LeVeque Tower
The LeVeque Tower is a 47-story skyscraper in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. At it was the tallest building in the city from its completion in 1927 to 1974, and remains the second-tallest today.
Designed by C. Howard Crane, the Art Deco skyscraper was opened as the American Insurance Union Citadel in 1927 and at the time was the fifth tallest building in the world. Built at a cost of $8.7 million, the tower's design incorporates ornate ornamentation and a terracotta facade, and it was designed with 600 hotel rooms in two wings as well as an attached performance venue, the Palace Theatre. After the American Insurance Union went bankrupt in the Great Depression, the tower was renamed the Lincoln-LeVeque Tower in 1946, and later the LeVeque Tower in 1977.
The tower's office space saw mixed success in attracting tenants during its early history, but it became home to a number of state agencies and law firms. As development of Downtown Columbus peaked beginning in the 1960s and several other high rise buildings were constructed, the tower faced increasing competition from other major office buildings and its vacancy rates rose. Over the course of its history, the tower changed hands several times before being sold to a group of real estate investors in 2011. The current owners subsequently converted it into a mixed-use development, including a hotel, apartments, condominiums, offices and a restaurant, which opened in 2017.
Design and construction
What would become the LeVeque Tower was commissioned by the American Insurance Union, a group formed in 1894 as a "fraternal insurance company, secret society and social club" by John J. Lentz, who would later become a U.S. Representative, and who served as president of the organization. Originally named the American Insurance Union Citadel, the tower was to be the headquarters for the organization and would replace a smaller building it owned on the corner of Broad Street and Front Street in Downtown Columbus, a short distance from the Scioto River. The tower was designed by Detroit, Michigan-based architect C. Howard Crane, known for grandiose designs. Its construction took place during the first wave of modern skyscraper development in the United States.The original plan for the tower was to have three principal components: a 47-story tower flanked by a pair of 18-story wings, with a total rentable area of ; the 2,827-seat Keith-Albee Theater ; and the 600-room Deshler-Wallick Hotel. It was to measure along both Broad and Front streets, with 44 floors of occupied space, and three additional floors helping it reach in height. This intentionally set the building taller than the Washington Monument.
Designed in the Art Deco or Art Moderne style, the building took inspiration from Byzantine architecture, particularly religious buildings constructed in the 4th through 13th centuries. Initially, Crane considered stone for the building's exterior but later decided on cream-colored terracotta despite concerns its blocks would be small and prone to warping. The design featured a large number of figures situated and higher along the building's façade and around its pinnacle, including eagles with wingspans up to and giants and angels up to tall. Some of these were later removed after concerns about falling materials and to obtain unobstructed penthouse views. An octagonal bartizan was designed at the top of the building with long, narrow loop windows, and it was topped by a dome with heraldic imagery. Inside, the building contained marble imported from Italy and Belgium, and public spaces were decorated with bronze and mosaics. The building lobby was designed with a marble floor with a bronze plaque containing the building's horoscope and which shows the positions of the planets at the time that the building's cornerstone was laid. Following completion, the building was lit at night to accentuate its architectural features, and its four turrets were also lit with floodlights to make a landmark for aviators, which at times made it visible for up to as a navigational aide. The top of the tower was also designed to accommodate mooring for zeppelins. Later, it housed radio antennae.
Elevators serving the building were a "micro self-leveling type", automatically controlled by push buttons and which could travel at per minute, which rose to the 41st floor. A shuttle elevator ran from there to the observation deck. Water tanks for fire protection and plumbing were placed on the 23rd and 43rd floors, and the building was also designed with duplicate mechanical systems for redundancy. An executive dining room, termed the Mid-Air Club, was built on the 43rd floor, sponsored by local businessmen and aviation enthusiasts. The 44th floor served as an observation deck that would be open to the public for 25 cents. The floor featured 24 floor-to-ceiling windows as well as an observation balcony on the 46th floor, which would be reachable only by ladder. In all, 60 construction contractor companies were named to build the structure, which cost a total of $7.8 million. Northwestern Terra Cotta Co. of Chicago supplied the materials wrapping the building. The American Insurance Union had a five-story auditorium building at 50 W. Broad St. which was torn down in preparation for the new tower. Colonial Theatre, opened at 1909 at 40 W. Broad St., was also closed and demolished in 1924 to make way for the tower.
