Terminal Tower Observation Deck (4/17/2016)

Sunday, April 17, 2016
We took advantage of a clear day to take the RTA rapid transit train downtown to get a view from the Terminal Tower observation deck.
At the information desk, we learned that the only way to get tickets for the observation deck was on the internet! Thank goodness we had a smart phone with us to make the transaction! What is a simple tourist going to do?
The Terminal Tower (1926-1930, designed by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White) was built for the Van Sweringen brothers as an office building atop the railroad station. Originally meant to be 14 stories, it grew to 52 stories (708 feet) and became the tallest building in the world outside of New York City, until 1953. It is considered a Giralda tower, a style of tower that was popular with the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, and was influenced by the Giralda Tower in Seville Spain. That tower itself was based on the Koutoubia Minaret (late 12th century) in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Terminal Tower

Terminal Tower main entrance

Ornate lobby ceiling

Mirrored grillwork at entrance to the
Higbee Building (now housing the Horseshoe Casino,
soon to be Jack Cleveland Casino)

Elevator lobby

The observation deck is reached by taking an elevator to the 32nd floor, then an express elevator to the 42nd floor. The floor had been closed to the public since 9/11 in 2001, but has undergone renovation to restore it to its original look in the 1930s, and was re-opened in 2010.

Observation deck with original exposed radiators
and Venetian blinds on the windows!

Display of Terminal Tower artifacts

View NE towards Lake Erie with Key Tower,
and Public Square below

Key Tower usurped the title of the tallest building in Ohio in 1991.

View N with FirstEnergy Stadium and the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame & Museum on the waterfront

View SE with Quicken Loans Arena in the center,
and Progressive Field behind it

Both a Cleveland Indians MLB game and a Cleveland Cavaliers NBA playoff game were scheduled today!

View S at the Cuyahoga River;
remember that Cuyahoga is said to mean "crooked"!

The Sherwin Williams Research Lab at its corporate headquarters;
note the logo in the center of the basketball court

Even the restroom was retro!

There has been a peregrine falcon nest on the outside ledge of the 12th floor of the Terminal Tower since 1991, and the 12-year reigning female was deposed in 2014 by a rival.
The guard on the observation deck knew nothing about the peregrine falcons, and the guard in the elevator lobby knew the spiel on the peregrine falcons, but no one knew who and where they were at the moment. There is a peregrine falcon webcam, that currently comes up as an error. I can only guess that the falcons have not yet returned for the spring.

1940s- style microphone (Microphonic, 2012)
by Stephen Manka, following the the theme of the
Buckeye-Woodhill RTA rapid station:
"the heart [art] and soul of Buckeye," as nod to
the annual Soul of Buckeye jazz festival

The Art and Soul of Buckeye Community Park
with Trumpet Man and Dog (2008) by James Simon
and tiled Seating Wall by Angelica Pozo

Shaker Gate Post (c. 1830) in Shaker Square,
which came from the Center Family community
of the North Union Shakers, located at
Shaker Boulevard and Lee Road