Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building

Last updated
Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building
Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building.jpg
Location map United States Cleveland.png
Red pog.svg
USA Ohio location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location7100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Coordinates 41°30′13.6″N81°38′20.2″W / 41.503778°N 81.638944°W / 41.503778; -81.638944
Built1910 (1910)
ArchitectFrank B. Meade
Architectural styleMix of Early Commercial and Mission Revival
Website www.healthtechcorridor.com/location/baker-electric/
NRHP reference No. 07000071 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 21, 2007

The Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building, also known as the Baker Electric Building, is a historic commercial building in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Built in 1910, it was the first showroom of the Baker Electric Motor Car Co., a pioneer in Brass Era electric automobiles. Baker Electric merged with Rauch and Lang in 1914, and the building was sold in 1920. It served as an auto dealership, machine shop, and print shop for the next 86 years. The structure underwent a two-year renovation and historic preservation from 2006 and 2008, and now serves as a startup business incubator.

Contents

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 21, 2007.

History of the site

The site that would become the Baker Motor Vehicle Company showroom was originally a residence. From the 1860s to the 1920s, Euclid Avenue in Cleveland was known around the world as "Millionaires' Row" for the extensive number of mansions and fine homes that lined the street. [2] The lot at 7100 Euclid Avenue had a Euclid frontage of 150 feet (46 m) and an East 71st Street frontage of 450 feet (140 m). The site had a slight hill on its south end, and Giddings Brook wound around the hill on the west before crossing the property's northern third and heading east. The hill was occupied by a two-story wooden frame house, painted white. The home had a three-story tower and a sharply gabled roof. An extensive front lawn, covered with winding walks and trees, occupied several hundred feet in front of the house. The banks of Giddings Stream were reinforced with stone on both sides. A walled pond, roughly 80 by 160 feet (24 by 49 m) and with a 10-foot wide (3.0 m) island in the center, was adjacent to the property's eastern border. The house and property were owned by Alonzo F. Winslow, [3] who began managing the American House hotel in Cleveland in 1852. He invented the Winslow corrugated roof iron for railroad freight cars and the Winslow stove for use in railroad passenger cars, which made him a wealthy man. He was a member of the Cleveland City Council from 1857 to 1858, and was elected Cuyahoga County Sheriff in sheriff in 1874. He died in 1908. [4]

About the building

Baker Motor Vehicle Co. building in 1911 Baker motor co showrom 1911.jpg
Baker Motor Vehicle Co. building in 1911

In early 1909, the Winslow House was sold to the Baker Electric Motor Car Co. and demolished. The structure was designed by local architect Frank B. Meade [5] [6] [7] in a mix of Early Commercial and Mission Revival styles. [5] [lower-alpha 1] The building faced Euclid Avenue, and was 160 feet (49 m) wide and 200 feet (61 m) long, and set 50 feet (15 m) back from the street. [5] [8] [lower-alpha 2] Between the street and the building was a grass lawn, and a red quarry tile terrace in front of the entrances. [5] Over the two front entrances [8] was a copper canopy. [5]

The building itself was two stories high, with square Mission Revival towers on the northeast and northwest corners. [5] The roof was red tile, and the building walls of brickwork and stone. [5] The mortar joints were wide and raked, [9] and large headers framed the windows. [5] Grueby tiles, some bearing the company's initials, decorated the exterior. [5] Total square footage was reported at between 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) [7] and 52,000 square feet (4,800 m2). [10]

The front part of the building housed the showroom and the offices. [9] The showroom was 96 feet (29 m) wide and 36 feet (11 m) deep, and large plate glass windows looked out onto the street. [5] Rohrheimer-Brooks, Cleveland's top interior design studio, [11] designed and decorated the showrooms and associated spaces. These included a public office, large and small private office, women's toilet and anteroom, men's toilet, and separate men's and women's reception areas. [5] The showroom and offices [9] were paneled in oak stained silver-grey, although the two end walls were painted grey smooth plaster. The ceiling was open beam, and decorative crests were carved into each oak wall panel. [5] Large lighting fixtures with Frink reflectors [5] [7] hung from the showroom ceiling, and the floor was covered in ceramic tile in a checked pattern with an intricate border. [7] The reception rooms were painted with a silver-grey paint to harmonize with the showroom, and the furniture, light fixtures, and most other fittings were finished to look like silver. [5] [lower-alpha 3]

