lafont

Is the apartment project planned for 3000 Clinton Avenue caput? The ugly building still stands and a sign only advertises "industrial space."

I see the Cleveland sourvenir shop is now gone, too. There's still the one at Euclid and Fourth, besides a few away from downtown.

No architectural loss. That's for sure....

I haven't noticed the construction referred to above of a facility related to Edwin's at South Moreland and Buckeye Road. Three buildings? Are these three buildings referred to existing apartment houses? :?

That's what I was afraid of. I hope the actual construction does, indeed, begin in the spring. Thanks for clarifying.

These are wonderful illustrations which I really appreciate, however sometimes there's preliminary construction - e.g. moving water lines, etc. I hope this is the real thing, and it would help if there were a sign up mentioning what's going up. I presume, though, this is the actual building construction and it gives me still another great reason to go to Ohio City and follow the progress.

I've been reading about the major apartment projects around Detroit and W. 25th. What's the construction at the nw corner of that intersection? Could this possibly be the apartments, already? I hope so!

Another Euclid Avenue mansion to go? I know it's been an eyesore many years, but with all the renovation going on in Cleveland.... Someone did put some money and effort into building that brick addition; that should lessen the cost of someone doing something good there, it would seem? Anything really decent planned for the site? I doubt it. I say better keep the partially covered up mansion than no mansion - e.g. Drury House lost to now defunct Health Museum. Such a shame the French-style, Walker & Weeks-designed carriage house went, too. Really for nothing!

Funny someone should mention Denison. I walked around that neighborhood yesterday, on both sides of Dennison ("Brooklyn Centre Historic District") and noted how few demolitions there have been on those streets - in contrast to what's been going on in parts of Cleveland Heights, for example, and so many other area. Back "on topic," concerning post above, W. 25th doesn't go to Fulton....

I was just a little taken aback to see the sign on the extant building changed to have their name added. Yes, I know all about the misguided - I believe - enormous donation. When I saw Glidden House's new sign stating its brand new structure is specifically geared toward weddings, and I was originally told that was the main purpose for why Alumni House said they "needed" its expansion, I'm all the more disgusted for University Circle to lose the ca. 1910 original Wade Park Allotment house. The few remaining are precious. :-(

I see Alumni House is now "Insalata Alumni House." Gee.... :roll:

AsI had said all along: When the Alumni House always gave as the main excuse for having the beautiful, original Wade Park Allotment house next door demolished, they declared they had a need for a large space for large weddings, etc., that there are many such places in the area. Here's a brand new one, and almost next door....

I just hope they won't ruin the museum by making it too child-oriented and too much of the "push-button" type, like the Science Center.

Sorry, it's Memphis Avenue - no. 3506. The Jeremiah Gates House: http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/listDetail.php?identity=103 It's mentioned in both editions of AIA Cleveland's Guide to Cleveland Architecture.

Regarding that historic house at Randall and Bridge, it doesn't look as late as 1860s or '70s, either though the white paint has something to do with that. Could be from Greek Revival but stripped of some detail and/or not a good example. Nevertheless, there's plenty of vacant land around such that a developer needn't demolish a house in Ohio City dating from that far back. And 1,300 sq. ft. is just right for a lot of people interested in rehabbing houses of that type and in that type of setting. Question: I might have to go there to understand, but how come the 2007 and 2009 County photos show a decrepit brick building to the house's left, and in the 2011 photo not only is that brick building gone but it doesn't look like enough space for where the building was? Dunham Tavern goes under several dates, but part of it is from as early as 1824. It competes with a house on Dennison Avenue as the oldest building in Cleveland built as a residence. Much, much greater than the white house is the Hubbard House on Juniper Drive that was just lost. The Landmarks Commission, CRS, and Councilman Jeff Johnson came on the scene far too late to effectively save it, and the fact that CWRU failed to hold the required public meeting(s) and other untoward acts certainly contributed to the house's demise as one of the few remaining original Wade Park Allotment residences. And a beauty it was. I tried to alert relevant parties of this threat by CWRU and the Alumni House early this year, but nobody seemed to pay attention until too late. Don't tell me this should be posted on the University Circle forum because - believe me - I have written plenty about it there. I brought it in here to exemplify that the Landmarks Commission often fails in any attempt to save some of Cleveland's true treasures.

