Paul in Cleveland

Received this email from Louise Crume via my old website ... I told her I'd post it here ... any of you have ideas for her? You can post here and/or write her directly at [email protected] ... Thanks!! Hi- My name is Louise Crume. I am the Deaf social worker at St. Augustine Church, 2486 West 14th Street.Currently, I am conducting a grantwriting project on repairing and cleaning 28 stained windows at St. Augustine's sanctuary. Its building is over 160 years old. Wonder if you could assist me with identifying possible funders to assist us with this project? St. Augustine's is well-known for its multi-ministries, such as serving the homeless and the poor, and people with various disabilities, the Deaf, Blind, Retarded, Cerebral palsied, Mentally Ill, amd others. I look forward to hearing form you soon. Thank you, Louise Crume

Apparently the "go ahead" for the turbine to actually turn on will be the morning of June 9th ... unfortunately, a day I'll be at Cedar Point!

I was just in Kansas City on Friday, and they had an interesting column on the whole economic impact thing in the Kansas City Star ... http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/14558762.htm Detroit still waiting for Super Bowl economic impact JEFFREY FLANAGAN The Kansas City Star You’ve probably seen numerous projections about how much economic impact a Super Bowl has on its host city. Those estimates range anywhere from $200 million to $400 million. Apparently, Detroit and the state of Michigan are still waiting for that economic impact from the most recent Super Bowl. According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan’s state sales tax receipts for February and March — the two months when Super Bowl-related sales would have been reported — showed just a 2-percent gain from the receipts from the previous year. That amounts to a paltry $20 million or so. And statewide use-tax revenues from hotels were up just 0.5 percent from the previous year. Anyone still think we need that rolling roof for a promised Super Bowl? “I’m really not an economist, so I’m not sure how to analyze those figures,” Chiefs chairman of the board Jack Steadman said by phone. “But one thing to keep in mind is that the rolling roof isn’t just solely about the Super Bowl. We’re trying to create a venue that would be available 365 days a year, one of the largest indoor venues in the world. It’s not entirely about one event.” Steadman also suggested that the Super Bowl has intangible effects other than economic. “I know that the Super Bowl brought that region and the city of Detroit together again,” Steadman said. “There were a lot of problems in that regard before the Super Bowl came. “And you can’t help but wonder what a Super Bowl might do for state-line cooperation here.” The bottom line, Steadman said, is that there are ample reasons to go after a Super Bowl. “I know that there are cities lined up all over the country trying to get one,” he said. “And we’re lucky enough, because of Lamar Hunt, to have been promised one. And if we get one, we think we can certainly get two by 2030.”

Well, walking into work this morning across Mall B, it's pretty obvious. The sightlines on either side of the Malls extend all the way out to the lake. If you extend the edges of the Malls, the Browns stadium sits on the western edge, while the new turbine site on the eastern edge. I think they didn't want anything in between these imaginary lines, interrupting the beautiful water view.

I understand. But before you get too bummed, consider this. Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corp. is a partner in this project with the GLSC (that's why I was invited to the thing yesterday, my magazine covers hydraulics, which is Parker's core business). One of the main Parker guys said that this was going to be a true test bed ... sounds like they'll occasionally rip out some of the guts of the thing and replace them with next generation fluid power controlled components. Parker is working on this very seriously, and they have some (laboratory-type) test beds for wind turbines somewhere near Marysville. So, think of this "castoff" as a huge experiment. It could help create bigger and more efficient wind turbines worldwide. On another note, I asked if this was the largest wind turbine in an urban/downtown setting, and I was told yes -- in the U.S. But I guess Toronto has one or several near the CN tower on the lakeshore. News to me! Also, there are maybe 60 or more wind turbines going up somewhere east of Port Stanley (if I remember the conversation that I overheard correctly) on the north side of Lake Erie. I'd love to get a line of them in the middle of the Lake opposite downtown Cleveland, I think it would be visually stunning -- and position Cleveland as a true 21st century city.

Let's try this again ...

