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 laid out by city founder General Moses Cleaveland in 1796.
Downtown Cleveland is bounded by Lake Erie to the north, the Cuyahoga Valley to the west, and Interstate 90 to the south and east. It encompasses several subdistricts, and its diverse architecture includes the Cleveland Mall, one of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the United States. Downtown's residential population has grown significantly since the 2000s and especially 2010s, registering the largest population growth, by percentage, of any Cleveland neighborhood over that time.
Districts
Public Square
The heart of downtown, Public Square was laid out by city founder Moses Cleaveland in 1796 and has remained largely unchanged. Based on the New England town square, it consists of a large open space, cut into quadrants by Ontario Street and Superior Avenue. Public Square is the symbolic heart of the city, and has hosted presidents, vast congregations of people, and a free annual 4th of July concert by the Cleveland Orchestra. At one time, Public Square was fenced off and inaccessible to vehicles.In 1860, the Perry Monument, a memorial to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, was dedicated in the center of Public Square. In 1892, it was moved out of the square, which by then had the fences removed after lobbying by commercial interests. Public Square is also home to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, which commemorates residents of Cuyahoga County who served in the Civil War. Public Square also features a statue of Cleaveland; a statue of Tom L. Johnson, the city's most famous mayor; a large amount of shrubbery and other landscaping; and a large public fountain. The Consulate-General of Slovenia in Cleveland is located in the 55 Public Square building.
Notable buildings on Public Square include the Terminal Tower, home to Tower City Center, 200 Public Square - the former BP Building, as well as Key Tower, the tallest building in Ohio and one of the tallest in the United States. Public Square is also home to the historic Old Stone Church, completed in 1855. The west side of Public Square was to become the headquarters of the Cleveland Trust Company, then called Ameritrust, but the project was cancelled after Ameritrust was purchased and merged into Key Bank, leaving that side of the square open to this day, with only a surface parking lot on the site.
In the golden age of department store retail from the late 19th century to the 1980s, Cleveland's major stores extended from Public Square east along Euclid Avenue. They included Higbee's, Bailey's, the May Company, Taylor's, Halle's, and Sterling Lindner Davis, which collectively represented one of the largest and most fashionable shopping districts in the country, often compared to New York's Fifth Avenue. Today, the buildings of the May Company, Taylor's, and Halle's are popular downtown apartment complexes, while the Higbee's building has been home to the Jack Cleveland Casino since 2012.
Gateway District
Revitalization of Cleveland's Historic Gateway District began in the 1990s with the Gateway complex, which included construction of Progressive Field and Rocket Arena, the homes of the MLB Cleveland Guardians, NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, and AHL Cleveland Monsters. The Gateway complex was built on parking lots on the site of the former Central Market. The baseball stadium and basketball arena are connected to Tower City Center, and RTA's rail transit system, via an enclosed walkway. The neighborhood includes retail, housing, and a large variety of restaurants.East 4th Street
East 4th Street is a popular restaurant and entertainment street adjacent to Prospect Avenue, Cleveland's historic "Radio Row." East 4th encompasses Cleveland's House of Blues, Iron Chef Michael Symon's Mabel's BBQ, comedy club/restaurant Pickwick and Frolic, as well as a dozen other dining and retail storefronts. The neighborhood is home to hundreds of residents who live in the apartments and loft condominiums above the storefronts. East 4th is also adjacent to the historic Cleveland Arcade, the first indoor shopping mall in the United States, built in 1890.Warehouse District
Originally an early residential neighborhood, the Warehouse District was built into a warehousing and shipping neighborhood during the industrial rise of Cleveland, Within the past few decades, it has been converted again back into an entertainment, dining, and residential hub. The Warehouse District is the largest downtown neighborhood by population, and continues to grow with an assortment of shops, clubs, bars, and loft condos/apartments. West Sixth Street is known as the heart of the district. Famously, the 17-story Rockefeller Building sits on the corner West Sixth and Superior Ave erected by John D. Rockefeller.Playhouse Square
Home to the second-largest performing arts complex in the U.S., Playhouse Square is downtown's cultural heart. The area is dominated by five historic theaters built during the 1920s – State, Palace, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters are all located in a cluster near the intersection of Euclid Avenue and E. 14th Street. Additionally, the smaller theaters include the 14th Street Theater, Kennedy's Theater, Westfield Insurance Studio Theater, Second Stage, and Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre.Ideastream Public Media teamed up with Playhouse Square to renovate the former Playhouse Square Building, transforming it from an empty office building to One Playhouse Square, a downtown broadcast headquarters. Now known as the Idea Center, the facility includes high definition television studios, control rooms, radio studios, and performance space fronting Euclid Avenue, as well as a variety of high-tech business startups and other tenants located on the building's upper floors. Since 2005, Ideastream's broadcast properties have been located at the Idea Center; this includes PBS station WVIZ, NPR member WKSU and classical music/jazz outlet WCLV. WKSU also is relayed over a regional network, including WCPN. Residents of the district also include Cleveland Playhouse and Cleveland State University performing arts.
