Ohio State Office Building construction photograph   Save
Ohio State Office Building Construction
Description: This photograph shows a group of men on site during the construction of the future Ohio State Office Building, Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1930-1933. Three men are construction workers; a fourth man is wearing business attire. The workers are members of a riveting team. The photograph has captured the moment when a worker known as the "heater" uses a pair of tongs to toss a red-hot rivet into a container held by his teammate, the "catcher." A coke-fueled forge (center) heats structural steel rivets to a glowing hot temperature. The rivet then is inserted into the joint connecting steel beams. Finally, another team member hammers the rivet into place. The heater and catcher operated with machine-like precision. They could stand at a distance of 75 feet from each other and still work quickly and accurately. Groundbreaking for the Ohio State Office Building, 65 South Front Street, took place on November 19, 1929. Construction began in October 1930, and the cornerstone was laid on May 16, 1931. An explosion damaged the structure on April 14, 1932, but the building eventually opened on March 27, 1933. The 14-story building was designed by architect Harry Hake, Frank Bail, and Alfred Hahn. It later became the Ohio Judicial Center. In 2011 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 Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center is considered an excellent example of architecture from the Art Deco period. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06919
Subjects: Construction workers; Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Design and construction; Ohio History--State and Local Government; Ohio Judicial Center (Columbus, Ohio); Construction industry--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)