It's done! (Mostly.) I went to a small non-press conference they had for the hanging of the nacelle and blades. Some random details that I learned: * The blades will be locked until all the inside electrical work (inside the GLSC) and some trenching, etc. is completed. I heard 2 weeks, but someone from the engineering side told me 4 weeks was a better bet. * The tower is 103 ft., the blades reach as high as 147 ft. * Diameter of the blades' arc is 84 ft * The height of the turbine's blades is 13 ft shorter than the Browns Stadium * The turbine was erected around 1989 in (I think) Denmark. It was refurbished for this location. Denmark has wind power credits not only for putting up turbines, but for taking down smaller, less efficient ones like this one. * Apparently, when figuring out how tall they could go with a turbine, it turned out that the FAA didn't have the Browns Stadium or the Rock Hall on their maps. Nice. * They wanted the turbine further west on the grassy area, but it conflicted with the Burnham Plan, apparently, it was too much in the axis of the Malls. Here are a couple of crappy photos from my camera phone:

If I can stray off topic for one more post ... KJP, have you ever considered the trade press? It often is badmouthed as un-journalistic/ethically challenged by newspaper and journalism-school types, but there are some excellent publications out there, including a lot in and around Cleveland. The pay is better than consumer magazines, too. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] anytime if you'd like to discuss. :-D

I disagree ... the Seattle Public Library is a fascinating building, and I like how it shocks its context a little. Beyond that, walking through it last summer almost felt like a religious experience. The interior design was stunning, and made me forget any small reservations that I had about the outside design. I'd take it in Cleveland in a heartbeat. My ONLY hope for this Louisville project (well, beyone going back to the drawing board) is that its interiors may be awe-inspiring. I think Museum Plaza, simply said, lacks grace. I find it overly jumbled for the sake of being jumbled. It reminds me very much of one of the rejected World Trade Center replacements:

Hey, isn't that Janet Reno checking out the model? Imagine how fast this'll make the Tribune!! ;)

I wrote both Hebebrand and Coyle, and got this generic response on 12/2/05 ... am I wrong, or do they seem to be bending more on the possibility of reconsidering the southern alignment? Oh, and among my comments that I sent was that they should check out this Transportation Forum if they cared to see what people are saying about this project! ***** Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. We truly appreciate your input. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) initiated the study of the Cleveland Innerbelt Corridor in 2000. The first Advisory Committee Meeting was held on November 2, 2000. The first public meeting was held on January 10, 2001. Throughout the study process ODOT has met frequently with City Officials, Local Stakeholders and the General Public to develop goals and objectives for the study, to identify and evaluate alternatives and to discuss comments and concerns. On November 17th and 18th, 2005 after five years of study, ODOT presented to the Cleveland Urban Core Projects Advisory Committee and the City Planning Commission, for their review and comment, recommendations for the reconstruction of the Cleveland Innerbelt Corridor. The recommendations and the rationale behind those recommendations will be documented in the Alternatives Report that will be released for review and comment early in 2006. The Alternatives Report will be made available at ODOT District 12 headquarters Cleveland City Hall, via the internet at www.innerbelt.org and at branches of the Cleveland Public Library. We encourage you to read the report and offer your feedback to us via the internet at www.innerbelt.org or through the U.S. Postal Service at: The Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 5500 Transportation Blvd. Garfield Heights, Ohio 44125 ATTN: Innerbelt Project Manager ODOT understands that there are concerns with the recommendations that have been put forth for public comment. ODOT remains committed to continuing to work with stakeholders to address those concerns. Throughout the study process ODOT has worked closely with the City of Cleveland. In August 2004, the City of Cleveland and the Ohio Department of Transportation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU established the Cleveland Urban Core Projects Advisory Committee which is co-chaired by Craig Hebebrand, Project Manager for the Ohio Department of Transportation and Mark Ricchiuto, Public Service Director for the City of Cleveland. The MOU established an Interagency Working Group that has met throughout the process to discuss issues and concerns. The MOU also established the responsibility of the Cleveland City Planning Commission to review ODOT?s recommendations on behalf the City of Cleveland. ODOT will continue to partner with the City of Cleveland to address the concerns that have been raised. ODOT has already begun steps to better understand specific concerns that have been raised. In response to the concerns regarding the impact that the recommended changes to the access points could have on businesses in the Quadrangle, MidTown and St. Clair-Superior areas, ODOT has hired Economic Development Research Group to conduct an Economic Impact Analysis. This firm has already met with the Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and interviewed numerous businesses. In addition they have developed a survey that will be distributed to 3,000 businesses located within the service areas of the three CDCs. This Economic Impact Analysis is expected to be completed in February 2006. At that time, ODOT will meet with the City of Cleveland and representatives of the CDCs to discuss the findings. The Ohio Department of Transportation developed and considered bridge alignments to both the north (downstream) and south (upstream) of the existing Central Viaduct prior to recommending the northern alignment in June 2005. However, based upon public comments received to date, ODOT commits to reviewing our alignment recommendation. Also, please be advised that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will conduct an independent review of the bridge alignment recommendation as a part of their review of the Alternatives Report. Independent of the bridge alignment, ODOT is committed to building a signature bridge that will enhance the City of Cleveland's reputation as a city of bridges. ODOT received six statements of qualifications from firms interested in conducting the bridge type study. Based on those qualifications, three firms: Michael Baker, HNTB and URS, were selected to make presentations to the selection committee. The three firms selected to make presentations have assembled impressive teams and all three firms have proven experience in the design of signature bridges for the State of Ohio. Michael Baker recently designed the Ironton-Russell Bridge. HNTB recently designed the US Grant Bridge and URS recently designed the Pomeroy-Mason Bridge. All three of these river crossings are cable stayed structures. The selection committee, which includes representatives from the Ohio Department of Transportation; Cuyahoga County Engineer, Robert Klaiber; Cleveland City Planning Director, Robert Brown and Cleveland Public Service Director, Mark Ricchiuto, will meet on December 12, 2005 to hear the presentations, conduct interviews and select a team to conduct the bridge type study. During the upcoming year, ODOT will continue to solicit public comments, work with our partners at the City of Cleveland to address concerns and revise the recommendations. ODOT will bring the revised recommendations back to the Cleveland Urban Core Projects Advisory Committee, the City Planning Commission and the General Public prior to submitting them to the FHWA for their review and approval near the end of 2006. Respectfully, Craig Hebebrand Innerbelt Project Manager ODOT District 12 Dave Coyle District Deputy Director ODOT District 12

