Carew Tower
Encyclopedia
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, it is still the highest elevated building in the city. The Great American Insurance building is only taller because of the basement. Completed in 1930, it stands 49 stories tall in the heart of downtown, overlooking the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
waterfront, and is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. It contains the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza (formerly the Omni Netherland Plaza). The hotel is described as "one of the world's finest examples of French Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
architecture" and was used as the model for the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The building was eclipsed by the Great American Insurance Building at Queen City Square
Great American Insurance Building at Queen City Square
The Great American Tower at Queen City Square, is a skyscraper in Cincinnati, Ohio. The tower, built by Western & Southern Financial Group, began construction in July 2008 and opened in January 2011 at a cost of $322 million. Half the building is occupied by the heaquarters of the Great American...
on July 13, 2010, rising 86 feet (26.2 m) higher than the Carew Tower. Prior to the Great American Insurance Building, Carew Tower gave Cincinnati the distinction of having an American city's tallest building, constructed pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It is named for Joseph T. Carew
Joseph T. Carew
Joseph Thomas Carew was an American department store owner.Carew was born in Peterboro, Ontario on Jan 2, 1848, the elder son of Robert Shapland Carew and Euphemia Carew, a well-to-do Irish family working for the British government in Canada...
, proprietor of the Mabley & Carew
Mabley & Carew
Mabley & Carew Department Store was a prominent department store in Cincinnati, Ohio.The store traced its roots to 1877, when Detroit merchants C. R. Mabley and Joseph T. Carew, en route to Memphis, were stranded in Cincinnati by a late train and wound up going into business in the heart of what...
department store chain, which had previously operated on the site since 1877.
History
The building was designed by the architectural firmArchitect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
W.W. Ahlschlager & Associates
Walter W. Ahlschlager
Walter W. Ahlschlager was a twentieth century American architect who had his offices in Chicago for many years. Later he established an office in Dallas, Texas...
with Delano & Aldrich and developed by John J. Emery
John J. Emery
John Josiah Emery , developer of the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the time the tallest building west of the Alleghenies, and the Netherland Plaza Hotel, opened at the same time, was a major figure in the city's cultural life for more than four decades.He was a patrician of Cincinnati, the...
. The original concept was a development that would include a department store, a theater, office accommodation and a hotel to rival the Waldorf-Astoria. Emery took on as partner Col. William A. Starrett (Starrett Investment Corp.) and Starrett Brothers, Inc. as general contractors. The building is widely considered to be an early prototype of an urban mixed-use development, a "city within a city". New York City's Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
, built around the same time, is a more famous example of this concept. To make the site available the Carew Building, an office block belonging to Mabley & Carew
Mabley & Carew
Mabley & Carew Department Store was a prominent department store in Cincinnati, Ohio.The store traced its roots to 1877, when Detroit merchants C. R. Mabley and Joseph T. Carew, en route to Memphis, were stranded in Cincinnati by a late train and wound up going into business in the heart of what...
, and the Hotel Emery were demolished.
Construction began in September 1929, just one month before the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
on October 24 that triggered the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Because of this, construction was continued on a modified plan. The grand details (architectural motifs, frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s, and decorative metal) that are common on art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
buildings were stopped at the third floor and plain brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s were used on the floors above. Art deco themes can be found throughout the building, particularly in the metalwork and grillwork of the elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s and lights. Rookwood Pottery floral tiles add the "Cincy" touch to the building. Sculpture on the exterior and interior of the building were executed by New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
architectural sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan
Rene Paul Chambellan
Rene Paul Chambellan was an American sculptor, born in West Hoboken, New Jersey.Chambellan studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian in Paris and with Solon Borglum in New York City. Chambellan specialized in architectural sculpture...
.
The total cost of the building was US$33 million, which at that time was an enormous amount of money. It took crews only 13 months to complete the construction, working 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
From 1930 until 1960, the Carew Tower was the home of the Mabley & Carew department store.
From 1967 to 1980, the Carew Tower and the neighboring PNC Tower
PNC Tower
The 4th & Vine Tower is a 495 foot tall building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. It stands 31 stories tall, overlooking the Ohio River waterfront...
, then called the Central Trust Bank tower, were featured in the opening and closing credits of the long-running daytime soap opera The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
, since Cincinnati was the stand-in for the show's fictional locale of Monticello. Coincidentally (or not), Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
the show's producers, are based in Cincinnati.
Today the building is home to a mixed crowd of tenants, including a shopping mall, the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, and offices. Visitors can pay $2 each to access the observation deck, which is located on the 49th floor. On a clear day, visitors can see for miles in all directions, and three states (Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Ohio). Because of its architectural standards, as well as its identity with the city's heritage, Carew Tower was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.
The building originally had three towers, the tallest housing offices, the second the hotel, and the third serving as a parking garage which had an elevator rather than traditional ramps for access. There was also a turntable for vehicles to assist in pointing delivery trucks in the right direction. The system has since been dismantled. During the mid- to late-1980s a giant inflatable gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
was attached to the upper floors.
Statistics
Name & location
| Official Name: | Carew Tower |
| Namesake: | Joseph T. Carew Joseph T. Carew Joseph Thomas Carew was an American department store owner.Carew was born in Peterboro, Ontario on Jan 2, 1848, the elder son of Robert Shapland Carew and Euphemia Carew, a well-to-do Irish family working for the British government in Canada... |
| Address: | 441 Vine Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 |
| Cross streets: | Vine Street West 5th Street |
| Zone: | Fountain Square |
| Neighborhood: | Central Business District Central business district A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"... / Riverfront |
| District: | District 1 (center) |
| Current status: | In use (designated National Historic Landmark National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance... in 1994) |
Technical data
| Height (structure): | 574 ft (175 m) |
| Floors: | 49 |
| Construction begin: | September, 1929 |
| Construction end: | January, 1931 |
| Elevators: | 41 |
Construction
| Type: | High-rise building |
| Structural materials: | Steel |
| Facade materials: | Brick |
| Architectural style: | Art deco |
| Original cost (1929): | $33,000,000 |
Statistics
- 1.383 million square feet (128,000 m²) of total floor area
- 9 miles of brass piping
- 15 railroad cars full of glass
- 37 miles of steel piping
- 40 railroad cars full of stone
- 60 miles of floor and window molding
- 60 railroad cars full of lumber
- 4500 plumbing fixtures
- 5000 doors
- 8000 windows (upon its completion in 1931)
- 15000 tons of structural steel
- 4 million bricks in the outer structure
External links
- National Historic Landmarks Program: Carew Tower-Netherland Plaza Hotel
- Carew Tower & adjoining Netherlands Hotel
- The Carew Tower-Netherland Plaza Hotel - University of CincinnatiUniversity of CincinnatiThe University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
- 360 degree interactive panorama from the top of the Carew Tower