City Administration Building & 1887 Building

The 1887 Building, also known as the Stone Block, is a Richardsonian Romanesque Two-Part Commercial four-story building is composed of rock faced ashlar sandstone, built in 1887. It is arguably Downtown Alliance’s most precious, and most underappreciated, architectural gem. It has hosted a broad spectrum of tenants through its 130-plus years. In the mid-60s it was home to Seikel Paint & Wallpaper and Band-Orch, but in recent decades hosted several, and has now been acquired by the City of Alliance for additional office space.

The City Administration Building was acquired by the City in 1994 after the closure of Bank One’s Downtown Alliance office, along with the 1915-16 Alliance Bank Building. The Administration Building was a 1971 renovation of two circa mid-1870s structures into a combined modern office space in the New Formalism Style. The best remembered historic tenants of these buildings were the Vale Drug Store and the C. C. Crawford/Crawford’s clothing store

It may be best to allow you to gaze at the 1887 Building/Stone Block structure for a moment or two to let it soak in a bit, and then read this description prepared by preservation consultants Wendy Hoge Naylor and Diana Wellman for the Historic District’s NRHP nomination:

The façade is divided into first floor storefronts and two-story arcade with blind arches at the fourth floor. The two-story piers at the third floors are finished with carved capitals at the springing of the arch. The stone piers at the first floor level are flanked by contemporary storefront systems with a separate entrance to the upper floors. A metal canopy conceals the area between the first-floor storefronts and second floor. Six bays comprise the width of the building at the second and third floors composed of asymmetrical fenestration pattern with the central bay slightly narrower. This narrower bay is flanked by engaged columns that extend through the roof line and capped with hemispherical orbs. The stone voussoirs are further defined by dentiled carved stone with rosettes at the springing. Checker board pattern stone work is exhibited in the spandrels between the second and third floor and fill in the area above the arches to the corbelled blind arcade at the parapet. A carved central plaque at the parapet dates the building “1887.” A carved lion’s head is located above the arch below the carved date. The fenestration is replacement sash. 

Historically, the building is likely best remembered as the headquarters for the Ohio Public Service Company’s Alliance central office operations, with a large two-story neon sign attached at the building’s center.

Alliance Review, April 23, 1996

Downtown Alliance East Main Street Historic Commercial District National Register Nomination, July 2017

"1887 Building," Alliance Memory. Accessed June 6, 2024. https://www.alliancememory.org/digital/collection/places/id/1165/rec/1