Fountain Square Month

Friday’s Fountain Fact

A multi-part series documenting the current events taking place on Fountain Square as well honoring some of its history and details.

Fountain Square Backdrop – The Dubois Tower

From 1871 to 1969, the Tyler Davisdon Fountain sat in the middle of a promenade on 5th Street. An urban renewal plan called “The Block Plan” was proposed in 1964 to relocate the Fountain and Fountain Square to its current location in the northwest corner of 5th & Vine Streets. The ‘new’ Fountain Square was completed in 1969.

The Dubois Tower was constructed on the Square’s eastern edge at 511 Walnut Street. Completed in 1970, it most notably replaced the Keith Theatre Building along with some others buildings. The low-rise parking structure on the Square’s north side was constructed at the same time. Designed by New York firm Harrison & Abramovitz, it rises 423 feet and some thirty stories. It is now known as the Fifth Third Center.
Other buildings by Harrison & Abramovitz that you may be familiar with include U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh, and Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) at Lincoln Center and the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. For the UN Harrison & Abramovitz served as the lead architect on the project but there were others involved as well.

I am not really a fan of the building but I thought I’d highlight it given its prominence to Fountain Square.

This post concludes our mini series on Fountain Square Facts in celebration of Fountain Square Month in April!

Image of the Keith Theatre Building from the Library's Cincinnati Memory Project.