If you find yourself waiting at the entrance of Fifth Third Field you cant help but wonder at the history of the building there at the corner of Huron and Washington. Its the Berdan Building. Completed in 1901, the building was named for John Berdan, the first mayor of Toledo The building was designed for private commercial use – mostly for the grocery warehousing of Empire Tea and has also been known as King Warehouse. The building is “noted for its overall simplicity, terra-cotta ornament, and flaring roofline. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. A 1935 Toledo City Directory lists the firm’s business as “wholesale grocers, wholesale goods and notions, coffee roasters, tea importers, jobbers in cigars With downtown revitalization plans, theres a lot of discussion about how it can be repurposed.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 13:30:39 +0000