Cleveland Classics: Five Stylishly Repurposed Buildings (PHOTOS)

by Sophia Dembling Subscribe to Sophia Dembling's posts Posted Mar 7th 2013 02:23 PM

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Like most of the Rust Belt, Cleveland's economy has taken a lot of hits in recent decades. As the city's fortunes declined, businesses shuttered, leaving empty shells of buildings behind-some imposing and centrally located. But many of these old buildings are being stylishly repurposed into interesting new spaces, hanging on to history while the keeping the city's colorful neighborhoods vital.

Check out five of them in the slideshow below.

Dale McDonald

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The Greater Cleveland Aquarium

This just-big-enough aquarium, which opened in January 2012, packs lots of aquatic life into a former power-generating plant for streetcars and railways. The red brick building on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Good-looking exhibits of and about aquatic life, local and exotic, are set among exposed brick walls, steel girders and wood beams. Pause to consider the design and construction challenges of fortifying the old building -- formerly the FirstEnergy Powerhouse complex -- to support tanks holding thousands of gallons of water. Architectural details such as archways are retained; a dark passage lit by the blue glow of fish tanks, once housed a coal chute. And the building's two smokestacks have been incorporated into the design; look up and see moon jellyfish floating in a circular tank overhead.