LeVeque Tower
Ohio’s Art Deco crown — a 47-story tower clad in gold terracotta and limestone that loomed over Columbus for decades as the state’s tallest building, originally built as a monument to an insurance empire.
At a glance
The LeVeque Tower at 50 West Broad Street was completed in 1927 as the American Insurance Union Citadel, headquarters of a Midwest insurance conglomerate. At 555 feet it was the tallest building in Ohio for many years and remains one of the most recognizable silhouettes in Columbus — its four spired corner turrets and gold terracotta cladding giving it an unusual hybrid character, where Art Deco massing meets Gothic Revival ornament. The building is a National Historic Landmark and today operates as an Autograph Collection hotel, with the lobby’s original grandeur largely intact.
Key facts
- Address: 50 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215
- Height: 555 ft (169 m), 47 stories
- Completed: 1927
- Architects: C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim
- Style: Art Deco with Gothic Revival elements
- Original name: American Insurance Union Citadel
- National Historic Landmark: Yes
- Current use: LeVeque Tower Autograph Collection (Marriott hotel), offices
History
The American Insurance Union commissioned the tower in the mid-1920s as a showcase for its corporate success. Detroit architect C. Howard Crane, better known for his movie palaces — he designed the Fox Theatre in Detroit — collaborated with Kenneth Franzheim to produce a skyscraper that combined the setback massing emerging in New York with the Gothic ornamental vocabulary popular in Midwestern commercial architecture of the period. The building opened in 1927 and immediately dominated the Columbus skyline.
The insurance union failed during the Great Depression, and the building passed through several ownerships before the LeVeque family acquired it in 1976. The LeVeque family renamed it and undertook substantial restoration work over the following decades. The tower was listed as a National Historic Landmark in recognition of its architectural significance as an outstanding example of commercial Art Deco construction.
In 2017 the tower was converted into a luxury hotel under Marriott’s Autograph Collection brand. The conversion preserved the ornate ground-floor lobby and the building’s distinctive exterior while adding guest rooms in the upper floors. An aircraft beacon originally installed at the crown has since been removed, though the four corner turrets that give the tower its most Gothic touch remain intact.
What you see
The LeVeque Tower’s exterior is clad in gold-toned terracotta and Indiana limestone. Its base fills its block with the solidity expected of a corporate headquarters, rising through a series of setbacks to a narrowing shaft. The four corner turrets at the crown, each topped with a pointed spire, are the tower’s most unusual feature — an unambiguously Gothic gesture applied to an otherwise Art Deco frame. This hybrid quality was not uncommon in skyscraper design of the late 1920s, when architects and clients alike were still negotiating between the Gothic verticality pioneered by Cass Gilbert’s Woolworth Building and the horizontal streamlining that would come to define the next decade.
Inside, the lobby retains its double-height volume, marble floors, and bronze-detailed elevator surrounds. The entry sequence — from the broad bronze entrance doors through the vestibule to the full height of the lobby — was designed to impress insurance clients and instill confidence. It still does.
Practical information
- Hotel lobby: Accessible to non-guests during business hours; bar open to public
- Tours: Hotel staff can provide background on the building’s history on request
- Photography: Best exterior angle is from Broad Street looking east; the full turret crown is visible from Capitol Square
- Nearby parking: Capitol Square garage and City Center garage within two blocks
Getting there
The LeVeque Tower is in downtown Columbus, directly across West Broad Street from the Ohio Statehouse. John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) is about 8 miles east via I-670. COTA bus routes serve Broad Street and High Street, both adjacent. The Short North arts district — with its early 20th-century commercial architecture — is a 20-minute walk north on High Street.
Nearby
- Ohio Statehouse (1861) — Greek Revival capitol directly opposite on Capitol Square
- Huntington Center (1984) — glass postmodern tower that later surpassed the LeVeque as Columbus’s tallest
- Columbus City Hall — late Art Deco civic building two blocks west
- Short North — historic arts-and-dining district one mile north with 1920s commercial buildings
Sources
- Wikipedia, “LeVeque Tower” — height, architects, NHL designation, history
- National Park Service, National Historic Landmark nomination — architectural significance
- Columbus Landmarks Foundation — preservation history and ownership timeline
- Marriott Autograph Collection — current hotel operations and access
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