Carew Tower

Carew Tower
Carew Tower-Netherland Plaza Hotel
View from the base
Carew Tower is located in Ohio
Location: W. 5th St. and Fountain Sq., Cincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates: 39°6′3″N 84°31′31″W / 39.10083°N 84.52528°W / 39.10083; -84.52528Coordinates: 39°6′3″N 84°31′31″W / 39.10083°N 84.52528°W / 39.10083; -84.52528
Area: 10 acres (4.0 ha)
Built: 1930
Architect: W.W. Ahlschlager & Associates with Delano & Aldrich
Architectural style: Art Deco
Governing body: Private
NRHP Reference#: 82003578[1]
Added to NRHP: August 5, 1982
Carew Tower, the second tallest building in Cincinnati, is an example of French Art Deco.

Carew Tower is the second tallest building in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. 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 waterfront, and is a National Historic Landmark. 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 architecture" and was used as the model for the Empire State Building in New York City. The building was eclipsed by the Great American Insurance Building at Queen City Square on July 13, 2010, rising 86 feet (26 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. It is named for Joseph T. Carew, proprietor of the Mabley & Carew department store chain, which had previously operated on the site since 1877.

Contents

History

The building was designed by the architectural firm W.W. Ahlschlager & Associates with Delano & Aldrich and developed by John J. Emery. 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. [2] [3]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, 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, and the Hotel Emery were demolished. [4]

Construction began in September 1929, just one month before the stock market crash on October 24 that triggered the Great Depression. Because of this, construction was continued on a modified plan. The grand details (architectural motifs, friezes, and decorative metal) that are common on art deco buildings were stopped at the third floor and plain bricks were used on the floors above. Art deco themes can be found throughout the building, particularly in the metalwork and grillwork of the elevators 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 architectural sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan.

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, 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, since Cincinnati was the stand-in for the show's fictional locale of Monticello. Coincidentally (or not), Procter & Gamble 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, Indiana, 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 was attached to the upper floors.

Statistics

View of Carew Tower from Tower Place atrium
The elevator lobby of the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza displays Art Deco style with original postal drop box, still in use today.

Name & location

Official Name: Carew Tower
Namesake: Joseph T. Carew
Address: 441 Vine Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Cross streets: Vine Street
West 5th Street
Zone: Fountain Square
Neighborhood: Central Business District / Riverfront
District: District 1 (center)
Current status: In use (designated National Historic Landmark 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

Gallery

See also

  • List of tallest buildings in Cincinnati

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ Painter, Sue Ann. Architecture in Cincinnati: An Illustrated History of Designing and Building an American City, Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2006.
  3. ^ National Historic Landmark Nomination.
  4. ^ http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=122028&lng=3

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Carew Tower — (2007) Der Carew Tower ist mit 574 Fuß (ca. 175 Meter) Höhe das Wahrzeichen von Cincinnati. Mit der Konstruktion des Towers wurde im September 1929 begonnen, einen Monat vor dem großen Börsencrash, dem schwarzen Freitag. Die Auswirkungen des… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Carew — may refer to:;People *Baron Carew a title in the British peerage *English historic figures **Elizabeth Carew, mistress of Henry VIII of England; her husband was his close friend, Nicholas Carew **Sir George Carew, captain of the Mary Rose ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Carew Castle — is a castle in the civil parish of Carew in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. The famous Carew family take their name from the place, and still own the castle, although it is leased to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, which administers the …   Wikipedia

  • PNC Tower — Localisation Coordonnées …   Wikipédia en Français

  • PNC Tower — The PNC Tower (formerly known as the Central Trust Bank Building) is a 495 foot (151 meter) tall building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. It stands 31 stories tall, overlooking the Ohio River waterfront. It is considered one of the most… …   Wikipedia

  • 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 …   Wikipedia

  • Peter Carew — Sir Peter Carew (1514 ndash;27 November 1575) was a Devonshire adventurer, who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth of England and became a controversial figure in the Tudor re conquest of Ireland. Early life and career Carew was the third… …   Wikipedia

  • RAF Carew Cheriton — was a World War II Royal Air Force airfield of Coastal and Training Command near Carew Pembrokeshire. It was sited 6 miles North of Tenby. It was built on the site of RNAS Pembroke (aka RNAS Milton) from World War I, which had been decommissioned …   Wikipedia

  • Nicholas Carew (courtier) — For other people of the same name, see Nicholas Carew (disambiguation). Sir Nicholas Carew in full jousting armour[1] by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532–33. Sir Nicholas Carew KG (c. 1496–3 March 1539) was an English cour …   Wikipedia

  • Constable of the Tower — General Sir Richard Dannatt, dressed in the ceremonial attire of the Constable of the Tower The Constable of the Tower is the most senior appointment at the Tower of London. In the middle ages a constable was the person in charge of a castle when …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”