The arched entrance façade of the Cincinnati Union Terminal is adorned with Max Keck's Art Deco bas-relief sculptures.

Union Terminal's reception area houses the 106-ft. tall half-dome with eight arched trusses and murals painted by Winold Reiss depicting the everyday life of Cincinnati factory workers.

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AUGUST 2008 »  book review

Queen City Landmarks

Architecture in Cincinnati
by Sue Ann Painter
Ohio University Press in association
with the Architectural Foundation of
Cincinatti, Athens, OH; 2006
252pp.; paperback; 352 color illus.;
$35
ISBN 0-8214-1701-0

Reviewed by Annabel Hsin

In the early 1920s, Cincinnati was on the verge of bankruptcy. The city's government used bonded money to fund city service plans while maintaining low taxes and its main source of income came from interest payments. As a result, the "Queen City of the West" was labeled the "worst-governed" city in the country by a muck-raking journalist for McClure's Magazine. To improve the city's condition, a new form of government, focused on city management, was adopted and city planning became the main concern.

Victor Heintz, statewide organizer for the Harding presidential campaign, along with attorneys and members from the elite Cincinnatian business class were interested in metropolitan growth and formed a new organization called Cincinnatus. The organization took advantage of the new reform mentality and initiated a political movement that changed Cincinnati into a charter city. Cincinnatus became interested in modernizing the transportation system and was responsible for transforming a decade-long plan for the Cincinnati Union Terminal into reality.

The background history of Cincinnati's landmarks can be found in Architecture in Cincinnati, a collaborative work by Sue Ann Painter with additional text by Beth Sullebarger and Jayne Merkel. The writers focus "upon the built environment as it stands today, with reference to the architectural prototypes and planning efforts that have stimulated community building in Greater Cincinnati." One challenging task for the writers was to identify patrons, planners, architects, engineers and artists involved in the process of executing plans for the city's significant structures and it is this effort that sets this book apart from similar works.

The short introduction briefly outlines major events that occurred in Cincinnati's history, followed by ten chapters organized in a timeline fashion beginning in the late 1700s. Each chapter is separated into two sections; the first focuses on the historical events associated with the time period, while the latter documents specific landmarks built within the period. The chapters are accompanied by recent photos by Alice Weston and period photographs, paintings and architectural drawings culled from the Cincinnati Historical Society Library. The scrupulous research results in detailed accounts of Cincinnati's representative architecture; the Cincinnati Union Terminal is one of many mentioned.

The Union Terminal building was the main focus of the project. Seven private railroad companies paid $40 million for the building's construction, while the city acquired land and provided funds for the infrastructure. In the original plans of architect-engineers, Alfred Fellheimer (who had worked on Grand Central Terminal in New York City) and Steward Wagner, the building was supposed to assume a "modernized classical mode."

However, when Paul Cret, a Beaux Arts-trained architect, was hired as an aesthetic consultant; he encouraged the use of a streamlined-modernistic style which resulted in an Art Deco building. Plans for a conventional arched entry and reception area were replaced with a dramatic half-dome, the highest in existence, adorned with murals painted by Winold Reiss depicting the everyday life of Cincinnati factory workers. The two bas-relief sculptures on the entrance façade representing transportation and industry were also sculpted in Art Deco style by Max Keck.

The Union Terminal was completed in 1933 and remained in use until 1972. The shift from railroads to automobiles led to the Union Terminal's downfall. The Terminal's company offered to lease the building to Cincinnati for $1 a year to avoid the expensive operating costs and in the early 1980s, the building was threatened with demolition.

E. Verner Johnson, a museum architect, was hired to help two institutions, the Cincinnati Historical Society and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, seek appropriate sites. He proposed Union Terminal, calling it a "jaw-dropper of a building" and suggested that the two institutions team up to utilize the space. Indeed, the building's design to move large crowds of people through vast spaces suited the different yet compatible museums. In 1990, the Union Terminal building was converted into the Cincinnati Museum Center. It now houses, in addition to the museums, a library and theater. Today, it is designated a National Historic Landmark and National Civic Engineering Landmark.

The Union Terminal story is told in detail at the end of the chapter titled "Modernism and Reform in City Building: 1920-33," in a building profile. These profiles are perhaps the most useful aspect of the book for designers and architects. Each landmark is mentioned briefly in the beginning of the chapter to show its place in history. Its story is retold in the profiles which include minute facts, such as which city council member approved building plans or which organization prompted the idea for the building construction. The profiles survey commercial, residential and religious architecture and are accompanied by historical information focusing on the execution of building plans and functions throughout the lifespan of the building.

Today's Cincinnati cityscape is constantly changing: building plans for structures like the Queen City Square, expected to take over the title as the tallest building in the city, are becoming a reality. The Banks project, which started construction in April 2008 after years of planning, will fill in the 12-block gap between the Paul Brown Stadium and the Great American Ball Park on the Ohio riverfront. With the constant addition of new buildings, it's useful to have Architecture in Cincinnati around to remind readers how the city has evolved over time. TB

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