The YMCA Building, now known as 1100 Jefferson or the Court Services Building, is a historic building in downtown

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. The

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

listed the former

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

structure in 1982.

History

The Toledo YMCA, originally founded in 1865, needed a larger location based on continued growth. Architect John N. Richards designed the building in 1930 but the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

caused the design to be scaled back and delayed the start of construction until 1934. When it was completed in 1935, the complex was still sizable with 153 bedrooms, chapel, cafeteria, kitchen, laundry room, full-size pool, two full gymnasiums, six handball courts, boxing and exercise rooms, hydrotherapy massage rooms, boys social rooms, game rooms, and an assembly hall. The total cost of construction came to $800,000 and included multiple contractors. Hugh Tyler of New York City handled the interior design, Ingalls Stone Company of Bedford, Indiana provided the stone, the Winkle Terra Cotta Company of St. Louis produced the

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

based on designs from Parducci Studios of Detroit. The dormitories closed in the 1970s and the YMCA left the rest of the facility in 1980. The group donated their historical records to the archives at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

. In 1981, a group called the Downtown Athletic Club bought the building with intentions to renovate it. Later, the Lucas County Government converted the space into 140 units of community-based treatment for people with nonviolent felony convictions and substance abuse disorders. In 2018, that program began to move to the Toledo Correctional Institution in phases, so that it could expand to 200 beds. The county regional court services now operate out of the building to support the nearby

Lucas County Courthouse Lucas County Courthouse may refer to: * Lucas County Courthouse (Iowa), Chariton, Iowa * Lucas County Courthouse and Jail, Toledo, Ohio {{disambig ...

. In 2017, a new downtown YMCA opened 37 years after the closure of the Central YMCA. That facility at 300 North Summit Street is part of the new

ProMedica ProMedica is a non-profit health care system with locations in northwest Ohio, southeast Michigan, and southern Pennsylvania. The system includes a health education and research center, the health maintenance organization Paramount Health Care, ...

headquarters complex along the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) (; ) is a river running in the Midwestern United States from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph River (Maumee River), St. Joseph and St. Mar ...

Architecture

The

Palazzo Davanzati Palazzo Davanzati is a palace in Florence, Italy. It houses the Museum of the Old Florentine House. History Palazzo Davanzati was erected in the second half of the 14th century by the Davizzi family, who were wealthy members of the wool guild. In ...

of Florence, Italy served as the inspiration for the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

building. The asymmetrical building consists of a two-story base for offices and social spaces with athletics in the back topped by a pair of four-story dormitory towers.

Polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

bricks in various geometric patterns cover the outside of the building including prominent diaper work running along the top the building. Multi-colored clay

pan-tile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered roo ...

covers all the multiple rooflines above heavy brick

cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. The sides have round oculi windows while the rear has

blind arcade Blind often refers to: * The state of blindness, being unable to see * A window blind, a covering for a window Blind may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Blind'' (1987 film), a documentary by Frederick Wiseman about t ...

s at the first-floor level. The main entrance facing Jefferson Avenue consists of stone, brick and a tile with tympanum filled with geometric patterns. A stone

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

depicting St. George slaying the dragon is above. The "Boy's Entrance" facing 12th Street mirrors the main entrance but with terra cotta panels. A wrought-iron griffin flag standard is between the entrances.

References

External links

Lucas County Regional Court Services

Downtown Toledo YMCA
{{NRHP National Register of Historic Places in Lucas County, Ohio Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Buildings and structures in Toledo, Ohio County government buildings in Ohio Romanesque Revival architecture in Ohio Lombard architecture Buildings and structures completed in 1935 1935 establishments in Ohio YMCA buildings in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Ohio

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links