Architecture in the City: Future of the Ameritrust Tower

The County commissioners just voted 2-1 to tear down the old Ameritrust Tower and replace it with a building characterized by Plain Dealer architecture critic Stephen Litt as “uninspiring”. It will give the county a brand new, purpose-built building, but the cost to taxpayers will run in the millions and the cultural cost—of losing a local building of some international architectural significance—is harder to gauge. The deal still must be approved by the City od Cleveland Planning Commission. Tuesday, we’ll be joined by Litt and the incoming director of Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative Christopher Diehl to critique the commissioners' decision. And, with new projects under way from the Euclid Corridor to the Flats, we’ll talk more generally about architecture and space our urban core.