At the height of construction, about 650 men would work on the structure at a time. Groundbreaking for the tower took place on September 23, 1924. Excavation commenced after that, with 44 caissons sunk into the bedrock for a foundation, through of water using air pressure. These tunnels were so deep that specialized crews of "sandhogs", who had gained experience building the Holland Tunnel in New York City, were brought in and the construction site had an on-site hospital and decompression chamber for men suffering from decompression sickness. On January 26, 1925, an accident occurred underground that killed four workers when a toxic gas was accidentally released during the setting of the caissons, overwhelming them and causing them to fall into the foundation. A fifth construction worker was killed later in the building's construction after falling from its steel framing. On February 13, 1926, the AIU Citadel's cornerstone was laid. The building's frame would consist of of steel, and would be wired with of electrical wire, of heating pipe for thousands of radiators, 67 electrical motors, 14,000 electrical outlets, and 1,756 windows. Construction of the building took 19 months. It was dedicated on September 21, 1927. When complete, it was the tallest building in Columbus and the fifth tallest building in the world, including being the tallest building between New York City and Chicago. Albert Bushnell Hart, who spoke at the building's dedication, likened the building to the French fortified city Carcassonne.
Art and architecture critics spoke positively about the tower's design. Dudley Crafts Watson, director of Chicago Art Institute, highlighted it as one of five great examples of artistic achievement to come out of Columbus in the 1920s, calling it "the most original and American of skyscrapers" and "just an honest piece of magnificent construction." Writing in 1932 in the book Ohio Art and Artists, Edna Clarke called the building "a milestone in the growth of the city... it signalizes the transformation from a large overgrown country town into a city. It stands out against the skyline so sharply it can't be ignored." Architectural Forum called it "splendid" and "impressive". The tower quickly became a symbol synonymous with Columbus and one of the city's most well-recognized landmarks. It was the first landmark that was easily visible from around the city.
The building's construction coincided with a rebuilding of the Columbus riverfront and creation of the Columbus Civic Center along the Scioto River following the Great Flood of 1913. In the 1920s and 1930s, the city saw a new Columbus City Hall built across the street, along with a new headquarters for the Columbus Police Department, a federal building and courthouse, and a state office building.
Lighting
Floodlights were first installed on the LeVeque Tower in 1989, illuminating its top floors with white light from evening into the night. Later, the owners had theatrical gels installed to add colored lights as an option. During the building's 2012-17 restoration, the floodlights were replaced with computer-controlled LED lights to save on energy usage and allow for a wider array of color options. The new lights, ranging from 6-inch lights to 3-square-foot arrays, allow for 256 million color combinations. The building is now lit for events about six to eight times per year, including pink for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer organization in April and May; rainbow colors during the Columbus Pride weekend in June; red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July; purple for Purple Heart recognition in August; teal for ovarian cancer awareness in September; and red and green during the Christmas and holiday season.History
Changing function and ownership
After the tower's completion, the American Insurance Union occupied floors 19 and 20, with the remainder of the space available for rent to other office users. The construction of the building saw several significant cost overruns, prompting the American Insurance Union to dip into its monetary reserves to pay for the tower. Financial problems soon arose for the company, as the tower cost $800,000 more than its budget allowed for, and not all of the office space in the building filled up quickly.The tower immediately became important to radio broadcasting in the city, which was increasing in prominence in the late 1920s. The building was an ideal height for broadcasting and there were no mountains or other intervening structures around Central Ohio to disrupt radio signals broadcast from antennae at the tower's apex. The tower thus became home to a number of radio stations, including WAIU. Lentz had purchased WAIU in 1925 to serve as a platform for his progressive views. Moving into the tower allowed WAIU to increase its broadcasting power to 5,000 watts. By the 1980's, WCOL had a broadcast room atop the tower.
The American Insurance Union failed during the Great Depression, and it was reorganized as the American Insurance Union Inc. in 1931. The entity survived until 1934 when it went into receivership, and then ceased to exist. During this time, the tower was known pejoratively as the "IOU Tower" given the financial difficulties of its owner. After the company went bankrupt, the group marketed the building in order to pay off unpaid policies. It ultimately sold to Leslie LeVeque and John Lincoln in 1945 and was renamed the LeVeque-Lincoln Tower. LeVeque was a local real estate investor, and after his death, his son Fred LeVeque and his wife, Katherine LeVeque, became prominent figures in the Columbus community.