In spring 2014, a $16 million outdoor streetscape transformation was completed. Focusing primarily on lighting and signage, a centerpiece of a 4,600-piece LED crystal chandelier hangs over the Euclid Avenue and East 14th Street intersection 24-feet off the ground. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it is the largest outdoor chandelier in the world. Other additions include four gateway signs spanning entry points, a large 1920s-era "Playhouse Square" sign at East 13th Street and Euclid Avenue intersection, a fire pit at Star Plaza, a 28-foot-tall digital display, and architectural lighting to show off details of the historic buildings.
Civic Center
The Civic Center district holds Cleveland's governmental and public buildings. The most visible structure is the Justice Center Complex, consisting of the Cleveland Police Department headquarters and Cuyahoga County Jail. Other notable structures include Cleveland City Hall,Cuyahoga County and Cleveland Municipal Courts, Public Auditorium, Cleveland Public Library main buildings, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse, and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District administration building.
The Public Malls, Malls A, B, and C, also known as the Burnham Malls, hold public green space and gardens fronting the lake. The Fountain of Eternal Life, also known as the War Memorial Fountain, is centered on the Mall A. On the western edge, Willard Park is host to the controversial public art, known as the Free Stamp. On the eastern edge sits Fort Huntington Park, containing a statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry commemorating the Battle of Lake Erie, a statue of Clevelander Jesse Owens, and the Cleveland Police Department memorial of officers killed in the line of duty. A major addition to the area is the $465 million Global Center for Health Innovation and Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.
Nine-Twelve District
Cleveland's financial district, the area around East 9th street from Lake Erie south to Prospect Avenue, serves as corporate or regional home to many firms in the financial, business, legal, communications and publishing sectors of the city's economy.Architecturally, the area is characterized by large, glass office towers built predominately in the 1950s to 1980s. The tallest is Erieview Tower at 40-stories, the centerpiece of the largely unbuilt Erieview Urban Renewal Project of the 1960s. The Galleria was added to the tower in the 1980s originally as a shopping mall, but today serves as a mix of small stores, office space, gardens under the glass, radio headquarters, and a food court. The 31-story One Cleveland Center is nicknamed the "silver chisel" due to its distinct shape. The seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, is located at the heart of the district on E.9th. There is a large cluster of high-rise downtown housing in this area, largely concentrated in the East 12th Street area.
Alexander Mann's U.S. headquarters and Medical Mutual headquarters are present here. The City Club of Cleveland is housed in the City Club Building, which is at the corner of East Ninth and Euclid.
WKYC, the local NBC affiliate, has its broadcast center on Lakeside Avenue on the northern end of the district. WOIO, the CBS affiliate, and WUAB, the CW affiliate, both owned by Gray Television are housed in Reserve Square on East 12th Street. Good Karma Broadcasting houses its station, WKNR, inside the Galleria at Erieview.