FirstMerit Tower

Huntington Tower, earlier known as First Merit Tower,First National Bank Building, and the First Central Trust Building, is a skyscraper in Akron, Ohio. The centerpiece of downtown Akron, it sits in the Cascade Plaza at the corner of King James Way and East Mill Street. The 330 ft (100 m) tower has been the city's tallest building since its completion in 1931.

The 27-story building is art deco in style and is covered in glazed architectural terra-cotta. Its lobby is built of Tennessee marble, white brick, and terra cotta, and features a large banking hall with arched windows.

The top of the building has a television broadcast tower, formerly used by WAKR-TV (now WVPX-TV) and WAKR-AM. The antenna reaches a height of 134.7 metres (442 ft).

History

It replaced the neo-gothic Hamilton Building, completed in 1900.

Around 2000, the tower was given a $2.5 million facelift, including a $1.8 million restoration of the tower's terra-cotta, brick, and limestone. The painstaking process involved the removal of some 450 blocks weighing up to 75 pounds for cleaning and reassembly. Over 1,100 other pieces of the masonry and tilework were repaired on site. In 2007, the tower underwent another restoration. Completed by Cleveland-based VIP Restorations, it includes repointing of all masonry and terra-cotta joints, repairs to the windows, structural restoration, and a restoration of the 13th floor parapet. VIP Restorations also helped to get the building placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building's name was changed after First Merit was acquired by Huntington.

In 2019 Huntington announced the building was for sale.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Huntington Tower" and modified on June 2, 2020 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.