Ohio Bell Building
Encyclopedia
The AT&T Huron Road Building (formally known as the Ohio Bell Building) is an art deco
skyscraper
located at 750 Huron Road in downtown
Cleveland, Ohio
. It serves as the corporate headquarters
for Ohio Bell
, a regional telephone company owned by AT&T
. The building has 24 stories and rises to a height of 365 ft (111 m). It was designed by the firm of Hubbell and Benes, in what they called "Modern American Perpendicular Gothic", a style influenced by Eliel Saarinen
's unrealized design for the Tribune Tower
in Chicago
. Work on the building began in 1925 and was completed in 1927 at a cost of $5 million. It was briefly the tallest building in Cleveland, surpassed in 1928 by the Terminal Tower
.
The building's current owners claim that Superman
co-creator Joe Shuster
used it as the model for the Daily Planet
building, but Shuster himself denied that Cleveland provided any visual inspiration for Metropolis.
In 1964, Ohio Bell moved into the new Erieview Tower
. The Huron Road building was retained as a telephone switching center for Downtown Cleveland. Today the Huron Road building has been expanded for DSL service for Cleveland. In 1983, Ohio Bell moved into its current location at 45 Erieview.
The Huron Road Building was built for necessity. Ohio Bell had its switching center on Michigan Avenue (now vacated) from 1890 to 1927. This building had to be vacated due to the construction of the Terminal Tower complex. During construction some 10,000 miles of lines and switches were moved from Michigan Avenue to the current Huron Complex.
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...
skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located at 750 Huron Road in downtown
Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years...
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. It serves as the corporate headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
for Ohio Bell
Ohio Bell
The Ohio Bell Telephone Company is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Ohio. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.Its headquarters is the Ohio Bell Building at 750 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio...
, a regional telephone company owned by AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
. The building has 24 stories and rises to a height of 365 ft (111 m). It was designed by the firm of Hubbell and Benes, in what they called "Modern American Perpendicular Gothic", a style influenced by Eliel Saarinen
Eliel Saarinen
Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect who became famous for his art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century....
's unrealized design for the Tribune Tower
Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Work on the building began in 1925 and was completed in 1927 at a cost of $5 million. It was briefly the tallest building in Cleveland, surpassed in 1928 by the Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower
The Terminal Tower is a landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the second-tallest building in the world when it was completed. The Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America...
.
The building's current owners claim that Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
co-creator Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
used it as the model for the Daily Planet
Daily Planet
The Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The building's original features were based upon the AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio...
building, but Shuster himself denied that Cleveland provided any visual inspiration for Metropolis.
In 1964, Ohio Bell moved into the new Erieview Tower
Erieview Tower
The Erieview Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The building has 40 stories, rises to a height of 529 ft , and has of office space...
. The Huron Road building was retained as a telephone switching center for Downtown Cleveland. Today the Huron Road building has been expanded for DSL service for Cleveland. In 1983, Ohio Bell moved into its current location at 45 Erieview.
The Huron Road Building was built for necessity. Ohio Bell had its switching center on Michigan Avenue (now vacated) from 1890 to 1927. This building had to be vacated due to the construction of the Terminal Tower complex. During construction some 10,000 miles of lines and switches were moved from Michigan Avenue to the current Huron Complex.