Or are you just mad that we didn't have fireworks to celebrate your 1500th post? :-D

I wrote an email to ODOT the other day supporting Litt's PD editorial the other day ... here is the response they forwarded to me today ... ***************** Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your comments and concerns. The City of Cleveland is the Ohio Department of Transportation's decision-making partner regarding the reconstruction of the Cleveland Innerbelt which includes I-90 from the Innerbelt Curve south to the I-90/I-71 split. ODOT considers Cleveland to be its partner in this endeavor and has no intentions of making decisions without their input and consensus, as well as the input and support of the Greater Cleveland community at large. A broad-based advisory committee is currently overseeing the development of the overall Innerbelt reconstruction plan. The Cleveland Urban Core Projects Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Craig Hebebrand, ODOT Project Manager and Mark Ricchiuto, City of Cleveland Public Service Director, is comprised of community and city leaders and serves as an advisory body to ODOT. The Committee is guiding ODOT and the City through the next four steps of the ODOT Project Development Process (PDP), just as the original Innerbelt Scoping Committee served as the guiding authority during the first four steps of the process, starting in 1999. The PDP is a 14-step process which will culminate with construction. In regard to the Innerbelt Bridge, The Ohio Department of Transportation shares your belief that Cleveland deserves a bridge worthy of its rich history and befitting its skyline. Please be advised that the selection of a team to conduct a structure type study for the new bridge carrying I-90 over the Cuyahoga River Valley near downtown Cleveland is scheduled to begin on November 21, 2005 and is scheduled to conclude on December 12, 2005. The selection committee will include representatives from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Department of Transportation. The selection process is based on qualifications. Once selected, the successful team will develop for further consideration, a minimum of four structure types: Truss, box girder, extradosed and cable-stayed. The Ohio Department of Transportation with its partner, the City of Cleveland, will then conduct a series of public meetings over the next year (2006) to gather public input on the various structure types being considered. With respect to alternative alignments for the new bridge, ODOT has previously considered alignments both upstream and downstream of the existing structure. The upstream (a.k.a. southern) alignment was fully considered prior to being removed from further consideration in June of 2005. Please note that the downstream (a.k.a. northern) alignment provides every opportunity to consider a full range of structure types for the new river crossing. It is important to note that throughout the Project Development Process, ODOT has hosted many large public meetings as well as hundreds of briefings to community and business groups. As the process continues, ODOT will continue to gather and weigh public opinion. The public may make comments via the project website (www.innerbelt.org), via ODOT’s web site (www.dot.state.oh.us), through the U.S. Mail (Innerbelt Project Manager, 5500 Transportation Blvd., Garfield Hts., OH 44125) and in person at any ODOT-hosted public meeting. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and concerns. Please be advised that next Public Meeting will be held from 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday, November 17, 2005 at the Wolstein Center (formerly the Cleveland State University Convocation Center). Additional information will be available via the Innerbelt web site at www.innerbelt.org in conjunction with the upcoming public meeting. We will send you a link when the site has been updated.

