The ten-story Society for Savings Building, which was Cleveland’s first skyscraper, was completely restored in this rehabilitation project. It is one of outstanding examples of the work of Burnham and Root and reportedly one of Root’s personal favorites. The program consisted of complete rehabilitation of the building to serve the needs of the bank and connection to the new, adjoining 55-story Society Tower. The program also included extensive restoration of the exterior, the ground floor banking hall, and the mezzanine board room.

Restoration work entailed cleaning and repairing of pink sandstone and granite stonework. Much testing effort went into the selection of a chemical cleaning process that would remove a century of grime and, at the same time, not abraid the stone. 

A large 1950’s annex on the north elevation was removed, and the scars (missing original metal bay windows) were repaired with identical elements removed from the east elevation. Other areas restored on the interior included bronze doors and signs and a magnificent 1890 lantern.

Interior restoration of the banking hall involved the restoration and revamping of the stained glass skylight, and the complete restoration of interior finishes, including stenciled wall canvas, plaster, wood trim, marble flooring, brass railings, and bronze doors. The space was revamped for better light distribution. 

In order to connect existing floors to the new tower, a new structural system capable of supporting the required floor loadings was inserted within the outer stone bearing wall above the ground (main banking hall) level. The original second floor was replaced with a large space frame that transfers loads from the six new columns to the original fourteen columns in the banking hall. New office floor decks were electrified for power and communication distribution.