Howard M. Metzenbaum United States Courthouse
Encyclopedia
The Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse is a historic courthouse
and post office
building located on Superior Avenue in downtown
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
. Its west side faces Public Square
and its north side faces The Mall
. It was formerly the Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse and also known as Old Federal Building and Post Office.
.
New York Architect Arnold W. Brunner (1857–1925) designed this imposing building under the direction of Supervising Architect
of the Treasury James Knox Taylor
(1857–1929). It is one of 35 buildings constructed during Taylor's tenure (1883–1912) that were designed by independent architects commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Tarsney Act. The 1893 Act authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to use private architects, selected through competitions, to design Federal buildings. As a process, it manifested the growing demand for greater architectural standards for public buildings and opened the way for additional appropriations to maintain those standards.
As the first building erected under the Group Plan, the federal building was the model for later structures. The Group Plan proposed that local and federal government buildings be placed around a grand Mall. Embraced from the late 19th century into the first decades of the 20th century, the City Beautiful movement had its beginnings with the monumental planning and predominately classical architectural style of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago. Celebrated architect Daniel Burnham
, who was instrumental in promoting the nationwide adoption of City Beautiful Movement principles, served as a member of the design team that produced the Group Plan. Arnold W. Brunner, working as an independent architect, and John Merven Carrère, of the prominent New York firm of Carrère and Hastings
, also served on the team. The Federal Building formed one half of the Mall's termination at Superior Avenue. Cleveland's Public Library
(1925), forming the other half of this terminus, emulates the Federal Building in scale, mass, and general overall appearance.
The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1974. On May 27, 1998, the building was officially renamed in honor of U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum
of Ohio.
Inspiration for the design of this Beaux Arts building came from the Place de la Concorde
in Paris as well as the work of French architect and theorist Francois Blondel. The resulting design presents a rusticated
first floor and 42 feet (12.8 m) Corinthian order
columns and pilaster
s on each elevation. These massive columns and pilasters define the sequence of window bays on the second, third, and fourth stories. Rusticated stone-arched windows with carved keystones adorn the first story. The more ornate second-story windows are capped with classically inspired pediment
s and balustraded sills. The third- and fourth-story window openings have molded surrounds and bracketed sills. Screening the fifth floor is an expansive entablature
capped by a balustraded parapet that rises nine feet. A low-hipped, standing-seam copper roof crowns the building with attic dormer
windows facing the interior light court. The parapet
s are adorned with shields and carved stone eagles at the building's corners.
The main entrance to the building is centered on the Superior Avenue facade. Granite steps lead to three rusticated stone arches once fitted with cast bronze doors and ornate bronze lanterns hang from cast bronze brackets. The original doors have been replaced.
Flanking the primary entrance are two important sculptures executed by the famed sculptor Daniel Chester French
(1850–1931). "Jurisprudence" is located on the Public Square corner, while "Commerce" sits at the corner of East Third Street and Superior Avenue. "Jurisprudence" is personified by a mother figure clasping her baby while a criminal crouches in chains. "Commerce" is depicted as a female figure holding a model ship in one hand while her other arm rests on a globe representing the opportunity for world trade. At her right is "Electricity," symbolized by a female figure holding a magnet catching electrical sparks. "Steam," located to her left, is represented by a male figure grasping a wheel.
On the interior, the grand main lobby dominates the first floor as it runs east to west across the entire length of the building. The floors, walls, and vaulted ceiling of the lobby are surfaced with marble. Original chandeliers illuminate the space. The postal service windows are located along the lobby's north wall. Marble stairs wrap around three sides of the elevator shafts, located at the east and west ends of the public lobby. Cast-bronze, spread-wing eagles standing on globes appear over each pair of elevator doors. Corner offices in the upper floors are adorned with impressive murals depicting significant events in the history of Cleveland. Among the magnificent artworks are "City of Cleveland Welcomes the Arts" by Will Hicok Low
(1853–1932), and the "Battle of Lake Erie" by Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum
(1849–1925). Murals in the ceremonial courtrooms on the third floor are "The Common Law" by Henry Siddons Mowbray
(1858–1928), and "The Law" by Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848–1936).
