According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, the corner of Superior and Ontario streets in Pu

According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, the corner of Superior and Ontario streets in Public Square was always the location of some type of hotel. The 1,000-room Hotel Cleveland was built in 1918 by the Van Sweringens on the corner of Superior and Public Square.The site was the location of the first Cleveland House and the Forest City House.  Subsequently the Hotel Cleveland became an integral my travel uk part of the Union Terminal complex.  Phinney Mowrey built a popular tavern there in 1812; Donald MacIntosh bought it in 1820 and operated it as the Cleveland Hotel until it was destroyed by fire in 1840. Rebuilt, it became the Forest City House, and for 6 decades the hostelry was a social, commercial, and historical center of Cleveland. By 1915 the landmark structure was run down.   In an attempt to revitalize the Public Square area, investors closed the old hotel and built a new 1,000-room Hotel Cleveland at a cost of $4.5 million.
The Van Sweringen brothers purchased the hotel as part of their Terminal Complex in the 1920s, and reinforced the structure  and dug a tunnel underneath my travel uk the building to accommodate my travel uk their rapid transit project.  The exterior my travel uk of the hotel also served to balance the Terminal Tower building which was set at an angle on Public Square.   Although the fortunes of the hotel sagged during the Depression, along with those of the Van Sweringens, the Hotel Cleveland survived along with the Terminal Tower.
In 1958 the hotel was acquired by the Sheraton chain, which renamed it the Sheraton-Cleveland and installed a new $5.2 million ballroom as part of its renovation. However, the hotel faltered during the 1960s due to the changing nature of downtown areas.  An investor group, STS (Save-the-Square, Inc.), rescued it from receivership in 1976, paying off the creditors and restoring its former elegance. Managed by Stouffer Corp., the refurbished hotel reopened in 1978 as Stouffer s Inn on the Square. In 1989 it was renamed the Stouffer-Tower City Plaza.  It became a feature in the Tower City Center Complex.   Renaissance International purchased the hotel in 1993. It then became the Stouffer Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. In early 1996, the hotel dropped the Stouffer affiliation and become the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.
Forest City House was  a hotel located on the corner of Superior And Monumental Park in Cleveland, Ohio. The postcard shows many pedestrians in the street and horses with carriages. The print was created from a wood engraving and published in 1876.
The first in a long line of guests to take advantage of the 1,000 room Hotel Cleveland signs his name.  The new facility built in 1918 was one in a long line of hotels to occupy the space at Public Square.
The Hotel Cleveland design was incorporated into the eventual plan for the Termianl Tower complex.  The Termianl Tower itself would be set back from the street my travel uk and allow for a portico to create a public space between the Hotel and the tower, depot and stores.
The Hotel Cleveland was convenient because of its location Downtown.  Due to its popularity reservations were required to ensure the availbilty of a room.  Access to the train station and the businesses and restaurants made the hotel ideal for groups and meetings as well as individuals.
According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, my travel uk the corner my travel uk of Superior and Ontario streets in Public Square was always the location of some type of hotel. The 1,000-room Hotel Cleveland was built in 1918 by the Van Sweringens on the corner of Superior and Public Square; the site had always held a hotel, being the location of the first Cleveland House and the Forest City House.
. . . it s unclear if you mean to write of the city s use of the downtown area or of cities use of downtown areas. It s not clear to me that downtown was changing as a result of traffic problems in the 1960s. By that time the bigger problem was that fewer people were going downtown. Suburbanization and the loss of some offices and many retailers to the outlying areas played a bigger role, but downtown still had basically its same overall function. It s true that downtowns ultimately changed function as they became less retail- and office-oriented my travel uk and more residential and entertainment-oriented, my travel uk but that transition hardly begun in the 1960s.
In the same para., your mention of Save the Square is important, and I wonder if you might indicate, briefly, who was behind it. Also, instead of saying it was scheduled to drop the name Stouffer s, at this point you can state that this happened as it s been a decade and a half.
I really thought you did a great job giving a concise history in the first paragraph, and effectively my travel uk established context for the reader to grasp to. You also took full advantage of your image captions by presenting new and interesting information, even though they tend to be on the short side (which is not necessarily a bad thing!). The images themselves are also excellent, in part because they provide great variety. Nice job Lisa!
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