Now . . .The Chamber of Commerce Building, on the southwest corner of 4th & Vine Streets, was designed H.H. Richardson and completed in 1888. It was destroyed by fire in 1911. In 1972, 84 tons of carved pink granite from the Chamber of Commerce Building were erected in Burnet Woods as a design project of University of Cincinnati students. Located on the north side of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Burnet Woods, it is a memorial to the architect.
References:
Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl. H. H. Richardson Complete Architectural Works. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1982.
Historic photo from Library's Cincinnati Memory Project.
2 comments:
I'm usually mad when I read your "Then and Now" pieces, because it's always some gorgeous building that was needlessly demolished. But this time it was taken by fire, and the memorial in Burnett woods for an architect who was working 100 years prior is actually extremely uplifting.
As a side note, thanks for doing this blog. I feel like I learn something new about this city every time I come here.
Thanks Jimmy James.
I actually try not to focus on the buildings we have lost. I could lament the loss of many, many buildings. It gets me mad as well sometimes. But cities have to evolve I realize and it just doesn't make sense to save absolutely everything. (I'll still fight for some things though!) With "Then & Now" I am trying to find those places where only pieces are left and at least everything isn't gone. Which maybe isn't always better . . .
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