The Cleveland Trust Company

Cleveland Trust Company Building

Cleveland Trust Company on East 9th and Euclid
General information
Status Complete
Location
Cleveland, Ohio 44115 USA
Completed 1907
Height
Antenna spire 93 ft (28 m)
Technical details
Floor count 3
Cleveland Trust Company
Area less than one acre
Built 1905-1907
Architect George B. Post
Architectural style Renaissance, other
NRHP Reference # 73001410[1]
Added to NRHP November 26, 1973

The Cleveland Trust Company is a historic 1907-built 85 foot tall dominating edifice that sits at the prominent Cleveland intersection of East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland's Nine-Twelve District.[2] Its glass enclosed rotunda is its most striking feature in that it was designed by one, Louis Comfort Tiffany and his firm in New York.[3] The building also features multilevel columns and ornate pediment that depicts the figures of commerce and finance that attest to the march of progress designed by Karl Bitter.[4] The Trust Building is Renaissance in form and was designed by George B. Post.[5] The bank building still stands as a link between Cleveland, Post and Francis David Millet who created several murals for the bank's headquarters and died on board the Titanic in 1912.[6] The Trust Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[7] The building is connected to the Swetland Building and The 9 Cleveland.

Cleveland Trust and Cleveland Banking

The Cleveland Trust Company was not simply a bank. For this reason, the Cleveland Trust bank board of directors was determined to find someone who would prove that the company provided vital links to culture and society in the city of Cleveland. Cleveland Trust was founded in 1894 and was one of the first banks in the United States to adopt the European and Canadian model of branch locations.[8] This meant that for the first time people did not have to travel literally sometimes miles to the bank to transact business and could instead rely on having a local branch in their neighborhood. Cleveland Trust took great strides in investing in the future and showed as much by hiring former World's Columbian Exposition architect George B. Post who had created the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building for that World's Fair in Chicago.[9] Post was a giant in the architectural world and embodied the company's goal of furthering the mark of their brand on the banking and finance world. The company wanted a transformative building that would speak to the reputation that they had as a bank, a company and a Cleveland business engine. With this in mind, construction commenced in 1905 at Erie Street (East 9th) and Euclid Avenue and was completed in 1907.[10] The eleganceness of the building and its fine detailing caught the banking world by storm, these unique touches included sophisticated office spaces and spacious teller windows that wrapped around the rotunda.[11]

Opening & Closing of Cleveland Trust

Opened in 1908, the Cleveland Trust would soon have competition in the audacity of its corporate home. In 1924, the Union Commerce Building would rise across the street from Cleveland Trust Company Building. The Cleveland Trust would go on to become the sixth largest bank in America in 1920's and would continue to grow until the 1970s when it became the target of then Cleveland mayor Dennis Kucinich's criticism because of the default of Cleveland regarding its loan debt ratio with Cleveland Trust (by 1979 called Ameritrust) being the major holder of that debt.[12] Eventually Ameritrust merged with one of the other huge Cleveland banks, Society National Bank (the other big bank being National City Corporation) in 1991.[13] The ultimate fate of the Cleveland Trust was spelled out when Key Bank of Albany, New York bought out Society National Bank and formed the new KeyCorp of Cleveland, Ohio. So by the end of 1991, Cleveland was left with two big banks, National City and Key.

Reopening of Cleveland Trust Building

There had been many calls to open the building to the public over the past 25 years. The Cleveland Trust rotunda was used for the Ingenuity Fest events downtown in 2006, but that was only for a couple of days. In the days of Jimmy Dimora there was a call to transform the Ameritrust Tower into the county headquarters of Cuyahoga County but those plans for a renovation and repurposing fell through when Dimora was investigated by the FBI for wire fraud, mail fraud, corruption, and lying to federal government officials [14]

Finally, in 2014, the Geis Brothers of Streetsboro completely revamped the whole former Ameritrust complex into The 9 Cleveland.[15] The old Cleveland Trust now houses a grocery store, Heinen's Fine Foods and a nightclub called the Vault.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Burdick, R.L. & Baughman, M. L. (2010). Remembering Cleveland. Turner Publishing:Nashville.
  3. ↑ Whelan, N. (1989). Cleveland: Shaping the Vision. Windsor:Chatsworth, California.
  4. ↑ Tassel, D. D. & Garbowski, J. J. (1987). The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Indiana University Press:Bloomington, Indiana.
  5. ↑ http://clevelandcentennial.blogspot.com/2010/12/cleveland-trust-company.html Cleveland Trust Company Retrieved on 2015-09-28
  6. ↑ Whitley, M. A. (2003). Voyage, the quarterly journal of the Titanic International Society 47, 3-8.
  7. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/nr/research/ Spreadsheet of NRHP list Retrieved on 2015-09-28
  8. ↑ http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=B2 Banking Retrieved on 2015-09-26
  9. ↑ http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1386.html World's Columbian Exposition Retrieved on 2015-09-26
  10. ↑ http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/OCLWHi0299.xml;chunk.id=bioghist_1;brand=default History of Ameritrust Corporation Retrieved on 2015-09-28
  11. ↑ Karberg R. E. & Toman, J. A. (2002). Euclid Avenue: Cleveland's Sophisticated Lady: 1920-1970. Cleveland Landmark Press:Cleveland, Ohio.
  12. ↑ http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=A8 Ameritrust Retrieved on 2015-09-28
  13. ↑ http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/OCLWHi0299.xml;chunk.id=bioghist_1;brand=default History of Ameritrust Corporation Retrieved on 2015-09-28
  14. ↑ Atassi, L. (June 02, 2014). Jimmy Dimora and Vince Russo among Ameritrust schemers, Cuyahoga County lawsuit states. The Plain Dealer
  15. ↑ http://archive.wkyc.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=317241 Project transforming Cleveland Trust building Retrieved on 2015-09-28
  16. ↑ Lint, S. (February 25, 2015). Old Cleveland Trust bank vault houses office for Heinen's managers. The Plain Dealer
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