The City of Cincinnati is certainly no slouch when it comes to architecture and signature buildings.
Indeed, downtown is literally studded with 'starchitect' buildings from both past and present. If you were to run down a quick list of some of the more prominent names, you would find Daniel Burnham, notable for the "
City Beautiful" movement and 1892 Chicago World Exposition, who designed a cluster of buildings in and around 4th, 5th and Walnut Streets, as well as others from bygone eras including Cass Gilbert, H.H. Richardson and John Russell Pope - all of whom played a key part in crafting the look and feel of downtown's cityscape.
Fast forward to the present and we are fortunate to find new structures such as Zaha Hadid's
Contemporary Art Center - famously declared in 2003 by the
New York Times' Herbert Muschamp as the "most important new building in America since the end of the Cold War." (DAAP graduate Michael Graves designed the previous location of the CAC on 5th near Walnut.) World reknowned architect Cesar Pelli's fingerprints can also be found across the street from Hadid's CAC at the
Aronoff Center for the Performing Arts, built in 1995.
But one of the most important post-war structures in the city often receives little to no fanfare by many casual observers, as it looms silently and somewhat forlornly above downtown. The
Terrace Plaza Hotel, located at the Southwest corner of 6th and Vine, is considered by many to be the most important Modernist building in Cincinnati, worthy of national and even international significance. To the average downtown pedestrian, this is the giant seven story blank brick wall which houses Batsakes' millinery and shoeshine and Wendels' clothing and accessories on the ground floor and, well, a giant, vacant window-less monolith up above.
However, at the time of its inception, the hotel, referred to by some as the "pushbutton palace" for its modern switchboard telephone technology, was groundbreaking both in terms of amenities as well as style. Aaron Betsky, current Director of the
Cincinnati Art Museum, and former director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam, considers the Terrace Hotel one of Cincinnati’s architectural masterpieces.
"[It's] a finely poised example of an era in which we still believed in a future that would not only be more logical and rational, but elegant and sophisticated as well. Its simple forms, good proportions and restraint still stand in contrast to some of the more elaborate attempts since then to enliven our downtown. It is like a classic tweed suit in a party of double-knits," he says.
In its heyday, the Terrace Plaza was truly a monumental work of art in downtown Cincinnati. Constructed by local developer John J. Emery, Jr. between 1946-48, the building was designed by the New York office of famed Modernist firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and noted architect Gordon Bunshaft (designer of New York’s
Lever House). More importantly, however, given Bunshaft’s unavailability due to WWII, the lead designer on the project was
Natalie DeBlois, a rare woman in a male-dominated profession, who had a somewhat tangential local connection in that she attended the Western College for Women in Oxford for a year before transferring to Columbia. Although DeBlois never actually visited Cincinnati during the design and construction, she had a hand in virtually every aspect of the project, including interior design.
And the Terrace's interiors were equally as impressive as its exteriors. In a flourish of visionary, au courant style which should not go unrecognized, Emery commissioned artists Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, Saul Steinberg and Jim Davis to create signature works of art to be used in the interior. Miro’s stunning
mural was painted in a Harlem art studio,and previewed at the Museum of Modern Art before being installed along the southwest wall of the Terrace's circular, cantilevered 20th floor Gourmet Room restaurant. It is truly stunning to see photos from the 1950s, as diners sit in the Grill Room insouciantly sawing away at their steaks, smoking cigarettes and swilling martinis while the Miro masterpiece sits literally inches from the backs of their banquette, ready to catch a wayward flick of meat from a fork or splash of gin from a glass. Calder's
mobile soared in the main lobby, Steinberg's
view of Cincinnati covered the South wall of the 8th floor Skyline Room restaurant while Davis’ Plexiglas light sculpture presided over the Terrace Bar on the same floor.
Fortunately for all, most of the prized artwork, removed in 1965, currently resides at the Cincinnati Art Museum, where the Miro mural and Calder mobile are prominently displayed outside the Museum’s own Terrace Cafe. The 90 foot long Steinberg mural, "
A New Yorker’s View of Cincinnati," while not currently on display (and one of only two remaining Steinberg murals), was the subject of an exhibit at the Museum in 2007-08. The whereabouts of Davis' piece are, sadly, unknown.
Five or so years ago, a glitzy condo/boutique hotel conversion project dubbed "Next" was proposed for the building. Fast forward a year or so, as "Next" went "Nowhere," and in 2005 the building was sold to a pair of New York investors for $26 million while it continued to operate as a hotel. The hotel quietly and abruptly shut down in October of last year and has been dormant ever since.
Last Spring, DAAP students used the Terrace Plaza as the subject of their Studio project. The show was an entertaining eye opener, with the lower seven floors of the building being used for varied combinations of fitness facilities, nightclubs, bowling alleys and even movie theaters. Even more stunning were how the huge brick exterior walls were transformed into living pieces of art and media, with images such as the Miro mural being projected onto both sides of the building, as well as news and ticker tapes. Truly visionary and vibrant stuff. Of all the possible hotel projects floating around town, the Terrace Plaza, with the right backers and vision, is unique like no other, and could further cement Cincinnati’s reputation as a city of world class architecture.
Since its closure, the owners have been actively marketing the property locally through Joe Janszen and Nick Barela at Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Although the Grill Room on top has not been open since 1992, the balance of the hotel has been fairly well maintained. There are 350 hotel rooms and approximately 270,000 square feet of office space available. For my money, a boutique hotel a la the "W," a Morgans Group Hotel or, ideally, Louisville’s stunning
21c would be ideal in this space, perhaps offsetting some of the hotel space with condo or apartment conversion. It's amazing to consider the unlimited potential in the event if the structure was brought back to its place at the apogee of post-war modernism, replete with reproductions of the original artwork. In New York or LA it would be the absolute hottest spot in town, and, as supporters like Betsky have argued for several years, "Cincinnati could certainly use such a facility."
Alas, Cincinnati is not exactly New York or LA, and many experts think the price points necessary to bring in a W or similar boutique-style hotel would not fly in the current economic market. Moreover 21c’s name has recently been tossed around in connection with the just-announced 3CDC acquisition of the single room occupancy
Metropole residential hotel on Walnut - a great location, admittedly, but the Terrace has so much more potential. Add to that a market where occupancy rates for hotels in the tri-state have declined by approximately 9.6% for the first nine months of 2009 to 51.6% and the challenge is particularly daunting.
But the Terrace Plaza is a soaring, rose brick symbol of mid-century design in downtown Cincinnati. From the vertical slab atop a horizontal terrace base, to the cylinder of glass and steel cantilevered out on top, to the custom designed Thonet furniture, Abe Feder lighting, monogrammed Rookwood ashtrays, Marianne Strengell textiles, marble veneers and even the lettering font on the rest rooms of the Grill Room (one of the last vestiges of the original structure after an atrocious 80’s style makeover), the structure is an icon of an era.
You could even bring back Natalie DeBlois for the re-christening. She’s 88 and still active, swimming daily in Lake Michigan (weather permitting of course). She visited here for the first time ever last November and, unfortunately, the hotel had recently closed - although they were able to give her a tour.
Let’s bring her back for the Grand Re-Opening.
Special thanks to Shawn Patrick Tubb for additional historical facts and images.
Modern Photos by Scott Beseler