blinker12

I'd say a bigger shame would be continuing to let the theater rot away, as it has been doing for the last 20 years. If it weren't for Levin and the Detroit Shoreway CDO, this place probably would have been demolished by now.

That's a great idea (re: lower Euclid). The museum actually set up a space during Ingenuity last month at 515 Euclid to display models of its expansion plan, etc. They shoulda kept it there!

Yikes.

I think a lot of that struggle comes from the fact that W. 25th is pulled in two very different directions. To the West, you have gentrifying Ohio City, whose residents would presumably like the street to be full of nice shops and restaurants. To the north, you have the Riverview and Lakeview housing projects, whose residents can't afford all the cute stuff and may in fact resent it. So you end up with both Something Different and Family Dollar. It's not necessarily a bad scenario -- the street certainly serves a diverse clientele -- but I sense a racial and economic tension on W. 25th that would probably not be as apparent on Detroit and W. 65th.

Yes, the plan is to divide it into four theaters. It's too bad in a way, but the economics of the movie theater biz these days kind of dictates it. I don't think the theater could be profitable having just one screen. That said, I think they're going to be as sensitive as possible to the original architecture.

Yeah, it's straight from the horse's mouth. The Flats is still on deck for future years, but not 2006. As for the festival being longer next year, nope. They are going to incorporate a weeklong kids' camp into the plan next year; kids from across the city can take part and will present a project in the festival at the end of the week. The budget will nearly triple next year to $2 million, in part to incorporate more "techy" exhibits.

Next year's festival will be held on Lower Prospect Avenue, around East 4th Street, July 13-16. There had been talk of the Flats, but I think it will be good to feature this part of downtown next year. We need to keep the spotlight on lower Euclid, Prospect and vicinity until we finally get this area churning again!

I'm doing some work on the Gordon Square Arts District project. The District just had an outside consulting firm, Campbell & Co., assess its ability to raise the necessary $18 million to complete its plans. The assessment said that the goal of raising that money was realistic, but that GSAD must first complete a 12-month pre-capital campaign "preparation" phase to bolster its case before going to potential donors. This pre-capital phase will cost $275,000 and will involve doing a parking study, architectural renderings, business plans for Near West Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre, and the like. Once this phase is complete, raising the necessary capital funds will be "realistic and achievable," the Campbell report said. So right now, we're in the process of raising the $275,000. Of the $18 million needed for renovation work, $8 million in public funding has been identified, leaving $10 million to be raised from private donors and foundations. I had a chance to tour the Capitol Theatre the other week and it is quite magnificent, though dilapidated. It was last used in 1985. It has pretty significant water damage on the ceiling and lots of plaster has fallen, but relief work on the walls, a chandelier and lots of original seating survives. It's nowhere near the scale of the Playhouse Square theaters, of course, but the interior (once renovated) will blow the Cedar-Lee out of the water. This is the part of the GSAD that's really going to push the neighborhood over the edge, IMO.

One good thing about having so many vacant houses and land is that we have space to be a truly diverse city economically. We aren't going to be pushing anyone out by courting higher-income people, because there is a surplus of low-cost housing in the city -- and will be for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, I was hoping this article would be make me feel better about him, but it didn't. At some point, this city is going to have to stop thinking of itself as simply a haven for the poor. It's noble to be that, but we need to be other things too.

But don't forget, Cleveland has a looooong history of fair-labor activism, what with all its unions. American Apparel clothes are all made in LA, sweatshop free. I can totally see locals supporting this store. As for the plainness of their clothes, plain isn't necessarily bad. I really like their designs, simple though they may be. Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but the Short North in Columbus is also scheduled to get a store, according to the AA Web site.

Good to hear. More often than not lately, when I ride from W. 25th to Tower City or vice-versa, it's a one-car train!

$7 million??? Mere beans! At that price, it would be difficult to justify it NOT happening.

MGD, why so glum? The rental office is opening soon... that's progress...

