Tower City Center begins with the Van Sweringens’ plan
Tower City Center exists because two brothers believed Cleveland should behave like a capital city. O.P. and M.J. Van Sweringen were not theorists.
They had already put their ideas to the test in Shaker Heights, where they insisted on strict planning, good transit, and attractive design. The suburb was a success, and it gave them influence.
Downtown was their next target. The idea was simple and enormous: consolidate Cleveland’s railroads into a single terminal and place it directly beneath the city’s most symbolic ground, Public Square…