Parma Heights: A Modernist Architectural Mecca?

Flagstar Bank Building (formerly Ohio Savings Bank), designed by Don Hisaka. 

Picture this: a group of tourists step off of a bus. They’ve come to have a look at the collection of mid-20th century modernist buildings along Pearl Road in Parma Heights. After taking some photos of the unique buildings, they stop at a local restaurant for lunch. Maybe the Tavern on 42? Or a hot sub sandwich at Penn Station? Perhaps Luna’s Deli on York Road for a sandwich and a cup of soup? Then they think “some dessert sure would be nice.” So, they get some fresh frozen custard from East Coast Custard, a building that they just visited on their mini tour.

Somebody in the group says “hey, we could get a drink at a bar.” So, they stop in at Flyers Bar and Grill, another building that was part of their tour. 

Sound far-fetched? Maybe not as much as you think.

Architectural tourism is definitely a “thing.” Think of some of the most popular world destinations; Florence, Italy for its abundance of splendid Renaissance buildings. Or the architecture of Spain, including Gaudi’s Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

In the U.S., Chicago, the birthplace of the modern skyscraper, is a perennial destination and offers tours of magnificent skyscrapers as well as the many houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park.

Or perhaps the not as well-known destination of Columbus, Indiana. Home to the Cummins engine company, longtime CEO J. Irwin Miller established a foundation in the 1940s which paid architects fees for building projects. It helped attract some of the most prominent 20th century architects to the city to design and build modernist-style buildings, an impressive list that includes I.M. Pei (designer of Cleveland’s Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame), Eero Saarinen, Robert Venturi, and César Pelli (who designed Cleveland’s Key Tower), among others.

Sure, Parma Heights is not Florence or Spain or Chicago! Nevertheless, it has its own unique architectural gems that would be of interest to architecture buffs, and with the city’s promotion could become a destination spot for this type of tourism.

The stretch of Pearl Road from York Road east to the library has a number of unique modernist style buildings. These include the Parma Heights Library building itself (designed by architect John Lipaj in the early 1960s), the East Coast Custard building (an old Arby’s), the Flyer’s Bar & Grill building, and the gem of them all, the Flagstar Bank Building (formerly Ohio Savings Bank) designed by the renowned architect Don Hisaka, an American architect of Japanese descent (who also designed a municipal building in Columbus, Indiana).

One thing the city could do is to certify the buildings for local historic preservation. Ohio state and local municipal law allows for this via local historic preservation ordinances originating with the city. This stretch of Pearl Road could be designated an historic architecture district, recognizing the small oasis of mid 20th century architecture we have right in the middle of the city.

We can’t allow something so unique about the city to slide into disrepair or worse be demolished in the future. Let’s preserve the city’s unique mid-century modernist architectural legacy and share it with the rest of the world.