Urbanlife, I believe you're correct -- the Pinnacle's support is independent of the warehouse. Its skeleton kind of "wraps around" the exterior of the warehouse to anchor at street level.

Another tidbit of good news! Diary Saturday, October 22, 2005 REAL ESTATE Zaremba closes on downtown land Developer Nathan Zaremba said he closed on his purchase of three parking lots owned by the city of Cleveland, covering 6½ acres, that will be home to his $200 million Avenue District mixed-use development. Construction of the project, on East 12th and East 13th streets, near St. Clair and Superior avenues, is expected to start in June 2006. The project will include more than 400 condominiums and townhomes, coffee shops and galleries. A sales office will open in mid-December. Parking in the lots will continue until construction begins. He said the deal was financed with the help of KeyBank, National City Bank and Dollar Bank.

Noozer/KJP, do you see the extension actually happening? If so, exactly what role will Steelyard Commons play? I've heard they're contributing in some way -- but it seems most of the TIF money is going to the towpath trail. Haven't heard of any going to the railroad.

Could some good samaritan combine the two E. 4th threads??? It's getting a little confusing 'round here...

Floor plans for the "Loft" building at E. 12th and St. Clair released! Gotta love the "powder room"... http://www.theavenuedistrict.com/floorplans_preview.asp

MayDay, I know they're working on the Web site but I'm not sure when it'll officially launch. I saw some of the designs today, and they look quite snappy. :) DaninDC, McKenzie mentioned today that he's aware this kind of program will be a greater risk in Cleveland than it would be in a denser city, like DC. But he's setting modest goals for success, at least initially, and he has some good people behind him (i.e., the innovation lab). I'm not sure where the $100 membership fee comes from; perhaps it has to do with the relatively modest demand anticipated here (resulting in a need to charge more).

I went to an exciting breakfast this morning hosted by the Civic Innovation Lab, an entrepreneur-incubation project that awards $30,000 grants for new, civic-minded business ideas in the city of Cleveland, and provides grantees with mentors to guide them in devising a business plan. (http://www.civicinnovationlab.org) One of this year's funded projects is CityWheels, a for-profit car-sharing business being developed by Ryan McKenzie of EcoCity Cleveland. It's a car-sharing program that city residents can join for a $100 membership fee. Members will have a fleet of 50-75 hybrid cars available for use 24/7, at a rate of $8.50 per hour including gas and insurance. The idea is that members will be able to walk to a car within five minutes from their home. McKenzie will unveil the program this January in Ohio City, then have a "grand opening" in April, when cars will be available in the Warehouse District, St. Clair-Superior and other neighborhoods. Similar programs have met with success in cities such as Boston and San Francisco; Cleveland's fleet will be smaller than in those cities. See http://www.citywheelscleveland.com for more information. The other projects discussed at the breakfast were also quite exciting but don't really fit here! There truly are some fantastic things going on in this city.

Sounds promising! Thanks for posting.

Yep, they're gutting the ground floors of the three buildings immediately east of E. 4th Street on Euclid Avenue. You can hear construction during the day, and peeking through the windows you can see the brick walls separating the buildings have been knocked down. Rumor has it they're making way for a bowling alley in there, perhaps as part of a Gameworks.

This was also discussed this morning on NPR. Discussants were Morrison, Terry Schwartz of Kent State's UDC, and Jerry Egan of the Comprehensive Planning division of Akron's planning department. One caller brought up the idea of turning vacant urban land into small farms to supply local restaurants. Schwartz said it was a nice idea but difficult in practice because most urban soil is contaminated. Morrison said Youngstown is looking at reforestation, rather than farms, for its vacant property. Morrison suggested less emphasis should be placed on infill development for vacant property -- that we should instead concede that our cities' population continues to decline, create more density on less land, and convert other land over to public parks and greenspace. Interesting discussion.

All I know for sure is SEIU is for Jackson.