CLEVELAND — Nestled between Superior and Euclid Avenues in downtown Cleveland is the Arcade, an architectural marvel completed in 1890. Originally constructed as an indoor shopping area, today, it’s still home to businesses, as well as a hotel. Throughout the years, its ornate design has kept visitors coming back.
According to John Grabowski, the Krieger-Mueller Associate Professor of Applied History at Case Western Reserve University and chief historian for the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Arcade was funded by some of Cleveland’s biggest names. Grabowski said figures like John D. Rockefeller and Stephen Harkness pitched in for the project, among others.
“It's an emblem of Cleveland at a time when the city was really growing, when it had political power,” Grabowski said.
The Arcade, with its soaring glass ceiling, tiers of balconies, and long marble center light court flanked by businesses, was intended to be a gathering and shopping center for Clevelanders, according to Grabowski.
“It is part of a movement in urban areas for indoor shopping,” he said. “You can look at the arcade as the mall of the late 1800s.”
It also served as a connector between two major avenues in Cleveland, standing between two nine-story buildings, making it a popular destination.
“It really was a combination of a grand light court with retail shops connecting two major streets,” said Tom Yablonsky, a senior advisor to the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. “So Cleveland had this history of this grand civic plan for downtown.”
Over the years, the Arcade has attracted a range of national events, such as a convention for the National Republican League, hosted by Marcus Hanna in 1895, according to Grabowski.
With the boom of suburbanization mid-century, and therefore the birth of strip malls, shopping patterns changed, impacting the Arcade and the small businesses inside it, according to Grabowski. However, despite the mid-century slow down, by the end of the century, downtown Cleveland experienced reinvestment, including the Arcade.
“By 1999 it had to - there were multiple buckets on the floor catching water. The skylight was the really tricky thing, how do you pay [for] and restore that skylight?” said Yablonksy, who is involved in historic preservation and advocacy programs. “The renovation was critical to maintaining it. The building was in some jeopardy.”
Through an historic easement program and philanthropy, Yablonksy said funds were raised for renovations for the Arcade, which was ultimately completed in 2001. Two levels of retail and restaurants remain, while the upper levels were converted into guestrooms, the new home of the Hyatt Regency Cleveland at The Arcade.
Robert Dorr, director of sales, events and marketing at the Hyatt reflected on some of the businesses that have called the Arcade home through the years, with particularly notable ones including Stouffer’s and Thomas Edison’s phonograph.
Today, the Arcade houses businesses like Pizza 216, Rising Star Coffee Roasters, Play Maysie and Marengo Luxury Spa, among others. While there are empty storefronts in the building, Dorr said he hopes that post-pandemic, more businesses start coming in.
“It's special to a lot of people in many, many different ways,” he said of the historic structure. “And having been around as long as we've been around means there are stories galore.”
Many of those stories come from experiences and stays at the hotel, from weddings and proms, to staycations or shopping trips. Dorr said this year, the hotel will host over 90 weddings. The building’s ornate decorations, grand marble staircases, detailed railings, 51 gargoyles, and artistic copper stampings all contributed to the draw, according to Dorr.
The historic space also garnered national attention, landing on the National Register of Historic Places.
“The fact that it's on the National Register of Historic Places indicates that people have appreciated it,” Grabowski said. “And the fact that it was the first site in Cleveland on that [in] 1975 - it's a highly regarded site.”
Due to its designation, Dorr said much of the interior space in the Arcade is protected. However, he said the 293 guest rooms are like those you’d find in any modern hotel, while honoring the details of the Arcade’s history with nods to the past like mail slots.
Decades later, the Arcade in downtown Cleveland continues to honor its roots and keep visitors marveling.
“Maintaining this in our whole overall story as a community, people really reached for the sky,” Yablonksy said. “And this may be the best example of reaching for the sky.”