Tower City Center

History

The Waterfront Line began service at Tower City on July 10, 1996.

On July 31, 2016, RTA began replacing the track bed for track 8, the main westbound track.^[14] In order to prevent service disruptions during the track replacement, RTA temporarily reopened the Shaker rapid track to the public. Westbound trains arrived on that track and temporary platforms and station facilities were set up. The temporary station was not accessible from the main station entrance and had a separate entrance.^[15] The new track opened to passengers on November 26, 2016.^[16]

Station layout

Track 8	←  Red Line  toward Airport (West 25th–Ohio City) ←  Waterfront Line  toward South Harbor (Settlers Landing)
Westbound platforms	Red Line island platform		Lobby Faregates Exit to Tower City Center	Blue/Green/Waterfront Lines island platform
Track 10	←  Red Line  toward Airport (West 25th–Ohio City)				Blue Line  toward Warrensville–Van Aken (East 34th–Campus) → →  Green Line  toward Green Road (East 34th–Campus) →
Eastbound platforms	Red Line island platform			Blue/Green Lines island platform
Track 13	Red Line  toward Louis Stokes–Windermere (East 34th–Campus) →  Blue Line  toward Warrensville–Van Aken (East 34th–Campus) →  Green Line  toward Green Road (East 34th–Campus) →

The station has two fare-collection entrances, one leading to a low platform station for use by the light rail Green and Blue Lines, and one leading to a high platform station for the heavy rail Red Line. Both entrances open from a lobby located on the lowest level of the Tower City shopping mall, and this lobby is accessible by escalators and elevators from the other levels of the mall. Each entrance has multiple fare gates along with two operator booths. The entrance for the Green and Blue Lines collects fares from passengers entering and leaving the station, since westbound passengers pay their fare upon leaving. The Red Line entrance collects fares from passengers entering the station and also requires arriving passengers to swipe their proof of payment card at the gate in order to exit the station.^[17] In order to transfer from the Red Line to the Green or Blue Lines, or vice versa, passengers must exit through the fare gates at one station entrance and enter through the other station entrance. The high and low platform portions of the station could also be reached from each other without going through the lobby by an access ramp located along each side of tracks around the lobby; however, with the implementation of the proof of payment system on the Red Line, the ramps have been closed.

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  Exit to Tower City Center
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  Station navigation
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  Elevator panel
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  Entrance to the Red Line platforms
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  Entrance to the Blue/Green/Waterfront Line platforms
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  Eastbound Blue/Green Line platforms
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  The westbound track in the Blue/Green Line section of the station in November 2016, about a week after renovations were completed
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  The Red Line platform in 2004
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  Main Station entrance before escalator renovations

History

When the Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT) was built in 1930 as part of the Terminal Tower complex, the train station allocated the northern set of tracks for interurban or rapid transit service and the southern set of tracks for inter-city rail service. The portion of the station above the interurban tracks was called the Traction Concourse and the portion above the intercity train tracks was called the Steam Concourse. The Van Sweringen brothers who developed Terminal Tower complex and built Cleveland Union Terminal^[19] envisioned a network of interurban lines extending from the CUT in all directions. They even acquired right-of-way for some of the lines.

In 1931, the Higbee Company moved its main store to a new building connected to Cleveland Union Terminal. In 1934, the U.S. Postal Service moved its main Cleveland office to Union Terminal in a new building designed by the firm of Walker and Weeks. It was known as M.K. Ferguson Plaza under the ownership of Forest City Enterprises.^[20]

The Union Terminal served most rail lines: the Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central and Nickel Plate Road.^[21] Exceptions were the Pennsylvania Railroad and initially the Erie Railroad. It was never particularly popular with the railroads, however. It required deviating from the quicker route along Lake Erie. As the city would not allow trains to operate under steam power near the downtown area, trains were forced to switch from steam to electric power at a suburban rail yard when heading inbound and then reverse on the way out at another yard. As a result, some lines began to bypass the station entirely, heading along the lake route, and some trains stopped serving the city altogether. Several east-west routes by-passed the city to the south, passing through Akron or Youngstown. In addition, national passenger rail travel had already passed its peak and was starting its gradual decline in favor of the automobile and, later, the airplane. The Erie RR, owned by the Van Sweringens, could not afford the electric transfer and continued to use its own nearby station until 1948, when it replaced steam with diesel locomotives and was able to serve the Union Terminal under its own power.

Amtrak's short-lived Lake Shore served Union Terminal for seven months in 1971, but the railroad found the rents prohibitive. When the new Lake Shore Limited began in 1975 Amtrak chose to construct a new station near Lake Erie adjacent to the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway.^[22] The new Amtrak station is located near the former Cleveland Union Station, once served by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The former Erie Railroad commuter service, ultimately inherited by Conrail, was discontinued on Jan. 14, 1977, ending the facility's use as a railroad station.^[23]