Garages and repair shops occupied the rear of the building. On the east and south sides were repair bays, and on the south a paint and upholstery shop. Directly behind the showroom and northwest reception space was a 120-by-70-foot (37 by 21 m) two bay garage for the servicing of electric cars. It had a separate entrance and exit [5] on E. 71st Street, [8] a car wash station, and a turntable. The floor was concrete, and the roof pierced by skylights. [5] The electric garage had 60 charging stations, [8] and the capacity to hold 80 cars [9] in four tiers of elevated racks. Behind the electric garage was a 70-by-35-foot (21 by 11 m) one bay garage for the servicing of gasoline-powered cars. [5] It had a single entrance/exit on E. 71st Street, [8] a car wash station, and two turntables. The floor was concreted, and the roof pierce by skylights. A small elevator pierced the floor and led to a 50-by-35-foot (15 by 11 m) battery room in the basement. [5] The gasoline garage had the capacity to hold 30 cars in four tiers of elevated racks. [9] The small repair bays to the east of the two garages were for electric and gasoline cars, respectively. [9] Between them was a tire room and a small oil storage room. [9] On the south wall were the small upholstery shop and the larger paint shop. [5] [9]

On the second floor above the showroom were several small apartments. [6] A 60-car parking lot existed in back of the building. [10]

The Baker Electric Motor Car Co. building was first occupied on May 2, 1910. [8] The showroom was utilized by both Baker Electric and Standard Automobile Co. salesmen. [9] [lower-alpha 4]

Industry magazines called the building a "model" for other dealerships, [5] and the electric car garage was considered the finest in the nation. [8]

Subsequent history

Plan of the first floor of the structure, as of 1911 Baker motor co floorplan 1911.jpg
Plan of the first floor of the structure, as of 1911

Faced with significant competition from the gasoline-powered automobile and declining sales of electric cars, Baker Electric merged with the Rauch & Lang Carriage Company in 1916. Production of electric passenger vehicles ceased in 1919. [12]

In 1920, the building was sold to the A.L. Englander Motor Co., which used to showroom to sell Hupp Motor Cars and, later, Pontiacs and Buicks. Englander closed its doors in March 1942, and the building was sold to the A.W. Hecker Co., which used it as a machine shop. [7] Hecker bricked up nearly all the large windows of the former showroom, covered the oak paneling with drywall, and laid asphalt floor tiles over the ceramic flooring. The company also installed a dropped ceiling that covered the skylights in the garages and the original lighting in the showroom. [7]

The building was purchased by the newly formed GCC Corp. for $100,000 ($900,000 in 2022 dollars) in July 1966 for use as a print shop. [10] The building was renovated from 1980 to 1985 at a cost of $100,000 ($300,000 in 2022 dollars). [13] GCC's parent company closed the print business in 2000, leaving the building empty. [6] Creeping ivy covered the building. [7]

2006-2008 remodeling

Public office in the showrom in 1911. Baker motor co showrom office 1911.jpg
Public office in the showrom in 1911.

