Landscape Information
This promenade was a key element of the 1903 Group Plan for Cleveland developed by Daniel Burnham, Arnold Brunner, and John Carrère, and realized with the assistance of Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and Frank Mead. Inspired by the McMillan Plan for Washington, D.C., also led by Burnham, the 1903 plan called for a tripartite mall lined by rows of topiary that opened towards a fountain fronting the Union Railroad Terminal, later built adjacent to nearby Public Square. Olmsted Brothers were engaged to consult on the plan’s execution, and the firm remained involved with the project through the 1930s, advising on the planting and placement of trees, among other recommendations.
A bronze war memorial called the Fountain of Eternal Life, by sculptor Marshall Fredericks, was added to the mall’s southernmost length, known as Veterans Memorial Plaza, in 1964. The northern and central segments were excavated that year to allow for construction of the underground Cleveland Convention Center, during which time they was redesigned by Clarke & Rapuano. The Hanna Fountain, a linear pool edged by trees and triangular lawn panels, was constructed as a rooftop feature and later demolished in 1995. The convention center was rebuilt as the Huntington Convention Center in 2013 by LMN Architects, and portions of the mall redesigned by landscape architects Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN). The latter design sought to reintroduce the uniform proportions of the Group Plan.
Divided by roadways and framed by Neoclassical civic buildings, the mall widens incrementally as it moves northwest. A plaza, accessed by paths that radiate out from Fredericks’ memorial fountain, comprises the mall’s southernmost segment. A long central green, built atop the convention center, gradually inclines before ending one story above the building’s entrance. Edged by border plantings and mirror-covered ventilation shafts, the elevated lawn overlooks a wider green culminating in expansive views of Lake Erie. The sculpture, Flame Cauldron, by Ron Payto, is situated in the centermost segment. The Cleveland Mall was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
