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It sort of sneaks up on you, and then it overwhelms you, not unlike the movement and music it was created to celebrate.
A strikingly simplistic 150,000-square-foot mashup of common geometric patterns, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum sits quietly above the water at the edge of North Coast Harbor, barely a quarter mile from Jones Day's downtown Cleveland Office.
Part museum, part pop culture archive, and part living showcase devoted to arguably the most popular entertainment form of the last 60 years, the "Rock Hall"―as it's affectionately called by locals―is the final point of interest before the city's East Ninth Street gives way to Lake Erie (next stop, Canada) and faces no serious competition as the area's most recognizable landmark.
A critical and commercial success since opening in 1995, the Rock Hall attracts more than 600,000 visitors annually by staging unique exhibitions, such as the current "SNL: 50 Years of Music," "Bon Jovi Forever," and "The Music of 1984," while permanent installations pay tribute to the genre's most celebrated artists, including Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and U2.
Instruments, stage props, costumes, promotional materials, and similar artifacts, donated or on loan from sources around the world, make up a visually astounding assemblage of what's likely the most important collection of music memorabilia anywhere.
The Hall of Fame itself, located on the building's third floor, is lined with plaques honoring the 338 performers (from ABBA to ZZ Top), early influencers, and industry insiders inducted since the first class was announced in 1986.
While the Rock Hall's position as a flashy cultural attraction tends to grab headlines, the institution's tangible benefits and positive economic impact in the region are just as impressive. Hundreds of full-time employees, suppliers, vendors, and contractors wield considerable spending power and contribute significantly to the city's tax base. According to the Rock Hall's market research, more than 80% of its visitors do not live in northeast Ohio, resulting in a significant tourism boost for the city. Rock Hall guests spend an estimated $127 million each year and generate total economic impact of just under $200 million. The induction ceremonies alone, held biannually in Cleveland, generate an additional $40 million.
And to think it very nearly did not happen.
Drafting a Managing Partner
Richard W. "Dick" Pogue was busy. The Jones Day Managing Partner, whom Cleveland Magazine had called "the most powerful man in the city," was always busy. He was leading the Firm through a period of international expansion, serving on a number of corporate boards, devoting hundreds of hours to civic organizations, and, of course, addressing the needs of a high-profile client base.
Still, when Mike Benz, executive vice president at the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, asked for a meeting in early 1986 to discuss the possibility of bringing a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland, Dick was willing to listen.
"They had been talking to [then-Cleveland Mayor George] Voinovich," Dick recalls, "and he asked them to draft me."
Several years prior to that meeting at Jones Day's Cleveland Office, the concept for what would eventually become the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had started to take shape some 480 miles away in New York City. Atlantic Records chairman Ahmet Ertegun, concerned that rock music's image and reputation had been tarnished by its association with the counterculture movements of the previous two decades, reached out to his industry peers with the notion of creating a nonprofit organization that would recognize the achievements of the people who had, in his words, "created the most popular music of all time." The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, as it would be known, was led by Ertegun and then-Rolling Stone magazine publisher Jann Wenner.
After a somewhat sluggish and disorganized start, the foundation would agree to parameters for Hall of Fame eligibility and would honor its first class of inductees during a ceremony at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel on January 23, 1986. Among others, the inaugural class included Buddy Holly, James Brown, Elvis Presley, and Ray Charles and generated positive international attention for the foundation.
But the Rock Hall had no physical home. New York offered the foundation a run-down Manhattan townhouse as a possible location, but there was no serious follow-up from either side.
Around the same time, the Growth Association's Mike Benz read an interview with former Cleveland resident and advertising executive Edgar Spizel, who touted the economic benefits awaiting a city like Cleveland―if only it could lure a rock music museum to town.
Benz started to envision something larger and more significant than what was gradually moving forward in New York. With the Growth Association's support, the endorsement of city and state elected officials, and the help of enthusiastic Cleveland radio stations and other media outlets, he launched a surprisingly effective guerilla public relations campaign to have the Rock Hall located in Cleveland.
