Public Auditorum: Cleveland’s City Center for Industry, Community and Music

Every city needs a place like Public Auditorium. A place where business expositions can be held and a place where music and community conversation can take place. In Cleveland, Public Auditorium is just that type of place. The building is part of the group plan. This plan was conceived as the heart of a growing and important city in America. The group plan would centralize Cleveland’s most important political, justice, and community spaces around a park like mall in the middle of the city. Included in these buildings would be city hall, the county courthouse, the public school’s administration building, the county administration building, the federal courthouse, the public library, and a public hall. It did not come about easily nor all at once. An idea for a public hall was brought forward in 1899 but did not get completed until 1922. Along the way there were starts and stops. Along the way it took several enlightened and influential city leaders who would move the project ever closer to completion. There was a war and hesitancy on the part of the public and other city leaders worried about costs and risk. It represents an example of seeking perfection over utility that almost scuttled the project. However, once completed the plan and Public Hall proved to be a true center of the city as it grew and as it declined.