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The Society for Savings building and Key Tower, Cleveland, Ohio [3060x4080][OC]
These two buildings sit on Public Square in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
The Building on the left is the Society for Savings Building, and the building on the right is Key Tower. Now for some history:
Society for Savings was a bank founded here in Cleveland in 1849. In 1889, the They built the first modern high rise in Cleveland, and the State of Ohio as well. Between the 1950's and 1970's, the name was changed to Society National Bank, and in 1991, just over a century later, they built the Society Center (Now Key Tower). in 1994 Society Bank and KeyCorp merged, Creating Key Bank, thus the name change for the tower. Key Tower is the Tallest building in the State of Ohio.
MotorBoatMyButtCheeks
My first bank account was w/ Key Bank. Then once in high school I got a speeding ticket on a road trip, went back to the town to pay the fine only to find they didn't take bank cards and there were no Key Banks in that town. This was before smart phones so I couldn't just look up the closest one so I drove all the way home and back again. I had skipped school to do this, thought I'd just miss a few classes, nope whole day gone.
bluescreen
My first bank account was with Key as well... And then I couldn't make a bank account anywhere for many years... Because I angered the key bank lol
MotorBoatMyButtCheeks
NEVER ANGER THE KEY BANK..... WOO AHH HAHA!
pelon77Cleveland
The Key Tower was only able to be built to that height due to a change in city law shortly before construction. Under the Voinovich administration no tower in Cleveland was allowed to be taller than The Terminal Tower, hence the flat top of the Huntington Building.
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Actually, there never was a law on the books, just Cleveland City Council actively discouraged it. Voinovich enticed Society Bank to build it, and convinced the council to not discourage it.
Also, AmeriTrust was planning to build an even taller (61-story) building on public square, but their plan got canceled when AmeriTrust was acquired by Society Bank, then Society had their own building designed at 60-stories, which is now key tower.
pelon77Cleveland
Thank you for the clarifications! I love learning new stuff.
bluescreen
Absolutely! I've always been a history geek, and love learning about my area.
SnakesInBowties
Great and positive discussion. Thanks for this.