11/7/2016
Akron’s oldest law firm makes case for adding its name to downtown skyline ­ Business ­ Ohio
PUTTING Its MARK ON THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Akron’s oldest law firm makes case for
adding its name to downtown skyline
By Katie Byard Beacon Journal staff writer
0 Comment(s)
Published: November 4, 2016 ­ 01:07 PM | Updated: November 4,
2016 ­ 07:57 PM
Akron’s oldest
law firm,
Roetzel &
Andress, is
the latest
company to
light up the
Akron skyline
with its
name.
The new sign
went up this
past week on
the old
O’Neil’s
department store building at 222 S. Main Street,
overlooking Lock 3 Park in the city’s downtown.
So what took so long? After all, a large portion of
the six­story building has been the firm’s Akron
home since 1999.
Brian Moore, partner­in­charge of Roetzel’s Akron
office — which has roots that go back to 1876 —
said folks at the firm had thought off and on about
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11/7/2016
Akron’s oldest law firm makes case for adding its name to downtown skyline ­ Business ­ Ohio
said folks at the firm had thought off and on about
getting a skyline sign, and the idea “really got legs
when we were hitting our 15­year­anniversary of
being in this [former O’Neil’s] building,” in 2014.
The building management company — McKinley &
Associates — got the necessary approvals from the
city, and Ellet Sign Co. in Akron built the
illuminated sign that went up Tuesday near the top
of the building.
Suzie Graham, president of the nonprofit
Downtown Akron Partnership, is a fan of the sign,
which features black letters during the day and
white letters at night.
“I think it makes an incredible statement about the
firm’s intentional decision to be part of the
downtown neighborhood,” she said.
Without naming names, Graham noted that some
historically downtown businesses have migrated
out to the suburbs over the years.
One of those companies that left is another
longtime law firm — Buckingham, Doolittle &
Burroughs — which moved to an office park in
Fairlawn in 2006. Its departure from downtown
was seen as a big loss to the city.
Moore said the sign wasn’t designed to send a
message about the firm’s commitment to
downtown.
Nevertheless, he said, Roetzel is proud to be
downtown.
When the firm was looking to move in the late
’90s, he said, the decision to stay downtown was
the very first decision made by a committee
dealing with the move.
“Unanimously, we said, ‘We are staying
downtown,’ ” Moore said.
Roetzel owns and occupies the fifth and sixth floors
of the former O’Neil’s store, and occupies the
largest amount of square footage in the building. A
portion of the ground floor is occupied by Barley
House bar and restaurant.
Roetzel’s Akron office previously was in the historic
Carnegie building — built as a library in 1904 —
across East Market Street from the Akron Art
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Akron’s oldest law firm makes case for adding its name to downtown skyline ­ Business ­ Ohio
across East Market Street from the Akron Art
Museum.
The stately building has been home to the
Brennan, Manna, Diamond LLC law firm since
2000.
“A sign is just a sign, but this also represents the
130 people we have here in this building,” Moore
said, with about 55 lawyers “practicing great law in
a great city.”
The 130 employees include administrative
personnel. Roetzel, founded in Akron, employs a
total of 341 people at 11 offices.
The sign simply says Roetzel and includes a logo
that looks like a lens. (The company uses the catch
line “Focused on what matters to you” on its
website.)
Moore explained that the company went through a
rebranding several years ago. It’s official name
remains Roetzel & Andress, a Legal Professional
Association.
Clients and others were in the habit of simply
calling the firm “Roetzel,” Moore said, so it made
sense to use a “shorter, snappier, one­word
identification.”
PNC Bank added signs atop its 23­story Cascade
Plaza building, at South Main and Bowery streets
downtown, in July.
Further changes to skyline signage are likely for
the nearby FirstMerit Tower following the bank’s
acquisition this year by Huntington Bancshares.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330­996­3781
or [email protected]. You can follow
her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook
at www.facebook.com.
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