luckily, we found one place still in business (and airy as it was open to the outside). We had a nice lunch - my first "free" meal out with someone in a restaurant in about two years. It felt decadent. I can't remember going out with my brother much during COVID - we mostly just cooked at home or ordered take out.

After lunch we walked across the street to a grand old shopping mall, the Arcade.

Built in 1890 at a cost of $875,000, The Arcade Cleveland opened to much fanfare as the very first indoor shopping center in America. Designers John M. Eisenmann and George H. Smith designed it as an urban mercantile center and modeled it after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy. The project was financed by Cleveland’s most esteemed businessmen of the late 19th century, including John D. Rockefeller, Steven V. Harkness, Louis Severance, Charles Brush and Marcus Hanna.

https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/history.htm

Now part of the Hyatt Hotel, the Arcade has been refurbished to its original glory. As soon as A and I entered, it felt familiar. When we got back to the room at the end of the day, I remembered - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan! Traveling a lot paid off. Although not using the word "mall", the place claims to be the first covered shopping area in the USA. The rich of America certainly knew what model to copy!

The place was a tomb - I think we were the only people there.

the Arcade

It was a short walk to Cleveland's historic center, the Public Square. There we explored the Civil War monument (surprisingly detailed and moving). The grand Terminal Tower dominated the square.

The Terminal Tower used to be a train station and now is a mix of luxury apartments and office space. Its observation deck provides great views over the lake and the city, but due to COVID it was closed (I was disappointed).

Terminal Tower is a 52-story, 708 ft 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 it was completed. Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America outside of New York City from its completion in 1927 until 1964. It was the tallest building in the state of Ohio until the completion of Key Tower in 1991, and remains the second-tallest building in the state.

...

Built for $179 million by the Van Sweringen brothers, the tower was to serve as an office building atop the city's new rail station, the Cleveland Union Terminal. Originally planned to be 14 stories, the structure was expanded to 52 floors with a height of 708 feet. It rests on 280-foot caissons. Designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the tower was modeled after the Beaux-Arts New York Municipal Building by McKim, Mead, and White. The Terminal Tower was completed in 1927 and opened for tenants in 1928, though the Union Terminal complex was not dedicated until 1930.

(Wikipedia)

The building was one of the most significant in the US for years - I had never heard of it. That was flat out amazing to me - especially on the heels of visiting the Arcade. Cleveland was clearly far more than I expected.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument with Terminal Tower at Cleveland Public Square

Terminal Tower interior

A church on the north side of the square is culturally important to the city. In front of it is a haunting sculpture of someone seeking alms.

First Presbyterian Church, commonly referred to as the Old Stone Church, is located on the northwest quadrant of Cleveland's Public Square at the corner of Ontario and Rockwell Streets. Possibly Cleveland's best-known religious building, Old Stone Church is a symbol of the city's birth and development. The church is the oldest standing structure on Public Square and is home to the second oldest religious organization in Cleveland. Origins of the church's congregation date back to meetings of the Union Sunday School held on the second-floor of Cleveland's first log cabin courthouse in 1819. The church was officially established the following year by approximately fifteen residents of the village. Out of these early prayer services, which were often interrupted by the gunshots of hunters in nearby thickets, First Presbyterian Church would grow into one of Cleveland's most prominent and influential religious institutions. The buildings that housed First Presbyterian Church would also change over the years, reflecting the transformation of Cleveland from a village to an industrialized urban center. The first stone church, built in 1834, was replaced in 1853 by the present structure as a response to urban growth and the increased prosperity of the congregation. Fire and the corrosive effects of time initiated further modifications to Old Stone Church. Even the building's sandstone exterior began to take on the character of the industrial setting that it had been apart of for so long as the walls slowly turned a solemn and dignified black hue from years of exposure to environmental pollution.

https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/165

I wondered what AQ was thinking as we saw the buildings and their histories. He had seen the explosive development of Saudi Arabia and Dubai in his lifetime. In 1817 the church was a log cabin and 100 years later the city had become one of the most important in the US. Cleveland had developed far more rapidly than its East Coast cousins.

Old Stone Church

After we walked away from the square, we passed a large park (The Mall) holding a large sculpture, "The Fountain of Eternal Life". It is dedicated to all those who perished in wars. On the other side of the street, stands the massive public library. I was gobsmacked by the size of the buildings and the architecture. What we were seeing should have been in a capital city somewhere, not a rust-belt "has been" place to which no one pays attention these days. Between two of the library's buildings is an entrance gate to a garden (Eastman Reading Garden). I thought the statues in front were hilarious.

Cleveland Library - Eastman Garden gate

Finally, on that street of massive buildings we came to another hulking structure of old - the Federal Reserve. For a city to host a Federal Reserve Bank alone must mean that it is important. I wondered why I had never visited Cleveland before.

A was surprised at my lack of knowledge of the city, too. How embarrassing that my Saudi student knew more than I did about a major city in the US!

Federal Reserve. June 2021

We went back to the car and drove to our next location to explore. We were headed to the lake.