29 April 2009

The Times Star Building


I seized the opportunity provided by a nice day to get some pictures of a fantastic building I don't think a lot of folks know about. It is the Times Star building on Broadway. It was designed by a name familiar to Cincinnati architecture, Samuel Hannaford. Although the cornerstone says 1931, the Wikipedia article states it was built in 1933 (I assume it took two years to complete).

I remember the first time I caught a glean of the gold leaf at the top of the building.


There is a lot of carving on this building. Here are a couple shots of the Eagle sculptures found on the building.



Of course since the Times Star was a paper, the building has a lot of homages to names in printing and publishing. I recognized Aldus, mainly because of Aldus Pagemaker and Freehand.


I was intrigued to discover the Newsboys entrance on the South side of the building. It includes a silvered relief of a newsboy. I guess to soften the blow that they couldn't use the main entrance.


The detail on the window grate in the front is pretty astonishing. You may want to click this picture to zoom in on the detail.


And the main entrance is just over the top. I need to get a wider lens, or feel braver stepping back onto Broadway:


I did not have the time or temerity to go inside, I'll save that for another day. I am always amazed by what this city has to offer when you take the time to look around at some of these buildings.

If you are interested in more, The Greater Cincinnati Memory Project has a few old shots of the Times Star building.

In my search for information on the building, I found the article Death of the Times-Star from August 4, 1958 on Time's web site. It recounts what led to the Times Star closing. I found it interesting that the employees received the news via telegram and that it was precipitated by Scripps-Howard's (owner of the Post) purchase of the Enquirer in 1956. Of course The Post ceased operations only recently to leave only the Cincinnati Enquirer standing as a daily paper.

11 comments:

Feoshia said...

It's a nice building. I haven't been inside either.

Unknown said...

That is a gorgeous building. Sorry to see The Post and Times go, hope some brainiac doesn't decide to topple the building, too.

VisuaLingual said...

Great photos! This is one of my favorite downtown buildings.

Anonymous said...

yes, an amazing building, both inside and out. Would love to get a tour some time.

Another downtown building, oft-overlooked, which bears scrutiny is the Cinci Bell one at 7th and Race. A lot of great details on the exterior of that as well...The Times-Star, like Dixie Terminal, the old Enquirer building and several others, is not really "oft-overlooked," but its location (and role as a probate court) on the periphery sometimes lends itself to being marginalized. Hopefully the buzz around KZF's new HQ across the street will keep that area humming.

--Casey

bsherm said...

@casey, I love the Cincinnati Bell building. A little farther out, I like the Dalton Street Post office.

insurgentes said...

What a beauty! Do you know how it's being utilized now?

Cincinnati NAMjA said...

I have always loved this building, it is so majectic and fitting fot the time i which it was built. I use it as a central location in the novel that I am writing.

bsherm said...

@insurgentes according to the Wikipedia article "The building was bought by Hamilton County in the late 1980s, it is used for county offices." I recall someone telling me it is the County probation offices.

catherine said...

It is now used for juvenile, domestic and dependency court. There are also some probation offices there. I used to go in more often for my job and unfortunately, apart from the lobby, many of the details are lost in new drywall boxes. Some surprises are still there though, like the doorknobs to the bathrooms on the 8th floor have an interwoven "T" and "S" on them for Times Star.

Joe Wessels said...

It's a great building, Mike. I have been inside and poked around. It reminds me of the Chicago Tribune building... I have a dream: Win the lottery and buy the building back from the county and start a newspaper I subsidize there, and work with all the great unemployed journos in the area...

Unknown said...

I have been in the building, but it was in the early 1940s. The family lawyer (attorney) had offices on one of the upper floors. As a small child the elevator ride was very exciting. Also, if it was a windy day, you could almost feel the building sway. Of course, it was kept clean and up-to-date. A really great building, one of several, in the beautiful city of Cincinnati.