Cleveland Arcade

Our original destination today was The Westside Market but it was closed so we headed for downtown Cleveland, had lunch, visited the Arcade, and then to the Natural History Museum.

The Cleveland Arcade is one of the most beautiful buildings I have visited.

The Arcade was designed by Cleveland architect, John Eisenmann. The project, completed in 1890, cost $867,000 and was financed by the leading industrialists of the day: John D Rockefeller, Marcus Hanna, and Charles Brush.
The structure, said to be modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan Italy, was the first Cleveland building to be added to the National Register of Historic Places (in 1975). The Arcade is considered to be one of the first indoor shopping malls in the United States.

The Arcade runs the length of the block between Euclid Avenue and Superior Avenue. The building consists of two brick, 9-story towers -- one at either end -- and a 5-story glass and metal atrium with a 100 foot skylight ceiling connecting the two. The atrium is decorated with extensive metalwork and the atrium's top floor features a row of gargoyles that gaze down on shoppers.


Larger View