Cincinnati Enquirer Building

Cincinnati Enquirer Building
Front of the building
Location 617 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates 39°6′11″N 84°30′49″W / 39.10306°N 84.51361°WCoordinates: 39°6′11″N 84°30′49″W / 39.10306°N 84.51361°W
Area 0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built 1926
Architect Lockwood Greene & Co.
Architectural style Mixed
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 85002787[1]
Added to NRHP November 13, 1985

The Cincinnati Enquirer Building is the former headquarters building for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Located on Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, the Enquirer Building was designed by the firm of Lockwood Greene and Company and completed in 1926.[1] Construction of the building began in 1916, and minor details were only finished in 1928. It occupied the location of a previous Enquirer property; the newspaper had been published from premises on the same site since 1866.[2]

Built primarily of limestone,[3] and measuring fourteen stories tall, the Enquirer Building was built to house both commercial offices and publishing facilities.[2] Lockwood Greene's architects designed the building in a mixture of architectural styles;[1] among its most distinctive features include the first-floor storefronts, the recessed central main entrance, and marble stonework with a Christmas tree with bronze details.[2]

The building is shown as the home of WKRP in the 1978-1982 television series WKRP in Cincinnati and its 1991-1993 sequel The New WKRP in Cincinnati. However, the building was referred to as the fictional Osgood R. Flimm Building.[4]

Starting in 1975, the Enquirer Building received increased attention outside of the immediate Cincinnati area: in that year, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places,[1] due to its place in local history and due to its historically significant architecture.[3] Four years later, the newspaper's printing facilities moved to a new property at the intersection of Western Avenue and Liberty Street, and the offices moved to 312 Elm Street in 1992.[5] Some changes had been made from the building's original condition, but it was restored in 1982.[6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 574.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Cincinnati Enquirer Building, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2010-12-03.
  4. WKRP's back on the air, Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday, July 04, 1999 Accessed 2011-06-25.
  5. About Us, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 2008. Accessed 2010-12-03.
  6. Architecture and Urban Planning Collection: 617 Vine Street Building, University of Cincinnati, n.d. Accessed 2010-12-03.