^Check page 7 of this thread and the renderings to answer your questions. As much as I liked the Ameritrust concept, I wonder about a few things:
1. At a proposed height of 1,198’ would it have disrupted the generally pyramidal skyline? Yes, it’s not perfect but from just about every angle, there’s a definite flow/hierarchy.
2. What if the tower had been built but then the bank merger still occurred? Keep in mind - when Ameritrust merged with Society Bank, Ameritrust’s headquarters at East Ninth and Euclid (the Marcel Breuer designed tower) ended up being mothballed for **25 years**. Fast forward to 2022 and the hybrid/remote work model, what would be done with that much surplus office space?
3. Along those lines, the Ameritrust Center was slated to have a 484 room Hyatt hotel. Instead, the Hyatt ended up in the Arcade which undoubtedly helped with its restoration. According to the team behind the restoration, the Arcade was in rough shape - roofing tar was used to patch cracks in the iconic glass skylight. Without a hotel brand like Hyatt, the restoration may have never happened. Remember, in 1978 the Arcade was put up for auction - of all the bids placed, only one involved plans to keep the building (yes, the Arcade came close to demolition
) Fortunately that bid won.
4. Yes, Ameritrust was to have a decorative top, maybe slightly in the structural expressionist vein but sophisticated…?