National Register of Historic Places

American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment)

Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio
Listed
March 20, 1975
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
75001398

About this property

The LeVeque Tower is a 47-story skyscraper in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. At 555 feet 5 inches (169.29 m) it was the tallest building in the city from its completion in 1927 to 1974, and remains the second-tallest today. Designed by C. Howard Crane, the 353,768-square-foot (32,866.1 m2) Art Deco skyscraper was opened as the American Insurance Union Citadel in 1927 and at the time was the fifth tallest building in the world. Built at a cost of $8.7 million, the tower's design incorporates ornate ornamentation and a terracotta facade, and it was designed with 600 hotel rooms in two wings as well as an attached performance venue, the Palace Theatre. After the American Insurance Union went bankrupt in the Great Depression, the tower was renamed the Lincoln-LeVeque Tower in 1946, and later the LeVeque Tower in 1977. The tower's office space saw mixed success in attracting tenants during its early history, but it became home to a number of state agencies and law firms. As development of Downtown Columbus peaked beginning in the 1960s and several other high rise buildings were constructed, the tower faced increasing competition from other major office buildings and its vacancy rates rose. Over the course of its history, the tower changed hands several times before being sold to a group of real estate investors in 2011. The current owners subsequently converted it into a mixed-use development, including a hotel, apartments, condominiums, offices and a restaurant, which opened in 2017.

Location

34 W. Broad St.
Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio
39.96262, -83.00213

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

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0 mi
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Questions about this property

When was American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment) listed on the National Register?

American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 1975.

What type of historic resource is American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment)?

American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment) is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment)?

The period of significance for American Insurance Union Citadel (Palace Theatre Amendment) is recorded as the civil_war era.

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