Redbeard1969

That definitely clarifies it, because the PD article was really odd ... it did make it sound like the route ends at the Shoreway, and then folks can just hike up West Boulevard and catch a rapid, or walk the rest of the way via the Shoreway. Though I do like the suggestion of eventually running the BRT from Public Square down Detroit to the Rocky River border ... now THAT is something that would spur some economic development, not only in Lakewood, but also along Detroit in Cleveland. But the BRT on Clifton is a good start ...

If you'd like to see (visibly) some of the big developments of the past, check out www.clevelandmemory.org, which is the site of the Special Collections Department at Cleveland State University. They've got some wonderful collections, and two of them pertain to these discussions; The Union Terminal Collection, which details the construction of the Union Terminal and Terminal Tower; and the Cleveland Press Collection, the old "morgue" for the late, great, Cleveland Press. The Union Terminal collection (http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/cut2/index.shtml)has a great many photos showing what existed before the area was demolished to build the terminal complex, and gives you a wonderful idea of the sheer scale of the project. The Mall project's railroad station was planned to be a very grand edifice (http://ech.cwru.edu/Resource/Image/M02.jpg), which sadly was never completed ... there's actually a great series of articles and information available on the group plan (http://groupplan.dhellison.com/articles.php) which has some great renderings as well. But don't forget development that led to possible negative consequences ... such as the digging of the innerbelt freeway, and the construction of the Willow Freeway (I-77). Think of the neighborhoods that were disrupted or outright destroyed. I was always amazed by the photo at the Cleveland Press Collection showing St. Joseph's Church on Woodland Avenue, surrounded by a sea of nothingness, as the surrounding neighborhood was utterly demolished to make way for the freeway and "urban renewal." Now on that site is Tri-C, some other buildings, and some housing projects. Renewal? Cities are constantly being made and remade, and there's always been periods of development in Cleveland's history, though the stuff currently going on is intriguing, because a good deal of the development we're talking about here is the reintroduction of living spaces in the downtown area ... which is a development that counters the past trends ... Gateway was nice, but it didn't bring that many people downtown to live ... but the Flats East Bank project, the K&D developments on the West Bank, the Avenue, hopefully someday the Scranton Peninsula, the various developments in Tremont, all are bringing people back downtown, countering much of the urban renewal and "white flight" of the 1960s. If anything, I'm wondering if this is almost a tipping point ... will these developments bear fruit, and bring more people downtown to live? And if so, will eventually we get a "critical mass," which will result in more housing and more retail to feed and supply those people living downtown, and thus making downtown more vibrant, and more active? The past developments were all about offices, civic buildings, buildings with a social purpose (arenas, auditoriums, etc.) or developments that eliminated housing (such as the neighborhoods destroyed for the Union Terminal complex or for freeway construction)... but now these new developments are all about places to live. It's an exciting time to live in Cleveland, but it'll be even more exciting in the near future as this stuff opens up, and we see if people continue to move back into the city ... and what the spillover will be from that!

Wasn't that parcel of land considered for an IKEA years ago? I thought I had heard that it was, but that the City of Cleveland, which owned a good bit of land out there, didn't want it, because Mike White wanted offices filled with higher-income taxpayers, rather than retail stores filled with minimum-wage clerks ... I'll have to check the Crains's Cleveland Business archives, because I remember reading it in Crains ... yet, there's a big shopping center out there now (since no office towers filled the land, other than the one), and now a hospital. I still wish there was going to be an IKEA out there, but that'll never happen.

Here's the image:

They've been publicizing it lately; I'll try to an image of the place from the UH website. From what I can tell, the corner of Richmond and Harvard is at the top left corner of the image, and the "ghostly" tower images flanking the one in the middle are future expansions of the center, if needed. Here's also the text describing the center from the UH website: As the crown jewel in the suburban component of the hospital’s Vision 2010 strategic plan, the new Ahuja Medical Center will become a symbol of caring for the community for generations to come. It will be situated on a 53-acre, previously undeveloped site at I-271 and Harvard Road. And, its design will be a prominent addition to the landscape, while having a minimal impact on the environment as an eco-friendly facility. It will also be a catalyst for economic growth by bringing jobs, attracting additional medical industry and generating tremendous tax revenues. In his address to an awestruck crowd after University Hospitals CEO, Thomas F. Zenty III’s December 2006 announcement of the a $30 million philanthropic gift from Monte Ahuja and his family, Mr. Ahuja said, “Cleveland has given me my life. I can think of no better investment than University Hospitals’ Vision 2010.” Mr. Zenty praised the Ahujas saying, "In naming UH's newest hospital the Ahuja Medical Center, we are paying tribute to the family's dedication to advancing health care for our community and beyond, and ensuring that future generations recognize the Ahuja family's role in promoting the economic vitality of Northeast Ohio." Preliminary conceptual rendering of the new Ahuja Medical Center Beginning in 2003, hospital leadership and directors poured over market and industry studies to best determine how to meet the needs of an aging population in the eastern suburbs and a tremendously booming pattern of migration into suburbs further out such as Aurora, Twinsburg and Solon. To make advanced care more accessible to eastsiders and to anticipate growth in the need for services such as cardiac and stroke care, and others, hospital leaders determined the facility would be extremely viable. But, they wanted to go even further by embarking on an ambitious and carefully considered planning process to create one of the safest, best healing hospitals in the country. As part of Vision 2010, the Ahuja Medical Center will truly fulfill the plan's goals of anticipating the health care needs of the region and providing care in a hospital “built around the need of patients and their families.” Vision 2010 reaffirms a strong commitment to the highest-quality, patient-centered care at UH and renews our focus on our centers of excellence in cancer, pediatrics, neurology, cardiology, orthopaedics, and surgical specialties. FACTS ABOUT THE AHUJA MEDICAL CENTER: The 371,700 square-foot hospital design will echo its purpose: to heal people. Integrated into the layout will be healing gardens, ponds, fountains and landscaped areas bordering parking. Walkways and gardens will wind throughout the campus and existing natural landscapes will be preserved. Incorporation of natural features is proven to help reduce stress and decrease healing and recovery times. The eastern suburbs of Cleveland are experiencing one of the greatest surges in population of people aged 45 and above in the nation. Within several cities on the eastside, the over 65 population has more than quintupled in the last decade. In the city of Aurora, more than 70 percent of the population is over age 65. Coupled with the fact that there is a dearth of major medical services in the eastern suburbs, there exists a serious need for advanced medical services in an environment in which savvy baby boomer consumers will want convenient access to high-quality health care. In the medical and surgical areas, an array of inpatient and outpatient services, including the most technologically advanced, minimally-invasive surgical and endoscopic procedures will be available. Leading-edge diagnostic services and genetic counseling will be offered and patients will have the benefit of close proximity to visit their primary care physician in offices adjacent to the hospital.