And Cleveland did have a good case to present. The city had a long history of developing and nurturing its cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, generally considered one of the top in the world; the Cleveland Museum of Art; and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Besides, legendary disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with coining the phrase "rock 'n' roll" while broadcasting in Cleveland, and in 1952, he staged what is believed to be the first-ever rock concert, the "Moondog Coronation Ball," at the Cleveland Arena. Elvis played his first concert north of the Mason-Dixon Line at Cleveland's Brooklyn High School in 1955. And Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Rush, Rod Stewart, and a number of other major artists achieved early commercial success after "breaking out" on Cleveland radio.
As the decision on a location neared, public support and momentum appeared to be on Cleveland's side, and the city had an apparent edge over other potential homes for the Rock Hall, including Memphis, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and, of course, New York. Cleveland won a landslide victory in a national phone-in poll sponsored by USA Today in which callers were asked to vote on the Rock Hall's possible location. During one visit to Cleveland to scout possible locations, the New York contingent was presented with more than 600,000 signatures from local music fans petitioning to have the Rock Hall brought to their town.
None of this particularly interested Dick Pogue. "The last subject I was interested in was rock and roll music," he says, "but I agreed to help because I saw genuine potential for job creation, economic development, and tourism. I sensed a wonderful opportunity for the city."
Dick would serve as secretary for the Cleveland Rock Hall trustees and, with assistance from then-Jones Day partner Bill Roj, negotiate an operating agreement with the New York team—a process that would ultimately take three years. But he would also act decisively and provide important leadership on the occasions when the project nearly collapsed over the next 10 years.
Heroes Emerge
A good underdog story needs a hero, and this one has plenty. Dick Pogue likes to point out that every time a situation or issue appeared that required someone to step up, someone would, and it was rare that anyone had to step up more than once.
When ultimately, in May of 1986, after months of intense promotion and passionate lobbying, Cleveland was officially named the future home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the really hard work started, and serious stepping up was needed.
The Cleveland team had originally pledged to secure $26 million to fund the Rock Hall project─it was always a condition of the agreement that Cleveland pay for the project─but the New York contingent was skeptical that the money could be raised in a reasonable time frame. In response, Bob Horton, a British national who was then-CEO of BP America, at the time based in Cleveland, impressed the New York group with a sophisticated business plan outlining Cleveland's strategy for tapping the necessary resources to successfully launch the project. (In fact, Horton's mere interest in the project impressed the New Yorkers.)
It was then that Bob Broadbent, the recently retired head of the Higbee's department store chain and a prolific fundraiser, went to work. Firmly believing in the project's potential economic benefits for the region, he solicited contributions from his extensive network and within a year had, along with several other CEOs from the region, secured the $26 million.
As this was happening, Forest City Enterprises, a prominent Cleveland commercial real estate firm, offered the Cleveland group land for the Rock Hall construction project near the Terminal Tower on the bank of the Cuyahoga River.
With funding arranged and a location found, the future looked bright.
A Retail Revolt and an Architectural Mandate
The Cleveland team had almost no time to celebrate its successes, as two problems emerged that very nearly brought about an end to the project.
The record industry executives who comprised most of the New York foundation were angered to discover that a retail music store (this was long before the days of music downloading) was planned for a shopping venue barely 500 feet from the Rock Hall's proposed location. Their feeling was that the Rock Hall's on-site store should be the sole option for music purchases, at least in that part of the city. They threatened to cancel the project unless an alternate location in Cleveland was located in the next couple months.
Problem number two involved design issues. The New York team dictated that wherever it was ultimately built, the Rock Hall would be brought to life by I.M. Pei, the architect known for his work on Boston's Kennedy Library and the Louvre Pyramid in Paris.
A new site and Pei's design would increase the project's budget by $40 million, to approximately $65 million.
In March of 1989, the New York group sent a letter saying if the additional $40 million wasn't in hand by November 15, the project would be pulled out of Cleveland.
Saturday Mornings at Jones Day
The term "public–private partnership" had barely entered the business lexicon in the summer of 1989 when Dick Pogue called a series of Saturday morning meetings at Jones Day's Cleveland Office to address the $40 million task. But a "public–private partnership" is exactly what transpired. The group consisted of business and foundation leaders, Ohio's governor, the mayor of Cleveland, county commissioners, city council leaders, U.S. congressional representatives, and state legislators.
They worked through the summer and early fall, tapping their individual organizations and resources, pursuing corporate sponsorships, and networking throughout the region and beyond.
"They all left their differences and ideologies at the door," says Dick. "The focus on the task at hand was impressive."
