Longworth Hall, a historic railroad freight warehouse in Cincinnati, is now shorter than it was for most of its history. About 210 feet of the world’s longest buildings has been removed to make way for a new bridge over the Ohio River.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
The demolition is part of the Brent Spence companion bridge project. According to NPR, work on the new bridge officially began with a groundbreaking ceremony in May, and the removal of part of Longworth Hall has been one of the first visible changes linked to the project.
The historic building at 700 W Pete Rose Way was completed in 1904 by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as a warehouse for rail freight. At the time, it was 1,227 feet long and was described as one of the longest buildings in the world.
Most of Longworth Hall will remain standing, however. The section being removed is largely an addition constructed in the 1960s. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, contractors took about six months to remove roughly one-fifth of the building. A time-lapse video also shows the demolition taking place in less than a minute.
The building had shrunk before
The latest demolition is not the first time Longworth Hall has lost part of its length. In 1961, about 150 feet of the building was removed to make room for Interstate 75 on the Cincinnati side of the Ohio River. That section was later restored.
Ironically, the part being removed now was itself added in the 1960s, after the building had already been shortened for the interstate.
Longworth Hall has also changed ownership over the decades. In 1985, it was sold to Roy and Ron Schweitzer and Rudy Hermes, with the Schweitzers taking ownership soon afterwards. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
In 2023, the Ohio Department of Transportation acquired the property. ODOT now owns the building and plans to put it up for sale after the new bridge is completed.
The current work is being carried out carefully because the remaining structure is historic. While much of the 210-foot section is being demolished, a portion of the original building will be taken apart in a way that allows its old bricks to be saved.