A major renovation project to restore public spaces and modernize the mechanical systems was initiated in 2002. Although the primary activities of the U.S. District Court system have moved to the new Carl B. Stokes Federal Court House Building
a few blocks west, the ceremonial courtrooms in the Metzenbaum Courthouse will continue to be used for public hearings and proceedings. New client agencies moving into the renovated building will include the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Office of the U.S. Trustee, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
building located on Superior Avenue in downtown
Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years...
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Cuyahoga County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. It is the most populous county in Ohio; as of the 2010 census, the population was 1,280,122. Its county seat is Cleveland. Cuyahoga County is part of Greater Cleveland, a metropolitan area, and Northeast Ohio, a...
. Its west side faces Public Square
Public Square
Public Square is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and the Terminal Tower, face the square...
and its north side faces The Mall
The Mall (Cleveland)
The Cleveland Mall is a long public park in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was conceived as part of the 1903 Group Plan by Daniel Burnham, John Carrère, and Arnold Brunner as a vast public space flanked by the city's major civic and governmental buildings, all built in the neoclassical style...
. It was formerly the Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse and also known as Old Federal Building and Post Office.
Building history
The Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse, also known as the Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, is a monumental anchor to Cleveland's Civic Mall. Fronting the Mall and Public Square, it was the first building erected under Cleveland's 1903 Group Plan, which illustrates the urban planning ideals of the City Beautiful movementCity Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
.
New York Architect Arnold W. Brunner (1857–1925) designed this imposing building under the direction of Supervising Architect
Office of the Supervising Architect
The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939....
of the Treasury James Knox Taylor
James Knox Taylor
James Knox Taylor was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed ex officio as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings built throughout the United States during the period.-Early career:The son of H...
(1857–1929). It is one of 35 buildings constructed during Taylor's tenure (1883–1912) that were designed by independent architects commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Tarsney Act. The 1893 Act authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to use private architects, selected through competitions, to design Federal buildings. As a process, it manifested the growing demand for greater architectural standards for public buildings and opened the way for additional appropriations to maintain those standards.
As the first building erected under the Group Plan, the federal building was the model for later structures. The Group Plan proposed that local and federal government buildings be placed around a grand Mall. Embraced from the late 19th century into the first decades of the 20th century, the City Beautiful movement had its beginnings with the monumental planning and predominately classical architectural style of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago. Celebrated architect Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...
, who was instrumental in promoting the nationwide adoption of City Beautiful Movement principles, served as a member of the design team that produced the Group Plan. Arnold W. Brunner, working as an independent architect, and John Merven Carrère, of the prominent New York firm of Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
, also served on the team. The Federal Building formed one half of the Mall's termination at Superior Avenue. Cleveland's Public Library
Cleveland Public Library
The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
(1925), forming the other half of this terminus, emulates the Federal Building in scale, mass, and general overall appearance.
The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974. On May 27, 1998, the building was officially renamed in honor of U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum
Howard Metzenbaum
Howard Morton Metzenbaum was an American politician who served for almost 20 years as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from Ohio . He also served in the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate from 1943 to 1951.-Early life:Metzenbaum was born in Cleveland, to a poor Jewish family, the son...
of Ohio.
Architecture
The Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse is one of Cleveland's great monumental public buildings, skillfully illustrating the strong, classical characteristics of Beaux-Arts architecture. The five-story, granite-faced building was constructed between 1903 and 1910. The building covers the entire city block bounded by Rockwell Avenue on the north, Superior Avenue on the south, East Third Street on the east, and Public Square on the west.Inspiration for the design of this Beaux Arts building came from the Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.- History :...
in Paris as well as the work of French architect and theorist Francois Blondel. The resulting design presents a rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
first floor and 42 feet (12.8 m) Corinthian order
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns and pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s on each elevation. These massive columns and pilasters define the sequence of window bays on the second, third, and fourth stories. Rusticated stone-arched windows with carved keystones adorn the first story. The more ornate second-story windows are capped with classically inspired pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s and balustraded sills. The third- and fourth-story window openings have molded surrounds and bracketed sills. Screening the fifth floor is an expansive entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
capped by a balustraded parapet that rises nine feet. A low-hipped, standing-seam copper roof crowns the building with attic dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
windows facing the interior light court. The parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s are adorned with shields and carved stone eagles at the building's corners.
