---
title: Splendid Edifice
image: https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Mini%20Magazine/Splendid%20Edifice/Splendid-Social.jpg
---

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SPECIAL PLACE

# Splendid Edifice

By John Soeder

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Photo: Neil Lantzy

When the original Cleveland Clinic Building — designed by architect Frank Ellerbe — opened in 1921, it was hailed in the press as a “splendid edifice” complete with “every device known to science for the correct diagnosis of human ailments.” Explosions rocked the structure eight years later when X-ray film ignited and released toxic gas in a tragedy that claimed 123 lives, but the building was renovated. A century after Cleveland Clinic saw its first patient here, the T Building (as it’s known today) still stands, home to offices for the Neurological Institute and various departments on Cleveland Clinic’s main campus.

![A perspective photo of a white building with detailed architecture](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Mini%20Magazine/Splendid%20Edifice/Splendid-ImageA.jpg?width=1030&height=1030&name=Splendid-ImageA.jpg)

## In this Issue

### [![A group of doctors wearing medical/surgical gowns and PPE, performing a procedure with a large white machine](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Mini%20Magazine/Brain%20Gain/MM-BrainGain-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=MM-BrainGain-Small.jpg) COVER STORY Brain Gain](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-fall/brain-gain?hsLang=en)

### [![A female doctor wearing a green shirt and glasses, checks the eyesight of a child](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Mini%20Magazine/Keeping%20the%20Vision%20Alive/Vision-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=Vision-Small.jpg) FEATURE Keeping the Vision Alive](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-fall/keeping-the-vision-alive?hsLang=en)

### [![A panoramic image of a hospital room with medical works and a patient inside](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Mini%20Magazine/A%20Cure%20for%20Desktop%20Medicine/Desktop-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=Desktop-Small.jpg) CAREGIVER CATALYST GRANTS A Cure for 'Desktop Medicine'](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-fall/a-cure-for-desktop-medicine?hsLang=en)

### [![Lara is wearing clear framed glasses, smiling at the camera while sitting on a bench](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Mini%20Magazine/You%20Make%20Breakthroughs%20Possible/Breakthrough-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=Breakthrough-Small.jpg) A LETTER FROM LARA You Make Breakthroughs Possible](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-fall/you-make-breakthroughs-possible?hsLang=en)

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