Cleveland developer Dick Pace considered purchasing the Baker building in 2002, but passed. By 2006, however, the HealthLine bus rapid transit project was under construction along Euclid Avenue, and the Cleveland Clinic was beginning to rapidly expand. Pace purchased the still-empty structure for $780,000 ($1,100,000 in 2022 dollars. [14] [15]

Over the next two years, Pace spent $7 million ($9,500,000 in 2022 dollars transforming the building into laboratory, light industry, and office space for startup companies. [15] [16] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 for its association with the Cleveland's automobile industry and the electric automobile, [17] and Pace received extensive historic preservation tax credits [lower-alpha 5] which paid for 40 percent of the renovation's cost. [18] The showroom windows were unbricked, the dropped ceiling and drywall removed, and the original ceramic floor restored. [7]

The extensive renovations included making the building LEED Silver certified. [19] To achieve this level of certification, extensive amounts of reclaimed building materials were used, all removed materials were repurposed, and a geothermal heat pump installed to help heat and cool the building. Because air conditioning systems were needed for each building tenant, multiple rooftop air conditioning units were required. To meet LEED Silver standards, 28,476 square feet (2,645.5 m2) of modified bitumen membrane and 8,500 square feet (790 m2) of EPDM rubber were removed from the roof and replaced with 0.5-inch (1.3 cm) high-density wood panels with a high R-value. On top of this were 3 inches (7.6 cm) of soy polyurethane foam; a base, intermediate, and top coat of silicone coating (each 0.001 inches (0.025 mm) thick); and a silicone sealant. The high R-value of the roof allowed significant downsizing of the air conditioning and other HVAC equipment. [18]

By 2009, the Baker Motor Vehicle Building was 70 percent occupied. [15]

In 2010, the city of Cleveland installed one of the first public electric vehicle recharging stations at the Baker Motor Vehicle Building—bringing electric automobile charging back to the building 90 years after it was removed. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studebaker</span> Defunct car manufacturer

Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Arcade</span> United States historic place

The Arcade in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is a Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, joined by a five-story arcade with a glass skylight spanning over 300 feet, along the four balconies. Erected in 1890, at a cost of $867,000, the Arcade opened on Memorial Day, and is identified as one of the earliest indoor shopping arcades in the United States. The Arcade was modified in 1939, remodeling the Euclid Avenue entrance and adding some structural support. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker Motor Vehicle</span> Defunct American motor vehicle manufacturer

Baker Motor Vehicle Company was an American manufacturer of Brass Era electric automobiles in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1899 to 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automobile Alley (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)</span> United States historic place

The Automobile Alley neighborhood and Automobile Alley Historic District in Oklahoma City is an upscale Urban area, located roughly along North Broadway Avenue in Downtown Oklahoma City. The district contains numerous low and mid-rise heritage buildings once home to the city's automobile dealerships, that today hosts many of the city's top bars and restaurants, retail shops, and urban residences alongside modern construction consisting mostly of residential housing and hotels. Automobile Alley is listed in the National Historic Register of neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car dealership</span> Business which sells, buys, and trades new and/or used cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans

A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintenance services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garage (residential)</span> Walled, roofed structure for storing vehicles

A residential garage is a walled, roofed structure for storing a vehicle or vehicles that may be part of or attached to a home, or a separate outbuilding or shed. Residential garages typically have space for one or two cars, although three-car garages are used. When a garage is attached to a house, the garage typically has an entry door into the house, called the person door or man door, in contrast with the wider and taller door for vehicles, called the garage door, which can be raised to permit the entry and exit of a vehicle and then closed to secure the vehicle. A garage protects a vehicle from precipitation, and, if it is equipped with a locking garage door, it also protects the vehicle(s) from theft and vandalism. Most garages also serve multifunction duty as workshops for a variety of projects, including painting, woodworking, and assembly. Garages also may be used for other purposes as well, such as storage or entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stearns-Knight</span> Defunct American motor vehicle manufacturer

F. B. Stearns and Company, later known as F. B. Stearns Company was an American manufacturer of luxury cars in Cleveland, Ohio marketed under the brand names Stearns from 1900 to 1911 then Stearns-Knight from 1911 until 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen Magnetic</span> American brand of hybrid electric luxury automobile manufactured between 1915 and 1922

