Goodbye, Crosley Tower

Crosley Tower on Martin Luther King Drive will be taken down incrementally over the next 10 months beginning next week, weather permitting. Love it or hate it, Crosley Tower has engendered surprisingly strong opinions about a topic most people take for granted: architecture. The crumbling facade of the 17-story building posed a safety issue while its functionality has been a subject of regular criticism.

For generations, Crosley served as an unmistakable beacon for UC’s Uptown campus, visible for miles all around many of Greater Cincinnati’s seven hills.

At UC, Crosley was a square peg in a round hole that was perfectly at home on a campus known for its eclectic and celebrated mix of architectural styles.

“It’s kind of a meme,” said UC graduate Anna Hargan, who works as an architectural designer for the local firm Drawing Dept.

She wrote her master’s thesis about the history and architecture of the building that for the last 57 years served students in subjects including chemistry, sociology, physics, geosciences and biology in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“It’s considered ugly and unadaptable. But I see it more as monolithic or monumental,” Hargan said.

Crosley is a classic example of Brutalist architecture, a style characterized by unadorned materials like bare concrete and steel, often boldly juxtaposed against open space.

It’s named for UC alumnus Powel Crosley Jr., a graduate of UC’s College of Law and College of Engineering and Applied Science. He invented the Crosley radio.

UC hired international construction firm Skanska to oversee the demolition. Most recently, Skanska renovated UC’s Old Chemistry, which reopened last year.

“Crosley Tower has been part of our community for generations, and we recognize the memories and meaning it holds for so many Cincinnatians,” said Chris Hopper, executive vice president and general manager of Skanska’s Cincinnati office.

“As demolition begins, our focus is to carry out this work safely, respectfully and with minimal impact on our neighbors. Because of the tower’s one-of-a-kind design, the structure will be dismantled in engineered sections,” Hopper said.

“We’re working with O’Rourke Wrecking Company and THP Limited engineering on this intentional, methodical approach that reflects our responsibility to the surrounding community as we thoughtfully refresh the northwest corner of the University of Cincinnati’s campus,” he said.

Crosley’s design elicits strong opinions.

“Its infamous identity has nurtured an unexpected level of appreciation,” Hargan wrote in her thesis published in 2022.

The Cincinnati Enquirer wondered last year if the building was a Disney villain’s lair or an engineering miracle.

Engineer John Nuckels on LinkedIn called it a “giant Brutalist concrete nail” but conceded, “I will miss it.”

“No other architectural style elicits emotional reactions as Brutalism,” wrote Australian architect D.J. Huppatz. “Think monolithic concrete buildings composed of blunt rectangular forms, devoid of colour, decoration or symbolism, with cavernous interiors that complement the exterior’s hulking, inhuman scale.”

Hargan said many examples of Brutalism such as Crosley are disappearing as these postwar buildings are deemed unadaptable for today’s uses. With the high cost of concrete, Hargan said cities are unlikely to build others like them.

“I don’t think there will ever be anything like Crosley Tower,” she said.

But she has hope that architects of the future will come to appreciate the simplistic beauty of Brutalist architecture.

“In the end, I believe there is beauty in things that do not last forever,” Hargan said. “Though it is bittersweet to see something I admire demolished, I will remember Crosley fondly and grieve the loss of a structure so unique and monumental on campus.

“Goodbye, old friend — thank you for watching over us.”

Featured image at top: A crane towers over Crosley as demolition begins. Photo/Connor Boyle/UC Marketing + Brand. Angela Koenig contributed to this report.