This Old Bank was Gutted by fire in 1983

Brooklyn Bank Building - Farnsworth Building, Cleveland Ohio

Date added: December 22, 2023 Categories: Ohio Commercial Office Bank

The Brooklyn Bank Building represents the work of a master, architect J. Milton Dyer, who could arguably be called the most innovative architect of the first decade of the century in Cleveland. Each building designed by Dyer was unique; he never repeated himself.

The Brooklyn Bank Building was erected in 1904 to house the Brooklyn Savings and Loan Association, as well as offices for realtors, lawyers, and physicians. The first president was William Prescott and the secretary was Harry M. Farnsworth. Although there were several different presidents over the next two decades, Farnsworth remained as secretary and later a vice-president of the association. He also operated a realty office and an insurance agency in the building. In the twenties Farnsworth devoted himself to the practice of law in this building; because of his activities, the building entrance on Archwood Avenue was named the Farnsworth Building in 1952.

Harry M. Farnsworth was also a member of the first Cleveland City Plan Commission in 1915; among its early studies were the development of the Mall (Daniel Burnham's Group Plan), the improvement of street planning, and the setback of buildings. In 1917 Farnsworth was a commissioner of the Pioneer Park Board, which urged the acquisition of woodland areas and the promotion of tax levies and bond issues to implement the development of Cleveland's renowned Metropolitan Park System, "the Emerald Necklace."

However, the Brooklyn Bank Building is primarily significant because of its design by J. Milton Dyer. Dyer (1870-1957) opened his Cleveland office in 1900. He had studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts for 5-1/2 years, twice as long as the average American architect. Versatile and original, his best works are nearly all confined to one decade (1900-1911), after which Dyer's social habits became more and more erratic and his work sporadic. Dyer designed in every idiom available at the time: Beaux-Arts Classicism (Cleveland City Hall 1906-1916), Wrightian (Peerless Motor Car Company, 1906), Gothic Revival (First Methodist Church, 1905), Eclectic (Tavern Club, 1905), industrial (Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, 1902, patterned after the Hall of Machines at the Paris Exposition of 1889), Commercial Style (Cleveland Athletic Club, 1911), and experimental (Cleveland Industrial Exposition exhibition tent, 1909), as well as designing many residences. In 1940 he produced the stunning Art Moderne Cleveland Coast Guard Station at the age of 70.

The Brooklyn Bank Building is a robust combination of diverse architectural elements. The general effect of symmetry and regularity is classical, but there is a deliberate crudity to the cornice brackets and entablature which recalls the individual stamp of an architect like Frank Furness. The deep-set segmental arches over each bay are also more of a late 19th-century detail. Altogether it is a highly individual building, and like all of J. Milton Dyer's works, it contributes to the understanding of the total body of his work.

As the result of a devastating fire in the summer of 1983 the building's interiors were destroyed.

Building Description

This is a two-story building constructed of masonry, concrete, and iron, and measuring 72.4 feet by 90 feet. The corner angle is slightly acute, which is compensated for by a chamfered corner. There are four bays on the main facade and five on the Archwood Avenue elevation. The bays are defined by rectangular piers of gray brick, and each bay is spanned by a segmental arch over the second-floor window. Each window reveal frames a second shallow arch. Instead of classical capitals, the piers have a dentilled band. Pairs of terra-cotta brackets above each pier support a continuous cornice. The brackets are not historical; they consist of concave consoles with triglyphs supporting square blocks with rosettes. Above the cornice is a solid parapet with a square panel above each pier containing a sculptured foliate design. Above the storefront in each bay is a row of cast-iron rosettes. A major entrance on the Archwood Avenue elevation opens to the stairway leading to the second floor.

The walls are solid brick bearing walls. There is a full basement. The floors are constructed of concrete slabs supported by interior masonry bearing walls and one row of cast-iron posts. The first floor is divided into four store areas. The two center areas, which were originally one banking room, have been divided by a removable partition along the row of columns. The second floor is U-shaped, surrounding an opening with two iron-framed skylights over the first floor.

The building suffered a serious fire in June 1983. The roof and the second-floor wooden partitions were destroyed, as well as part of a second-floor bearing wall around the skylight area. The exterior walls, concrete floors, and remaining interior walls and columns have been determined to be in sound structural condition.