The main entrance to the building is centered on the Superior Avenue facade. Granite steps lead to three rusticated stone arches once fitted with cast bronze doors and ornate bronze lanterns hang from cast bronze brackets. The original doors have been replaced.
Flanking the primary entrance are two important sculptures executed by the famed sculptor Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
(1850–1931). "Jurisprudence" is located on the Public Square corner, while "Commerce" sits at the corner of East Third Street and Superior Avenue. "Jurisprudence" is personified by a mother figure clasping her baby while a criminal crouches in chains. "Commerce" is depicted as a female figure holding a model ship in one hand while her other arm rests on a globe representing the opportunity for world trade. At her right is "Electricity," symbolized by a female figure holding a magnet catching electrical sparks. "Steam," located to her left, is represented by a male figure grasping a wheel.
On the interior, the grand main lobby dominates the first floor as it runs east to west across the entire length of the building. The floors, walls, and vaulted ceiling of the lobby are surfaced with marble. Original chandeliers illuminate the space. The postal service windows are located along the lobby's north wall. Marble stairs wrap around three sides of the elevator shafts, located at the east and west ends of the public lobby. Cast-bronze, spread-wing eagles standing on globes appear over each pair of elevator doors. Corner offices in the upper floors are adorned with impressive murals depicting significant events in the history of Cleveland. Among the magnificent artworks are "City of Cleveland Welcomes the Arts" by Will Hicok Low
Will Hicok Low
Will Hicok Low was a United States artist and writer on art.-Biography:He was born at Albany, New York. In 1873 he entered the atelier of Jean-Léon Gérôme in the École des Beaux Arts at Paris, subsequently joining the classes of Carolus-Duran, with whom he remained until 1877...
(1853–1932), and the "Battle of Lake Erie" by Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum
Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum
Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum is primarily known as an illustrator for late 19th century news magazines, but he was also a journalist and author. His works were regularly featured in Harper’s Weekly magazine.-Early life:...
(1849–1925). Murals in the ceremonial courtrooms on the third floor are "The Common Law" by Henry Siddons Mowbray
Henry Siddons Mowbray
Henry Siddons Mowbray was an American artist.-Biography:He was born of English parents at Alexandria, Egypt. His father, George M. Mowbray, was an expert in explosives. Left an orphan, the son was taken to America by an uncle, who settled at North Adams, Massachusetts...
(1858–1928), and "The Law" by Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848–1936).
A major renovation project to restore public spaces and modernize the mechanical systems was initiated in 2002. Although the primary activities of the U.S. District Court system have moved to the new Carl B. Stokes Federal Court House Building
Carl B. Stokes Federal Court House Building
The Carl B. Stokes Federal Court House Building is a skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio...
a few blocks west, the ceremonial courtrooms in the Metzenbaum Courthouse will continue to be used for public hearings and proceedings. New client agencies moving into the renovated building will include the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Office of the U.S. Trustee, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Significant events
- 1893: Passage of the Tarsney Act permits the Federal Government to hire private architects through competitions.
- 1902: The 1858 federal building is demolished to allow for the construction of a new U.S. Post Office, Custom House, and Courthouse building.
- 1903: The Cleveland Group Plan is presented; construction of the new federal building begins under direction of New York architect Arnold W. Brunner.
- 1910: Construction is completed.
- 1934: The main U.S. Post Office moves out of the building.
- 1950: The U.S. General Services Administration initiates alterations and construction of additional courtrooms.
- 1974: The building is listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. - 1998: The building is renamed in honor of U.S. Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum of Ohio.
- 2002: Extensive rehabilitation and modernization of the building to better serve new client agencies.
Building facts
- Architect: Arnold W. Brunner
- Construction Dates: 1903-1910
- Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Location: 201 Superior Avenue, NE
- Architectural Style: Beaux Arts
- Primary Materials: Gray granite
- Prominent Features: Exterior sculptures "Jurisprudence" and "Commerce" by Daniel Chester French; Ceremonial Courtrooms
External links
- Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse , uscourts.gov