LS&MS (New York Central) - AMTK	ERIE (Erie Lackawanna Railway) - CR	CT&V (Baltimore and Ohio) - CVSR
to Toledo Elyria (Oberlin) (PC) Shawville Olmsted Falls Berea West Park Linndale Cleveland Union Depot Cleveland Union Terminal (AMTK) East 40th (formerly Case Ave.) East 55th (formerly Willson Ave.) East 105th East Cleveland Coits (formerly Coit) Collinwood Nottingham (formerly Euclid) Noble Wickliffe Willoughby Reynolds Mentor Heisley Painesville (PC) to Buffalo All stations are NYC unless noted otherwise: Amtrak (AMTK) Penn Central (PC)	Cleveland Union Terminal East 55th & McBride East 93th & Richmond Lee Road–Shaker Heights North Randal Solon Geauga Lake Aurora Mantua Jeddoe Garrettsville–Hiram Mahoning Phalanx Warren Main Line to Niles & Youngstown All stations are ERIE unless noted otherwise: Conrail (CR)	Cleveland Union Terminal (B&O) Brooklyn (B&O) Willow (B&O) South Park (B&O) Rockside Canal Exploration Center Alexanders (B&O) Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge Brecksville (B&O) Jaite (B&O) Boston Mill (B&O) Peninsula Depot (B&O) Everett (B&O) Indigo Lake Ira (B&O) Botzum (B&O) Old Portage (B&O) Big Bend Akron Northside (B&O) to Akron CT&V Depot (B&O) to Akron Union Depot (B&O) Akron Junction (B&O) East Akron (B&O) Krumroy (B&O) Myersville (B&O) Aultman (B&O) North Canton (B&O) Canton Lincoln Highway Canton (B&O) North Industry (B&O) East Sparta (B&O) Sandyville (B&O) Mineral City (B&O) Valley Junction (B&O)

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  Former departure board
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  Platforms converted into parking decks

History

The Shaker rapid transit remained the only service using the interurban portion of the CUT for 25 years. When the Cleveland Transit System built its rapid transit (later designated the Red Line) in 1955 (using much of the right-of-way previously developed by the Van Sweringens), another rapid transit station was built in the former interurban area of the CUT to serve it. Since the CTS Rapid Transit (Red Line) and the Shaker rapid transit (Green and Blue Lines) were owned by different entities at the time, there was no fare transfer between the trains, and the stations were entirely separate.

In 1968, the Cleveland Transit System line finished its extension through Cleveland's west side to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Cleveland became the first North American city with direct rapid transit access from downtown to an airport.^[24]

Both lines became part of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority when it assumed control on September 5, 1975. The two stations remained separate until December 17, 1990, when a completely new station was completed with the development of Tower City Center.^[25]

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  Main Red Line entrance in 1980s
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  Secondary Red Line entrance in 1980s
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  Red Line platform in 1980s looking east
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  End of platform
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  The entrance to the CTS station in 1968

History

Since the Van Sweringens owned Cleveland Interurban Railroad which served the suburb of Shaker Heights, the interurban portion of the CUT was immediately occupied by the Shaker trains upon completion on July 20, 1930. (Previously, the Shaker trains had used streetcar tracks to reach downtown from East 34th Street, which caused significantly slower service.) The Shaker rapid transit station was located along the northern-most tracks of the complex, and it included a small yard for the storage of a few trains and a loop to allow trains to reverse direction. Development of the other interurban services, however, was stalled by the Great Depression, which hit the Van Sweringens particularly hard. By 1944, ownership of the Shaker rapid transit passed to the city of Shaker Heights.

The Shaker and Van Aken lines became part of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority when it assumed control on September 5, 1975. The two stations remained separate until December 17, 1990, when a completely new station was completed with the development of Tower City Center.^[26]

The platform was temporarily re-opened for westbound passengers in 2016.

Rapid 1930

RTA 1981

Temporary Waterfront and westbound Red Line platforms in August 2016

Connected components of Tower City Center

• Chase Financial Plaza
• Jack Cleveland Casino
  • Higbee building
• Renaissance Cleveland Hotel
• Skylight Office Tower
• Terminal Tower

Walkway connections

• Quicken Loans Arena / Progressive Field
• Carl B. Stokes United States Courthouse

Additional buildings

• Landmark Office Towers Complex
• Post Office Plaza / M.K. Ferguson Plaza (connected by private elevators in the parking garage)

Sources

• Herrick, Clay (1987). Cleveland Landmarks. Cleveland: Cleveland Restoration Society. ASIN B000KCXJSS.
• Johannesen, Eric (1979). Cleveland Architecture 1876-1976 (Digital edition–2007). Ann Arbor, Michigan (Cleveland–Digital): University of Michigan (Western Reserve Historical Society–Digital). ISBN 978-0911704211.
• Rarick, Holly (1986). Progressive Vision: The Planning of Downtown Cleveland 1903-1930. Mishawaka, Indiana: Better World Books. ISBN 978-0910386869.
• Van Tassel, David; Grabowski, John (1987). The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, 2nd edition (1996). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253330567.
• Toman, Jim; Hayes, Blaine S. (1996). Horse trails to regional rails: the story of public transit in greater Cleveland. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. pp. 280, 295, and 297. ISBN 978-0873385473.
• Electric Railway Journal, 1918, Volume 51 (Classic Reprint) Paperback – September 27, 2015. New York City (Leicestershire): McGraw-Hill Publishing (Forgotten Books). 1918. p. 895. ISBN 978-1330512098.