The structure pictured here is located in a far-flung part of Ohio City that some people might think is part of the Tremont neighborhood, because of its location in the 'flats' along the Cuyahoga River. As can be seen from the accompanying photo, there is plaque on the structure that identifies it as "The Columbus Building" and that it was built in 1915. We have no idea where that name was found. It did not have this name historically. As for the alleged year of construction, that is totally incorrect (hence the reason for this post!). It was actually constructed in 1903, for a Ludwig Retz (sometimes spelled Reitz) from designs by local architect Bernard Van Develde [Bldg. Prmt. App. 44832]. Retz, with Van Develde, was also was responsible for the construction of an older building that is just a few doors away.
Incidentally, the current emasculated look of the second-floor bay of this structure is something that was created in only very recent times. Here is a photo of how it originally looked, taken only a handful of years ago. Time and time again, people in this city continue to demonstrate how oblivious they are to the timeless attractiveness of historic architectural design.
-- C. B.
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