MuRay HILL - Here we disagree. There's plenty of parkland and other greenery in that vicinity. At least they put some effort into coming up with a brick that goes well with the current Alumni House; I actually saw where there were bricks af several types for aesthetic testing. I'd like to see buildings, of some sort, wherever the residents were. This would be agood, early suburban density. I'd also relish the reconstruction of Manolia Drive, as the sweeping boulevard it once was, but that's a whole separate issue.... I've studied extensively - and written and spoken on- the history of Overlook and Carlton roads. The most offensive of all the residential destruction, is of the loss of the four mansions on the west side of Overlook - flanking the entrance to Carlton. Torn down with no specific plans to repace them with anything useful. Still unneeded open space, other than the tennis courts. What a waste of beautiful architecture, the appearance of an historic neighborhood, and links to the past.

"Oh and if you were wondering, there was a meeting. In typical Case fashion they told no one and slid it under the radar. They then told everyone after the fact in some vague gloating victory." Zak - You're saying Case sponsored a meeting? When they're the ones who want the appease the Alumni House, why would they hold a meeting? How did you find out about it? It was the responsibility of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission and Planning Commission to hold a public meeting. First, they should have done something about this months earlier, and just in case they didn't even know about it I did contact the Landmarks Commission, I'm sure. Too bad the ward's Councilman took the other side but I'm hardly surprised. Meanwhile, too bad Jeff Johnson didn't act sooner, but at least he made some good statements that possibly will be remembered in the future.

I became aware of the threat late winter of early spring. I contacted CRS, Landmarks Commission, UCI and perhaps more. I got no responses except a few comments in this forum. Why the heck did CRS start seriously looking into this by May? Oh well, there goes another one....

Removed, until I'm able to post the three photos, which are now in "My Pictures" but I'm unable to open them such that they appear here.

IT'S GONE! This is what I submitted to my Facebook Timeline yesterday regarding the late Hubbard House on Juniper Road, in University Circle: Here there seemed to finally be a glimmer of hope for the Hubbard House (as in Cowell and Hubbard Jewelers) on Juniper Road in University Circle, after I started publicizing its planned razing many months ago and hardly anyone paid attention. Recently Councilman Jeff Johnson, the Landmarks Commission, and CRS got involved. Very recently. However, my asking around who might know what's going on received no responses. Today I went over there to see if that lousy fence is still up, because I was hoping those who opposed this demolition might actually have some moxy, but was stunned to see NOTHING above the now-opaque fence. A more opaque fence is up such that it is almost impossible for one to look in to see the destruction, and a sign actually says "DANGER...." What on earth happened to the one or more public meetings required to possibly gather some opposition to a building being considered as a Cleveland Landmark? A delay had been called for. Were the meeting(s) actually held and how in heaven's name was one supposed to find out about it or them? No one was answering my calls, either. Since I had gotten no information on the status of this demolition, or Landmark designation, I was certainly hoping some progress would have been made and even the fence possibly gone. What happened to the "transparency" that's so often discussed today in regard to the government process? I POSTED THREE PHOTOS OF THIS DESTRUCTION ON MY FACEBOOK TIMELINE, BUT I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO POST THEM HERE. I've added many photos to these blogs; that's not the problem; it's getting the Facebook - and Flickr photos - to "My Photos," which are files I can post here. Nevertheless, I'm still including the text here I had on Facebook. Perhaps someone could guide me? As for the "DANGER" sign seen in the first photo, the danger really stands for those few former residences remaining for the original, elegant Wade Park Allotment. Obviously, demolition of one of these few remaining, early 20th-century, fine houses is still in full swing. Although this house did have a sort-of twin-in-reverse on East 108th Street, the Juniper Road (formerly Magnolia Drive) house really was unique in Greater Cleveland (and even more so in the city of Cleveland), with its slate dormers and other distinctive exterior details to delight the onlooker They say the condition of the Hubbard House was not bad. At one time it was the home of Northern Ohio Live magazine. If only CWRU would sell it and an imaginative party might have turned it into a home again - in the heart of University Circle. Imagine offices, apartments, an organization, on and on. Evena a Greek house that wants something better. There will never be another structure like it, and the ordinary looking Alumni House addition certainly won't win any architecture rewards. There are already so many facility venues in the area, who needs another one? And where will everyone park who comes to Alumni House events attracting larger numbers? In the first photo there is a "DANGER" sign on the fence. In actuality, "danger" depicts the small number of originally elegant Wade Park residences - nothing is safe now, as long as the demolition disease is still going full speed. The second photo shows a pile of dirt next to where the beautiful house had been. The third photo shows there's a blank space over the fence, though the Alumni House, which had won a Celebration of Preservation Award about five years ago and was really an inferior house, stands smugly to the right. How truly sad the whole saga.

