James Corner (Landscape Architect)
Introduction
Public Square (lit. 'Public Square') is the central square of Downtown Cleveland, in the state of Ohio (United States). Based on a 19th-century New England model, it was part of the original 1796 city plan supervised by the city's founder, General Moses Cleaveland, of the Connecticut Land Company. The historic downtown core of the city was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The 10-acre plaza is located at the former intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Street. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and Terminal Tower, face it. Other nearby landmarks include the 1855 Old Stone Church (Cleveland) and the former Higbee's Department Store, made famous in the 1983 film A Christmas Story.
Originally designed as four separate plazas bisected by Superior Avenue and Ontario Street, the plaza was redeveloped in 2016 by the city into a more pedestrian-friendly environment by routing most traffic around the plaza. The section of Ontario Street through the plaza was removed, while the Superior Avenue section was rebuilt to allow only buses with stops for multiple Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority bus lines. The northern half of the plaza is primarily green space and includes a statue of reform-minded Mayor Tom L. Johnson. The southern half is primarily a paved plaza area with a cafe and water fountain adjacent to the 38.1 m "Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Cleveland)") and a statue of Moses Cleaveland.
History
Contenido
Public Square aparece en el plan original de Connecticut Land Company") para la ciudad, supervisado por Moses Cleaveland") en la década de 1790. La plaza es la firma del diseño de las primeras ciudades de Nueva Inglaterra, que se inspiró en Cleveland. Esta pasó de ser un prado pasto común para los animales de los colonos, a convertirse en 1879 en la primera calle del mundo iluminada con farolas eléctricas, lámparas de arco diseñadas por Cleveland diseñadas por el nativo Charles F. Brush.[1] La plaza se agregó al Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos el 18 de diciembre de 1975.[2].
En la actualidad, un estacionamiento da a su cuadrante noroeste. Un edificio de 12 pisos de 1913 fue demolido en 1990 para dar paso al nuevo Ameritrust Center, un rascacielos de 365 m diseñado por Kohn Pedersen Fox de Nueva York.[3] Antes de que comenzara la construcción, Ameritrust fue adquirida por Society Bank, que también planeaba construir y posteriormente reubicarse en un nuevo edificio en Public Square: Key Tower (anteriormente conocido como Society Center). Debido a que Society no necesitaba dos rascacielos, se descartaron los planes para el edificio Ameritrust.