I've been to Park Lane Villa for several events for the nonprofit I work for ... it's definitely very swank, and is in an amazing location. I hope it's a rousing success. This is a wonderful place for urban living!

I dunno, but that new rounded building going up at the Clinic looks like it'd fit right in along I-271 or down in Independence. The trouble with any and every hospital is that they get developed in fits and starts over decades, so that buildings of different architectural styles are often attached, and it's usually a mish-mosh of different era buildings. Metro is the same way, albeit in an even blander sense. The only way a hospital is going to really be good architecturally is a new greenfield hospital, though the drawings I've seen of the Lake County Hospital look pretty uninspired too. Perhaps it's a bit too much of form following function?

For what it's worth, if you want to see a little bit of what the Steelyard Commons land looked like when it was occupied by Otis Steel, long before it became the retail wonderland it is, check out a book called "Steel Remembered," which has a bunch of archival photos from the Western Reserve Historical Society of steel mills in Cleveland and northeast Ohio (primarily Otis Steel, Corrigan McKinney Steel across the river, and Republic Steel). It's available at Cleveland-area Barnes and Nobles, as well as online at Amazon and other fine online retailers. It's a blatant plug, I admit, but if anyone interested in local industrial history, or likes industrial photographs, it's a good place to start. And it's an interesting contrast, to see what was there, and the people working in the mill ... to what's there now.

Neat book review from the Cleveland Free Times last week ... interesting because of the discussion on the construction thread of Steelyard Commons, and the first book mentioned, "Steel Remembered" has photos of Otis Steel ... which stood once where Steelyard Commons is today! http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/44/steel-and-water

Those guys have been working for years ... they're good folks, doing good things, though I fear they'll never get the visitation they envision someday getting, because it's not an easy location to find, and to get there requires folks to drive through some fairly sketchy areas, which'll scare off a lot of suburbanites. And it doesn't help that the building is in really sad shape, with likely structural and environmental issues. But I hope they succeed!

Raising money for historical societies is tough (says this former historical society curator and current development officer) ... they need money to maintain their collections, their usually historic buildings, and have staff to provide public service. It's expensive. And raising money from external sources is difficult, especially now with so many other nonprofits, schools and hospitals also seeking external funding. Competition is extremely fierce, and most foundations and corporations do not give grants or awards for continuing operations, but for new programs and initiatives ... and a lot of historical societies just don't have the staff to carry out those new initiatives or programs. There's always individual philanthropy, but a lot of the old money folks who were interested in preserving their local history have passed from the scene, and their children or grandchildren now control the money, and have different priorities in public giving (if they give at all ... I've encountered some second and third generations that felt entitled to the money, and felt zero obligation for philanthropy, no matter what their parents or grandparents did). It's really not an easy situation. There's hardly any government money for anything like this, so most of these organizations are pretty desperate for cash. Ohio Historical Society is not alone; I'd estimate that a good many if not most of the local historical organizations in Ohio are perpetually strapped for cash, and even some of the big historical societies elsewhere in the country are hurting now.

Criminy, I drive over that bridge all the time, and I've seen that building sitting there, but I never realized it was sitting on the old bridge ... that's pretty darn cool!

hey, it's not a vortex of death like the so-called traffic circle at MLK/East Boulevard/East 105th in University Circle. That is the most insane traffic circle I've ever been in. Incoming traffic from MLK has to yield to everyone? What the heck is that about? Drive around New England, especially Massachusetts. There are traffic circles everywhere (or roundabouts, as some of the locals call 'em), and they all work efficiently and logically. Every road leading into the circle yields to traffic in the circle. The one near SYC is a heckuva lot better than the University Circle one, that's for sure.

When it was Clark's, it had a cheesy faux Colonial interior ... neat place, my grandfather used to tend bar in their cocktail lounge there ... which was a haul from his house in Euclid.

Likely that was the Chrysler Twinsburg plant, which opened in the 1950s. They didn't really have the subsidiary operations like GM (don't forget GM also operated what's now called the IX Center ... first as an aircraft factory under Fisher Body, then as a tank plant operated by Cadillac (later operated by Allison, also a GM subsidiary). Sorry, I'm just a history geek and like adding to the story ... KJP, do you or anyone know of how successful (or not) SYC has been so far? Has anyone done surveys or has the developer ever released any numbers? Anectdotally, I was shocked when I went by a few weeks before the holidays and saw the Super Wal-Mart absolutely jammed with people. The parking lot was absolutely filled ... as was the parking in front of Target. That surprised me (especially since there's a new Target only a few miles away at West 117th), so I'm wondering if SYC is considered successful ... or is it such a work in progress that we'll be unable to know until more retailers open up, and the "Phase II" portion is completed?