Nela Park

Nela Park is an office and laboratory campus of about 90 acres at 1901 Noble Road in East Cleveland, Ohio. Franklin Terry and Burton Tremaine of the National Electric Lamp Company conceived it in 1910, and the site was a plateau 234 feet above Lake Erie with woods and a ravine. The nomination makes a strong claim that it was the first planned industrial park in the nation. Architect Frank E. Wallis of New York designed all buildings begun before 1921. Twenty major buildings, mostly two or three stories of red brick with terra-cotta trim, follow a Georgian Revival style. The earliest ones are arranged around a central Quadrangle on two axes. Underground tunnels connect the buildings, and the roadways are tree-lined and landscaped under plans made from the start. The form describes the design as a representation of the early twentieth century academic ideal. The original architectural scheme and landscape planning remain virtually intact, and the plant still operates.