Well, I went to school in Atlanta, and all those Georgia people couldn't get the concept of the Great Lakes. If I said something about how nice it was to have our city on Lake Erie, they'd comment, "Oh, yeah, we have a lot of lakes around northern Georgia." I'd try to explain that Erie is really more of an inland sea, and point out that one couldn't even see the opposite shore. They still never seemed to get it. Whenever a friend from college would visit, they'd be astonished at seeing Lake Erie. The universal response was, "This looks just like the ocean!" Well, duh, that's what I'd been trying to tell ya ... :-D

Random thought ... I wonder if the Great Lakes Science Center's wind turbine will be visible from the far end of Cleveland Browns Stadium. I think it would, especially if the blades are as high as 233 ft. at the apex of their travel. I'm thinking of the wide crowd shots you see on TV, aiming toward the Dawg Pound. That would look cool if you were able to see a wind turbine in the background!

Interesting. From the one pic, it looks to be almost nothing more than a glass shell. Where is the meeting space/offices/whatever? Underground? That would be a little odd, as you'd lose the views they tout. But anything ther will look better than the current vacant (grassy) lot. Here's a past proposal for the site. I love the lightning, too funny ...

I also will generally tell people (foreigners) that we're halfway between NYC and Chicago. If they've been to the U.S., chances are that they've been to one or the other. Interestingly, when I was in Brazil about 6 years ago, most everyone I met would say something to the effect of, "A good place to have a heart attack!" which was their way of referencing the Cleveland Clinic's reknown as a world-class heart center. When I lived in northern California, and told people I was from Ohio, their response always seemed to be either: 1. Is your father a farmer? 2. Gosh, the humidity there must be awful! I found both these responses bizarre. To #1, I'd say, no, we have highways and skyscrapers and pro sports teams and orchestras ... The #2 thing was just so strange. Yeah, we're not exactly a desert, but if there were places in the U.S. I'd relate to high humidity, they'd be, oh, I dunno, Houston, Atlanta, etc... :-D

wimwar, Actually, I've been trying to cut back, you know, what with the rising fuel prices and all. :-)

Here's a view of the site, including the malls, from the air on June 11th ...

Here's an aerial view of the Pinnacle (or, as I prefer to call it, the Barnacle!) from June 11th ...

Does anyone have a rendering of this Johnson Court thing? It is new to me ...

From today's PeeDee in the Tipoff section ... Going up: Developer Gus Georgalis may have found a way to get tenants to his Pinnacle Condominiums. The building sits atop a Warehouse District parking garage, but because he leased the first floor to someone else for parking, he can't build the lobby he wants. Court rulings have gone against him, so he's approached the city with an alternate plan. Chris Ronayne, Mayor Jane Campbell's chief of staff, said Georgalis wants to build an elevator shaft and small lobby attached to - but outside of - the parking garage. It's unusual, since it'll gobble up some sidewalk on Lakeside Avenue, but Ronayne said a team of city inspectors says it'll work. Ronayne said Georgalis would soon seek approval from the necessary city commissions.

I say good riddance to this very awkward proposal that would have benefitted Forest City much more than the city. FC is acting like a spoiled child. Actually, it's more like the parent took away phone privileges, and the child shouts back, "Oh yeah? Well, I'm not going to watch TV anymore!" Well, fine, little Billy, that's great. You really got us there!

No, the Holiday Inn is directly east of the dark North Point Building. The building just N of the parking lot is a parking garage with a Firestone automobile repair facility on the ground floor. It's pretty ugly, I used to have to walk by it every day.

Here's a good aerial shot of the area that I found ... maybe MayDay or someone can add some highlighting or text to explain this project for those who aren't as familiar with where it fits in ...