Ameritrust Tower to come down
By JAY MILLER
4:21 pm, March 29, 2007
The Cuyahoga County commissioners voted 2-1 today to tear down the Ameritrust Tower at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue and replace it with a new county administration building.
The dissenting vote was cast by Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones. Commissioners Jimmy Dimora and Tim Hagan were in favor of replacing the 1971 tower designed by French architect Marcel Breuer.
The decision to bring the building down was part of $22.6 million in contracts approved to remove asbestos from four buildings in the Ameritrust complex and demolish the tower and the 1010 Euclid Building.
The architectural team of Kohn Pederson Fox of New York and Cleveland-based Robert P. Madison International recommended tearing the Breuer building down and will design the new building.
Mr. Madison, who studied architecture in France and told the commissioners that his student work had been critiqued by Mr. Breuer, disagreed with those who want the building saved. He said while the opponents describe the Ameritrust Tower as an excellent example of Brutalism, a style of architecture that sought to elevate raw concrete forms, “It isn’t.” He said other buildings better represented the style.
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3 comments:
Ok, why is this not a pissing match for some bitter architect?
Why are the only buildings being built in downtown either (a) tax abated to all get out or (b) public buildings exempted from tax abatement?
I can't even get excited for this.
You are correct. There is not much to be excited about here.
I don't think that they should demolish 1010 Euclid. That building would make good housing, I would rather not see the Rotunda used as and entrance either, it could be used as a retail space. I think they should take those pieces and develop them. The tower,mid rise and garage can be rebuilt...but they should add more parking then is currently there, when the bank used the site they dd not hve so many venues around them, parking will be short if they do not with 2000 employees.
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