Lerner Building
Also known as: Petrie's Clothing Store; Cuy-2981-1
Why it's listed
Rising three stories on Cleveland's Euclid Avenue, this narrow 30-foot-wide building was completed in 1936 and is faced in marble laid in a square grid. Its upper façade carries Art Deco relief work, including vertical flutes and a bas-relief of a stylized woman holding a book beneath a stepped parapet. The building was created by cutting down the 1905 Guardian Savings and Trust tower to its first-floor structure and reusing the basement and first floor. Cleveland Trust architect Alfred G. Hall designed it, a departure from his usual neo-classical work. The Lerner Shops of Ohio, a women's clothing company, were the first occupant, and Petrie's occupied it from 1951 until the mid-1990s. Built during the Depression, it won the Chamber of Commerce medal of merit as the best small commercial building of 1935-36. Its façade is largely unaltered, the first-floor interior keeps curvilinear plaster and neon accents, and the upper floors now hold apartments. It is listed for its architecture as a rare Cleveland Art Deco example.
Significance in brief: It is nominated under Criterion C as a good and increasingly rare example of Art Deco architecture on a retail building in Cleveland. It was one of the first Art Deco buildings along Euclid Avenue and broke sharply with the Neo-Classical and Victorian styles around it. It received the 1936 Chamber of Commerce medal of merit as the best small commercial building.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 00000750, listed June 24, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 322-324 Euclid Ave., Cleveland |
|---|---|
| County | Cuyahoga County |
| Listed | June 24, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00000750 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1936-1949 |
| Architect / builder | Alfred G. Hall - Architect; George A. Rutherford - Contractor |
| Architectural style | Modern Movement: Art Deco |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | First floor remains clothing retail space; the second and third floors have been rehabilitated into residential units. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Euclid Avenue Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.50057, -81.69188 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 00000750.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q137642488
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.