In September of 2003, the Cleveland Venus, a 37-foot-tall bronze figurative sculpture by Jim Dine was placed on the court house.
Click here to read more about the sculpture and the artist.

Of related interest,;
Historic murals are being restored for return to the Howard M. Metzenbaum Federal Courthouse. More...
Poetry and Power - by Arnold Berke

Welcome to Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Browns and of the Northern District of Ohio’s new court house.

We are proud to be part of Cleveland’s continuing renewal with the construction of this state of the art facility for the court and the citizens of the Northern District of Ohio. The new Carl B. Stokes United States Court House is situated on the west end of the famed Tower City Development at the edge of the Central Business District overlooking the Cuyahoga River. The court house is linked by an indoor pedestrian walkway to the "Avenue at Tower City" complex offering shopping, hotels, restaurants, movie theaters and the Regional Transit Authority Station. The facility is at the transition of the upper city and the "Flats-Warehouse District" where burgeoning entertainment and housing is developing.

BACKGROUND
On May 28,1997 the General Services Administration broke ground for the first Federal court house to be built in Cleveland in over 87 years and will meet the federal courts’ space needs into the early years of the 21st century. The structure has a gross area of 727,000 square feet for courtrooms, judges chambers, Clerk of the U. S. District Court, U. S. Attorney, Probation Services, Pretrial Services, U. S. Marshal Service, and other court related agencies.

DESIGN CONCEPT
Situated at the northeast corner of the site, the building rises 22 stories, (430 feet) above its entrance on Huron Road. The curved side overlooks the river. Above the seventh floor, the juncture of the two flat sides is clipped, forming a diagonal fourth wall oriented to downtown and the Terminal Tower. The project is one of the first in Cleveland using metric measurement throughout construction. It also employs a mat foundation as a cost saving alternative to drilling deep caissons. The buildings entire 55,000 ton weight rests on a 6-7 foot thick concrete mat. Pouring the mat took approximately 1000 truckloads of cement, but was about 60% of the cost of digging and pouring deep caissons. The design, while visually relating to neighboring buildings, imparts a separate symbolic identity as a court house. The roof line of the seven story base, corresponding to the height of nearby buildings, is sharply marked off with setbacks and cornices that repeat the architecture of a previous era. The shaft, accented with gray and light limestone, rises fifteen levels above the base and is capped with a large, distinctive abstraction of the cornices below.

Views from the courtroom lobbies in the high rise tower look towards downtown and the historic Howard M. Metzenbaum U. S. Court House on Superior Avenue built in 1910. Facing the corner of Huron Road and Superior Avenue, the buildings monumental entrance will feature a sculpture of Justice, commissioned through GSA’s Art-in-Architecture program. The new Carl B. Stokes U. S. Court House is considered a major addition to the Civic Structures in Cleveland, and a distinguished addition to the Cleveland skyline. The design will provide efficient and economical workspace for the U. S. Courts and other Federal Agencies. It is a “State of the Art“ facility giving visual testimony to the enterprise, vigor, and stability of the American Government.
                                                                                          

The new facility houses the court and the court related family of agencies. The mix of courtrooms includes 10 District (including 1 special proceedings and 5 Senior Judge Courtrooms) and 6 Magistrate. The Bankruptcy Court will remain in the existing Courthouse. The  building will accommodate the 10-year growth requirements of the United States District Courts with potential to add space on the same site in the future.

Shown here is the Special Proceedings courtroom on the 19th floor.

 

SITE PLAN
The new building is situated on a 5+ acre site overlooking the Cuyahoga River at Superior Avenue and Huron Road. The address is 801 West Superior Avenue. The site is a landmark location that anchors the eastern end of a major redevelopment corridor. The location of the building was carefully considered to provide a secure setback yet maintain a very identifiable public entry. Detailed study was given to the scale of the building to the site in order to establish a monumental building mass without compromising the “view corridor”.

For information on courtroom technology integrated into the building, click here

To view some photographs taken during construction, click here.

Directions to the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Court House
                  
 

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