Description: This photograph of the Civic Center area in Columbus, Ohio, shows the LeVeque Tower (left), the State Office Building (right), and the Ohio Statehouse in the background. The term "Civic Center" refers to the cluster of government and public buildings that hug the Scioto River's east bank. The American Insurance Union Citadel, now known as the LeVeque Tower, was dedicated on September 21, 1927. The building, which is located at 50 West Broad Street, was designed by architect C. Howard Crane in the Art Deco style. The 47-story tall skyscraper, designed mainly as office space, rises to an elevation of 555.5 feet, and was built to be 6 inches taller than the Washington Monument. Due to the Great Depression, the American Insurance Union went bankrupt and sold the building. The tower was purchased by John Lincoln and Leslie L. LeVeque in 1945. Construction of the Ohio State Office Building began in 1930 and was completed in 1933. The 14-story building was designed by Cincinnati architect Harry Hake and serves as a classic example of the Art Moderne movement. The building was later known as the Ohio Judicial Center until 2011, when the state Supreme Court named the center in honor of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who was the second-longest-serving chief justice in state history at the time of his death in April 2010. The Ohio Statehouse is the seat of Ohio’s government. Construction of Ohio’s current statehouse began in 1839 and was completed in 1861. Prison inmates provided much of the construction labor. The Statehouse is typical of Greek Revival architecture, which Ohioans selected because of its democratic symbolism. This structure replaced an early statehouse, built in 1816 and burned in 1852. The new statehouse had fifty-three rooms, but over the years the number of rooms grew to 317. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Statehouse was restored, and 225 rooms were eliminated. Today the Statehouse principally houses the Ohio General Assembly, although several state officials, including the governor, have ceremonial offices in the building. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05711
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government; Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Architecture; Art Deco; Architecture--Ohio--Columbus--History--20th century; Ohio Statehouse (Columbus, Ohio); Public buildings--Ohio--Columbus; Architecture--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)