The Building’s Story
The Metro Lofts building, formerly the Cleveland Dental Manufacturing Company is a representative example of turn of the 20th century industrial architecture in Cleveland and was the designed by an architect with broad experience in residential and commercial as well as industrial architecture. The building was first constructed in 1903 according to city building permit records and contemporary newspaper account. George J. Hardway (1858-1929) was the architect. The building middle section was built soon after the original construction and the east wing was built in 1929.
This building also has an association with the rise of modern dentistry in the United States, as home to one of the older dental manufacturing firms in the country and the only major firm of its type in the city. According to the encyclopedia of Cleveland history, dentistry was a major profession in the city of Cleveland, spurred by the formation of the Cleveland Dental Society in 1886 and the establishment in 1892 of a major dental training facility associated with Western Reserve University. Cleveland City Hospital (now Metro Health Medical Center), located across the street from this facility, offered free dentistry to city residents over 100 years ago.
