rev:text
| - Spectacular and and unique, the Cleveland Arcade is one of the very best, and one of the few surviving, masterful examples of this type of 19th-century architecture in the world. Financed by John D. Rockefeller, this magnificant 300-foot open arcade was modeled after a building in Milan, Italy. This was a shopping mall built into the downtown fabric of the city before shopping malls had even really been conceived, and this one shows that enclosed but open public spaces can uplift rather than depress.
I once attended a rally for Walter Mondale's presidential campaign here, and with flags, bunting, and four levels and a floor of wildly angry Cleveland workers, students, and local Democrats trying to bring down the Reagan regime by cheering on old timey pol Walter Mondale, it was like being transported back to the 1890's.
Cleveland wisely chose to preserve this arcade and a couple smaller and less spectacular examples of the style in the neighborhood, and it's been redeveloped several times, most recently as the centerpiece of a Hyatt Regency, which is a bit depressing. It's still worth a walk through to marvel at the thousands of panes of glass that make up the huge vaulted ceiling and the magnificent brass railings, and you might find a treat or treasure in the two floors of shops that remain.
|