Public Square, Cleveland

Cleveland Public Square
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Superior Avenue and Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Coordinates	41°29′59″N 81°41′38″W / 41.49972°N 81.69389°W / 41.49972; -81.69389
Built	1857-1861
NRHP reference No.	75001361[1]
Added to NRHP	December 18, 1975

Public Square is the central plaza of Downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Based on an 18th-century New England model, it was part of the original 1796 town plat overseen by city founder General Moses Cleaveland of the Connecticut Land Company. The historical center of the city's downtown, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

The 10-acre (4.0 ha) square is centered on the former intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Street.^[2] Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and the Terminal Tower, face the square. Other landmarks adjacent to Public Square include the 1855 Old Stone Church and the former Higbee's department store made famous in the 1983 film A Christmas Story, which has been occupied by the Jack Cleveland Casino since 2012.

Originally designed as four separate squares bisected by Superior Avenue and Ontario Street, the square was redeveloped in 2016 by the city into a more pedestrian-friendly environment by routing most traffic around the square. The section of Ontario Street through the square was removed, while the section of Superior Avenue was rebuilt to only allow buses with stops for multiple bus lines of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. The northern half of the square is mostly green space and includes a statue to reformist mayor Tom L. Johnson. The southern half is mostly a paved plaza area with a cafe and water feature adjacent to the 125-foot-tall (38 m) Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and a statue of Moses Cleaveland.