I'm wondering where these Alumni House movers and shakers think people will park if there are events in the addition which will draw over 100 people. No new parking facilities are planned for around there for the foreseeable future, as far as I know.

The ZBT house was demolished a few years ago, and I was hoping that would be it. I'm sure a substantial house like that could have been saved, with the right party. After the land was left fallow for months, the proverbial parking lot was constructed. Meanwhile, however, in this case the fraternity actually constructed a brand new house on Magnolia - on land that had housed a Greek house that was demolished after a fire. The current ZBT isn't great guns but it's a fairly creative, 21st-century fraternity house partially of brick and it does add something architecturally to the area. I wish both houses could stand, but I was certainly happy to see new architecture of some interest going up where nothing was unnessarily destroyed. The fraternity next to that one, at the corner of Hazel, is a still more substantial house, which also replaced a Mediterranean-style fraternity house that was also destroyed in the fire. This relatively new house had a stucco-like exterior which, after a few years, was bricked over. I'd say, by today's standards, both houses here on Magnolia enhance the area. Just around the corner are the new apartments on Hazel, which demonstrate the appeal for living right there in the heart of University Circle. They also stand where houses once were - and relatively unimpressive houses for the Wade Park Allotment, as far as I can tell.

This is what I tried to post as a comment to the 10/28/2015 article but, even with a lot of help from someone at the PD, was not able to post on cleveland.com, which appears to be the only version whereby one can even consider posting a comment: I've been trying to do something about this travesty since first finding out about it around March this year. I alerted a number of people and organizations, including CRS and Alumni House staff,, but no organized opposition has appeared until the 11th hour. First of all, the house is over 100 - constructed in 1910 or so. I don't know where "Caine" creeped in, because I believe no Caine family had anything to do with the house and a Frank Cain family lived down the street, originally part of Magnolia Drive, in a house now demolished (like most of the fine Wade Park Allotment houses). I was hoping no more of these would be threatened in University Circle - with the last being the ZBT house - but I was wrong, even in this age when the preservation movement has really taken hold across America and certainly in Cleveland. This threat looks like we're still in the 1960s, when mansions came down wholesale in the area. I wrote a whole article for the Cleveland Heights Historical Society newsletter, "View from the Overlook," on how Case Institute of Technology was responsible for the destruction of almost twenty wonderful houses on Carlton Road and also on Murray Hill Road. Shame on the Alumni House staff, and the Linsalata family, for displaying so little respect one of the few remaining wonderful houses remaining from the once gorgeous Wade Park Allotment residential district. Indeed, CWRU won a Celebration of Preservation Award in recent years for the work done with the Aumni House itself, which is surely an inferior design to that of the Hubbard House. The house, incidentally, is not only beautiful but it boasts unusual features, such as dormers of slate. I was told refined architectural features were already removed from the house several weeks ago and, if so, what a shame. Can at least some be re-installed? Not only can this make an excellent fraternity or sorority house, but how about someone's persona, single residence? So many around Cleveland have put so much into far inferior houses and, in many cases, houses in much worse condition. What a fabulous location this would be for some. How about apartments or condos? I believe there are many who would die to be able to live in a former house with such architecture and in such a location. How about an organization or club? I really wish the university would just sell the house to someone or an entity who appreciates it and is willing to put some work into it. My only consolations, basically, are that there is an unthreatened (presumably) "twin" house on East 108th, next to the Mt. Zion property, and the envisioned box is not absolutely horrible, but i twould really, really pale. compared to what is lost.

CleFan 98: I've looked through pp. 2 and 3 and don't see anything about Lorain Avenue plans per se. Much about West 25th plans, with new housing concepts, etc. Anyway, such plans would be at least ten years old, and since when do ten-year-old plans materialize as they were first conceived?