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American Insurance Union Citadel and City Hall
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American Insurance Union Citadel and City Hall
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Description
Title
American
Insurance
Union
Citadel
and
City
Hall
Subject
Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works
Skyscrapers--United States--Pictorial works
Municipal buildings--United States
City halls--United States
Allied Architects Association (Columbus, Ohio)
Office buildings--Ohio
Theaters--Ohio--Columbus--History
Leveque Tower (Columbus, Ohio)
Crane, C. Howard (Charles Howard), 1885-1952
National Register of Historic Places
Time Period
1930s
1940s
Place
Columbus (Ohio)
Franklin County (Ohio)
Description
This
photograph
shows
the
American
Insurance
Union
Citadel
(now
LeVeque
Tower)
and the
Columbus
City
Hall
, as
seen
from
across
the
Scioto
River
. The
American
Insurance
Union
Citadel
,
located
at
50
West
Broad
Street
at the
corner
of
Front
Street
, was
designed
by
architect
C
.
Howard
Crane
in the
Art
Deco
style
with
touches
of a
more
modern
version
of the
Byzantine
. The
47-story
tall
skyscraper
,
designed
mainly
as
office
space
,
rises
to an
elevation
of
555.5
feet
, and was
built
to be
6
inches
taller
than the
Washington
Monument
.
Two
18-story
wings
flank
the
building
; on the
east
, the
4
,
000
seat
Keith-Albee
Theater
(now
the
Palace
Theater)
, and on the
west
the
600
room
Deshler-Wallick
Hotel
. The
steel-frame
building
,
completed
in
1927
at a
cost
of
$7
,
800
,
000
, was the
first
building
in
Ohio
to be
erected
on a
caisson
foundation
.
It
was the
fifth
tallest
building
in the
world
for a
time
, and the
tallest
building
in the
city
until
1974
.
Faced
with
cream
colored
,
oak
bark
textured
terra-cotta
,
AIU
Citadel
, as
it
was
known
,
bears
huge
ornamentations
of the
same
material
on the
tower
.
Four
large
eagles
, with a
wing
span
of
22
feet
stood
sentry
on the
36th
floor
, at
each
of the
four
corners
, but have
since
been
removed
. A
26
foot
high
bearded
giant
embracing
two
children
could
be
found
on
each
side
at the
40th
floor
, but were
removed
by
Mr
.
LeVeque
to
allow
for a
view
from his
office
. The
spaces
left
by the
departed
sculpture
serve
as the
bases
for
lights
used
to
illuminate
the
tower
. These and
other
exterior
ornamentations
were
executed
by
Fritz
Albert
, of
Chicago
, from
models
by
Carl
H
.
Keck
,
New
York
sculptor
,
including
the
helmeted
guardians
below
the
dome
topped
balistraria
.
Throughout
the
building's
history
praise
has been
give
for the
bright
and
elaborate
lighting
of its
tower
.
It
was
known
as "the
first
aerial
lighthouse
" as
signal
lights
on the
four
turrets
of the
tower
served
as
beacons
in the
night
for
aviators
.
Since
the
1980s
the
tower
has had the
capability
of
being
lit
in a
variety
of
colors
.
It
is
normally
lit
in
white
, but
color
is
added
frequently
for
special
occasion
. An
observation
deck
was
operated
through
the
1960s
where
visitors
could
travel
to the
top
of the
tower
for a
small
fee
. The
deck
was
closed
with the
addition
of
antennas
to the
top
of the
tower
and the
space
was
converted
into a
luxury
penthouse
apartment
. The
public
areas
of the
interior
are
made
of
Belgian
and
Italian
marbles
,
bronze
and
mosaics
were
used
extensively
throughout
. In the
marble
floor
of the
lobby
is
a
bronze
plaque
bearing
the
horoscope
of the
building
,
which
shows
the
position
of the
planets
when
the
cornerstone
of the
building
was
laid
,
February
13
,
1926
. The
Hall
of
Mirrors
, on the
second
floor
,
is
an
outstanding
show
place
. Its
large
,
gold-tinted
mirrors
,
inlaid
with
panel
work
,
vaulted
ceiling
, and
other
features
were
copied
from the
original
Hall
of
Mirrors
in the
Palace
of
Versailles
.
Due
to the
Great
Depression
the
American
Insurance
Union
went
bankrupt
, and
sold
the
building
. The
tower
was
purchased
by
John
Lincoln
and
Leslie
L
.
LeVeque
in
1945
.
LeVeque
was the
designer
of an
automatic
pinsetter
for
bowling
which
became
known
as the
Columbus
pinsetter
. The
Lincoln-LeVeque
Tower
was
added
to the
National
Register
of
Historic
Places
in
1975
and in
1977
, the
name
was
officially
changed
to the
LeVeque
Tower
. The
building
changed
hands
to
Lennar
Properties
in
2004
, and then
again
to the
new
owners
Finsilver/Friedman
Management
, a
Michigan
based
regional
developer
and
property
manager
. The
City
Hall
,
located
90
West
Broad
Street
,
bounded
by
Gay
,
Front
, and
Broad
Sts.
, and
Riverside
Drive
,
occupies
, with its
park
, and
entire
block
in the
heart
of the
civic
center
. The
5-story
structure
of
Indiana
limestone
, in
Greco-Roman
style
, was
designed
by the
Allied
Architects
Association
of
Columbus
and
cost
$1
,
700
,
000
.
Three
of the
four
sections
of the
building
,
which
surround
a
court
, were
completed
in
1928
, and the
fourth
was
dedicated
in
1936
. The
hall
houses
various
municipal
departments
and
contains
a
city
council
chamber
that
originally
sat
more
than
400
people
. At
night
multi-colored
lights
played
upon
a
fountain
before
the
Broad
Street
entrance
.
Creator
Ohio
Federal
Writers
'
Project
Collection
Ohio
Guide
Photographs
Source
State
Archives
Series
1039
AV
Submitting Institution
Ohio Historical Society
Rights
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to
http://www.ohiohistory.org/images/information
Type
StillImage
File Name
SA1039AV_B11F05_42_001.tif
Image Height
6063
Image Width
5023
File Size
91380008 Bytes
Display File Type
image/jp2
Format
picture
Date created
2010-04-20
Date modified
2011-06-12
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