On a clear day, you could see forever. Since this was Akron, however, spectators often settled for Turkeyfoot Lake.
The sky-scraping roof of downtown Akron’s FirstMerit Tower has been closed to the public for so many years that most Summit County residents probably don’t know that it once served as a popular tourist attraction.
The 28-story, art-deco building at 106 S. Main St., originally the home of the Central Depositors Bank & Trust Co., lured more than 40,000 visitors on its opening day July 23, 1931. Most of them went straight to the top.
All day and night, express elevators shuttled passengers 800 feet a minute from the first floor to the observation platform. Visitors arrived at a ticket booth and then followed walkways to the building’s edge, where they peered over the tower parapets.
The awe-inspiring view, which supposedly reached six counties, definitely wasn’t for those with acrophobia (or Akron phobia, for that matter).
“The visitors were taken to the roof to see Akron from the highest point in Summit County,” the Beacon Journal reported. “It was amazing to stand there and pick out spots of interest in every direction — the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corp. dock at the airport, the letters on which were visible; the East Akron and South Akron industrial plants, the Bettes Corners industrial development, the Portage Lakes, which stand considerably higher than the downtown section of the city, the Sherbondy Hill neighborhood, second-highest point in the county, and the homes of prominent Akronites scattered in every direction.”
The downtown landmark, which cost $2.5 million to build (about $32.5 million today), was designed by Cleveland architecture firm Walker & Weeks, which also designed Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Severance Hall, Cleveland Public Hall and Akron’s Goodyear Hall.
The gleaming white tower was hailed as “a city within a city.” In addition to the bank, which occupied the first three stories, the building had 107 tenants, including doctors, dentists, lawyers and other professionals, as well as Rutledge’s Drugstore and the Hamilton Cigar Store.
Jokingly referred to as “Akron’s attic,” the top of the tower stood 1,274 feet above sea level. Technically, that wasn’t the highest point in the region. The top elevation in Summit County — 1,320 feet above sea level — is near Broadview and Brush roads in Richfield. A hill near Goodyear Heights Reservoir is Akron’s highest natural point at 1,206 feet above sea level.
Reduced visibility
Regardless, the bank building seemed pretty darned high, especially when looking down 320 feet at automobiles and pedestrians in Akron’s congested downtown.
“Sharp hills in downtown Akron flatten out under one’s eyes from the tower roof, and traffic frantically moving in the streets so far below appears to the observer from the building roof to be scarcely moving. Such is the deception that distance lends,” the Beacon Journal noted.
“The panorama from the tower is beautiful, picturesque, gaudy and spectacular. If you didn’t see it today, make it a point to do so in the near future.”
The reporter must have been there on a good day with optimum viewing conditions. Akron’s notoriously uncooperative weather frequently cut down on visibility, while factory smokestacks and coal-burning furnaces contributed to a perpetual haze.
Meanwhile, tower visitors hoping for a fresh breeze probably didn’t find one. The building’s massive ventilating system, which scrubbed about 1.5 million cubic feet of foul air each hour, discharged its contents above the roof.
Sightseers initially were allowed to visit the observation deck at any time of day or night. The building took on an ethereal beauty after dusk. Powered by 70 projectors, floodlights on the 24th-floor terrace shined white beams against the walls of the top four levels of the building. Narrow beacons from the 19th floor lighted the 12-foot panel corners of the roof.
Viewed from above, the city twinkled and glowed. It wasn’t quite as breathtaking as the 86th-floor observation deck at the Empire State Building in Manhattan, but it was unlike anything ever seen in Akron.
Frank M. Totton, second vice president of Chase National Bank in New York, praised the Akron tower during his keynote speech at the dedication luncheon.
“It is my hope that this splendid new bank building ushers in a new era of prosperity for you and your community,” he told the 350 gathered dignitaries. “Team play built this wonderful structure and team play will expand its power and influence.
“The measure of a bank’s influence is the height and breadth of its leadership. Great men and great women exist only that there be greater men and greater women. Great financial institutions exist only that there be greater ones. All that matters is the contribution we make to the progress of the race, as measured by our service.”
Construction booms
Although the Great Depression was ravaging the United States, it was a banner time for Akron buildings. The Mayflower Hotel, YMCA, YWCA and Akron Municipal Airport terminal also opened in 1931.
The building was christened the First Central Tower after Central Depositors Bank & Trust Co. merged with First City Trust & Savings in October 1931. When the financial institution changed its name to First National Bank in 1947, it became the First National Tower. It has been known as the FirstMerit Tower since 1997.
The observation deck operated through the 1930s. Akron residents gradually lost their enthusiasm for the rooftop view, but it was still a point of interest for tourists.
“Plenty of people in Akron use the building, but it’s a fair bet that most of them by this time have become so used to being up high they never bother to take time off and squint at the city from the roof,” the Akron Times-Press reported in 1937.
“Building officials say that more outsiders than Akronites come up to have a look-see. Those who have been in bigger buildings come up just to get a chance to say they have, and those who haven’t been in any so big, get as much of a kick out of it as if they were 90 stories up.”
Tower operators quietly closed the observation deck in the early 1940s. If there was a public outcry, it wasn’t noted in the Beacon Journal archives. The weather-beaten walkways and ticket booth were removed in 1953 when WAKR-TV installed a giant antenna on the roof.
One of the best vantage points in the city is permanently closed.
“Akron’s attic” is strictly off-limits.
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send email to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