The Owen Magnetic was a pioneering American brand of hybrid electric luxury automobile manufactured between 1915 and 1922. Car models of the brand were notable for their use of an electromagnetic transmission and were early examples of an electric series hybrid drivetrain. The manufacture of the car was sponsored by R.M. Owen & Company of New York, New York. The car was built in New York City in 1915, in Cleveland, Ohio, between 1916 and 1919 and finally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1920 and 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HealthLine</span> Bus rapid transit line in Cleveland, Ohio

The HealthLine is a bus rapid transit (BRT) line run by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority in Cleveland and East Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The line runs along Euclid Avenue from Public Square in downtown Cleveland to the Louis Stokes Station at Windermere in East Cleveland. It began operation on October 24, 2008. Its current name was the result of a naming rights deal with the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland. The HealthLine is denoted with a silver color and abbreviated simply as HL on most RTA publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Milton Dyer</span> American architect (1870–1957)

J. Milton Dyer was an American architect based in Cleveland, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rauch and Lang</span> American electric automobile manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio

The Rauch & Lang Carriage Company was an American electric automobile manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1905 to 1920 and Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, from 1920 to 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C J Edwards Chambers</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

C J Edwards Chambers is a heritage-listed riparian office building at 174 Quay Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Edwin Morton Hockings and built in 1914. It is also known as River Motors Pty Ltd, Rockhampton Motors Garage and Engineers, and Sydney V Golik and Co Motor and Car Truck Dealers. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Trust Company Building</span> Building in Ohio, U.S.

The Cleveland Trust Company Building is a 1907 building designed by George B. Post and located at the intersection of East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland's Nine-Twelve District. The building is a mix of Beaux-Arts, Neoclassical, and Renaissance Revival architectural styles. It features a glass-enclosed rotunda, a tympanum sculpture, and interior murals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. Black and Company Building</span> United States historic place

The H. Black and Company Building is a historic former factory building located in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. It was commissioned by H. Black and Company, one of the largest manufacturers of women's clothing in the United States, and designed by noted New York City architect Robert D. Kohn. Completed in 1907, it won national praise for its design. The building was sold in 1928 to the Evangelical Press, and for a short time was known as the Evangelical Press Building. The commercial printing business of the Evangelical Press was spun off as a secular company, Tower Press, in 1934, after which the structure became known as the Tower Press Building. Vacant for much of the 1960s and 1970s, the building had two different owners in the 1980s and was nearly demolished. A new owner took over the building in 2000, after which it underwent an award-winning renovation and restoration. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 24, 2002. The structure now serves as a mixed-use development for low- and moderate-income artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryant Building (Cleveland)</span> United States historic place

The Bryant Building is a historic retail building located in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. The building, designed by the prominent local architectural firm of Christian, Schwarzenburg and Gaede, was constructed by Mall Motor Co. as their new salesroom and service center, and was completed in 1921. The structure was purchased by Bryant Motor Co. in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedar Glen Apartments</span> United States historic place

The Cedar Glen Apartments is a historic apartment building located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Designed by prominent local architect Samuel H. Weis and completed in 1927, the building originally contained luxury apartments and served as a gateway to the more exclusive neighborhood of Cleveland Heights, on whose border the building is located. Threatened with demolition in 1992, the building was purchased by new owners and converted into condominiums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halle Building</span> United States historic place

The Halle Building, formerly known as the Pope Building and after 2014 as The Residences at Halle, is an 11-story Chicago School mixed-use structure located in the Downtown Cleveland central business district in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Designed by architect Henry Bacon, the building was the flagship department store of the Halle Brothers Co. from 1910 to 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">224 West 57th Street</span> Commercial building in Manhattan, New York

224 West 57th Street, also known as the Argonaut Building and formerly as the Demarest and Peerless Company Building, is a commercial building on the southeast corner of Broadway and 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, just south of Columbus Circle. The building consists of two formerly separate structures, the A. T. Demarest & Company Building and the Peerless Motor Car Company Building, both used by automobile companies. Both structures were designed by Francis H. Kimball and erected by the George A. Fuller Company with similar Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival architectural details.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Garage</span> Building in DC, United-States