Impressive and successful. This was a city, as Atlantic Records Chief Ahmet Ertegun had noted, that "would not take no for an answer." On November 15, after an eight-month effort, the Cleveland trustees notified the New York foundation that the $40 million had indeed been raised.
Problems in the Homestretch
After being forced to move the project from its original location, the Cleveland team secured a site near the Lake Erie shore on the city's north end. The aesthetics were stunning, and Pei's design worked perfectly, but the location also brought new financial and logistical problems.
The project's upgrades associated with the location raised its cost by another $28 million. Another hero―former Cleveland Mayor George Voinovich, who had since been elected governor of Ohio―arranged a $39 million Port Authority bond issue to make sure the additional expenses were covered.
Legal and regulatory challenges began to emerge as well. The Cleveland School Board brought litigation relative to a proposed tax increment financing program (the matter was settled by the implementation of a 6% admission tax).
Other problematic matters included the Federal Aviation Administration's objection to the Rock Hall's height, due to its proximity to Burke Lakefront Airport (a compromise was reached), and dealing with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' jurisdiction of the water under part of Pei's design, which could have potentially delayed the project. U.S. Representative Mary Rose Oakar, who represented Cleveland's west side and suburbs, worked this out, literally, via an Act of Congress.
Groundbreaking and a Grand Opening
In June of 1993, during a ceremony attended by Cleveland civic leaders and highlighted by appearances by Pete Townshend, Billy Joel, Chuck Berry, and others representing three generations of musicians, ground was broken for the Rock Hall. Probably unaware of the irony, Ahmet Ertegun told the crowd, "We chose Cleveland because Cleveland chose us ... there was no doubt in our mind that this is where we wanted to be."
Just over two years later, more than 100,000 supporters flooded downtown Cleveland's North Coast Harbor to celebrate the Rock Hall's grand opening. Dick represented Jones Day at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, flanked by the likes of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Yoko Ono, Jann Wenner, and numerous local and state elected officials. The next day, the city continued the party as 60,000 fans attended an all-star "Concert for the Hall of Fame" at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, featuring Chuck Berry, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp, and dozens of other prominent performers.
It had taken 12 years and $93 million, but Cleveland had done it. Faced with intense competition, location and design changes, escalating budgets, regulatory and logistical challenges, and myriad other problems, the city had done it. Yet it was still hard for many to believe, given the difficult path taken to get there.
When asked when he was absolutely certain―given all the setbacks―that Cleveland would indeed be home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Dick Pogue paused and then said, "the day it opened."
It was not possible to tell if he was joking.
Coda
As music trends continue to evolve and change, the Rock Hall, 30 years and more than 12 million guests later, maintains its status as a prime destination for fans from around the world. More often than not, a stroll near the entrance includes a visitor handing over a cell phone and asking: "Can you take my picture?" Recent years have seen the addition of a state-of-the-art theater, an emphasis on live entertainment featuring regional performers, and the introduction of a popular speaker series. A number of satellite radio programs originate from studio space on the building's second floor. The Rock Hall fields persistent requests to rent its facilities for charity events, corporate meetings, private parties, and weddings. Business is good. In late 2023, the Rock Hall announced a $100 million expansion project, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Jones Day remains an active and prominent supporter of the Rock Hall and its programming. The Firm has always had a member on the Rock Hall board, and Financial Markets partner Chris Kelly currently serves as board chair. The Firm has sponsored numerous high-profile events at the Rock Hall and continues to provide legal counsel, including general corporate and trademark protection work. Asked about working with the Rock Hall, Cleveland-based partner and client services liaison Meredith Wilkes says, "It's a great privilege to have been a part of 'the house that rock built' since it opened its doors in 1995. Cleveland has been great to the Rock Hall, and the Rock Hall has become a vital part of the fabric of the city. For the Firm to have made contributions to its continuing success is a very special opportunity."
But was it really all worth the effort? Dick Pogue, perhaps not surprisingly, tells a story that best answers this question. "I was on the phone with someone from Tokyo," he says. "When I told him I was calling from Cleveland, he said, 'Oh, yes. Cleveland. You have that wonderful orchestra ... and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.'"
Thanks to Dick Pogue for his help in the production of this feature. Various newspaper accounts were also consulted, as well as The House That Rock Built by Norm N. Nite and Tom Feran (2020, Kent State University Press).
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