Vote for Union’s Cincinnati Center as a Top Historic Building

Union Institute & University’s Cincinnati Academic Center

The Cincinnati Preservation Association has created a contest to select the top 50 historic buildings that define Cincinnati. Union Institute & University’s Cincinnati Academic Center, an early Tudor Revival landmark at 440 E McMillan in Walnut Hills, has been nominated.

If you would like to vote for Union’s building, click here to view the nominees. Select Union Institute & University and click the blue “vote” button. Feel free to share, like, or add a comment. Voting ends on April 30, 2014. Anyone can participate. You may submit multiple votes for different buildings but only one vote per person for each building will be counted. The top 50 historic buildings and sites will be announced in April and included in a special exhibition in the fall.

A Brief History of the Building

Union Institute & University is headquartered in a historic building on Time Hill, north of downtown Cincinnati. The building was built, along with the Gruen building across the street, during the “City Beautiful” era in American history, a time when family companies began to emerge as national corporations, often using distinctive architecture to send a signal of quality and endurance. Because of their unique appearance and historic functions, this building and the Gruen Building, now owned by Lighthouse Youth Services, were restored by Union Institute and both buildings have been listed on the National Register for Historic Places.

The 440 East McMillan Street building is one of Cincinnati’s most important early Tudor Revival landmarks. Designed in 1921 by Elzner and Anderson, a prominent local architectural firm, the industrial building has its original half-timbered walls, a red tile roof, and an imposing tower, originally used as a water tower for fire safety. The first owners were the Procter & Collier Co., the marketing firm famous for creating Procter & Gamble’s slogan Ivory Soap – It Floats. The building changed hands in 1936, and for the next 50 years, Beau Brummell ties were manufactured for a national market. In the 1980s, it was owned by Gordon B. Miller & Co., a jewelry fabricator.

Union Institute & University began an extensive renovation in 1989 that created offices and classrooms from what were once industrial spaces. The President and Provost’s offices, as well as the business office, enrollment, registrar, financial aid, human resources, instructional technology, institutional effectiveness, and research, and alumni and communications offices augment the undergraduate and doctoral offices.