The Capital Garage was a ten-story parking garage that once stood at 1320 New York Avenue NW in downtown Washington, D.C. It was built for the Shannon & Luchs real estate firm and designed by local architect Arthur B. Heaton, whose landmark buildings in the city include Riggs National Bank, Stockton Hall, and the Churchill Hotel. The building was designed in the Streamline Moderne architectural style with Gothic Revival features. Ornamental details on its façade included bas-reliefs of automobiles and headlights as well as lion-headed grotesques. In addition to providing parking spaces, the Capital Garage also included a gas station, carwash, repair shop, and retail space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1101 East Pike Street</span> Building in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

1101 East Pike Street, originally known as the Seattle Automobile Company and later the Baker Linen Building is a historic building in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. Built in 1916 as the fourth and final location of the Seattle Automobile Company, the city's first auto dealer, the structure has been designated a city landmark.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ The Plain Dealer newspaper described it as Arts & Crafts styled in 2008. [7]
  2. ↑ One source claims it was 162 feet (49 m) wide and 220 feet (67 m) long. [9]
  3. ↑ All the doorknobs and plumbing and window fixtures were bronze. [5]
  4. ↑ Standard Automobile was the Packard Motor Car Company distributor for Cleveland. [9]
  5. ↑ Pace says he was unaware that locally famous architect Frank B. Meade designed the structure when he bought it. [7]
Citations
  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ Cigliano, Jan (1993). Showplace of America: Cleveland's Euclid Avenue, 1850-1910. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. pp. 2–4. ISBN   9780873384452.
  3. ↑ Kelly, S.J. (March 11, 1942). "Homes of Early Cleveland". The Plain Dealer. p. 8.
  4. ↑ Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County. Volume 5 (PDF). Cleveland: Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County. 1904. pp. 511–512.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Electric Car Garage in Cleveland Operated By Baker Is A Model One". Motor Age. October 26, 1911. pp. 30–31. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Gleisser, Marcus (March 4, 2000). "Illinois Owner to Shut Down Carpenter Reserve Printing". The Plain Dealer. p. C2.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 O'Malley, Michael (November 3, 2008). "Developer restoring Baker electric car showroom into offices". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Baker Opens New Garage". The Spokesman. June 1910. pp. 245–246. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Among the Makers and Dealers". Motor Age. February 10, 1910. p. 66. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 "Hecker Building Sold on Euclid". The Plain Dealer. July 31, 1966. p. D25.
  11. ↑ Theiss, Evelyn (January 10, 2010). "Louis Rorimer's elegant, original designs defined public and private places: Elegant Cleveland". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  12. ↑ Wrenick, Frank E.; Wrenick, Elaine V. (2016). Automobile Manufacturers of Cleveland and Ohio, 1864-1942. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. pp. 26, 93, 105. ISBN   9780786475353.
  13. ↑ Gleisser, Marcus (March 10, 1985). "Midtown's Coming Back". The Plain Dealer. pp. F1, F3.
  14. ↑ Baur, Joe (July 19, 2012). "Second Time Around: Restoring Cleveland's Past, One Building At A Time". Freshwater Cleveland. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 Jarboe, Michelle (November 19, 2009). "Euclid Avenue tech center proposed for Midtown". The Plain Dealer. p. C1.
  16. ↑ Litt, Steven (February 10, 2008). "Euclid Corridor project helps drive $4 billion in Cleveland development". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  17. ↑ "New Nominations to the National Register". Cleveland Restoration Society Perspectives. January 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  18. 1 2 Moore, Jack L. Jr. (June 8, 2010). "Roof System Helps LEED the Way in Baker". Roofing Contractor. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Baker Electric Motor Building". Architect Magazine. October 24, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  20. ↑ Schoenberger, Robert (November 12, 2010). "Plugged-in Cleveland: Car-charging station opens". The Plain Dealer. p. A1.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.