Ethan

I'm going solely off looking at her work. "Expert" opinions aside, there's a lot of work in museums I think has no business being there. I frequently find work in art museums I literally laugh out loud at, and I think deserves to be mocked and derided. If you disagree that's fine. We're off topic, but my point was that same style of work, while I wouldn't consider it fine art, can still look great as a piece in a living room or as a mural, which is what we're discussing here.

She's a safe choice. As an entirely abstract creator her work caries no meaning which could be divisive or just draw too much attention from the rest of the square. Safe isn't necessarily a bad thing either. While the type of work she does has no place in an art museum, it may be ideal for such a large centrally located mural. A splash of meaningless, contentless color to brighten things up may be just what we need. Hopefully the color selection is appropriate and harmonizes with its surroundings.

I'm very impressed with how professional and polished this all looks! Really good job by the county on presenting this plan. Having multiple ways to digest the information is very cool, and much appreciated! Also I'm glad to see the Green Ribbon Coalition's proposal to unite Gordon Park make it into the maps document. It's only tangentially related, but I'm glad to see it's still being discussed.

How much more car traffic would be diverted onto W25 if W28 is closed? It looks like if this is closed there won't be a Northbound connector off Lorain between W25 and W32, which may push more cars onto W25. I don't think that more cars on W25 would be a good thing.

I'm also sort of torn, on one hand, this building will look much better without the reflective coating. On the other, if I were a tenant, I'd much prefer the reflective coating on the floor to ceiling windows. All the benefits of windows, with none of the downsides.

Cool drone video:

The reason that desalination is generally not considered is cost. Piping in water is cheaper, even up to hundreds of miles. I believe the Great Lakes are far enough away that piping would not be considered cheaper (though I'm sure it depends on the assumption made when running the numbers). Desalination is getting cheaper though. Largely due to the efforts of Middle Eastern countries who are forced to use the method due to geopolitical realities. The other interesting point is how solving the water problem could also help advance green energy technologies. Since things like wind and solar are intermittent there is often excess power when it isn't needed (as well as insufficient power when it is). If excess power can be used to desalinate water when the production exceeds demand it can provide a useful outlet while protecting the grid from excess capacity. This water could even be pumped into a reservoir to store energy for later (the most common and realistic large scale energy storage proposal). I don't know, it's a complicated issue. The Southwest needs more water. They either need to pipe it in, use drastically less, or trade energy for water (desalination) ideally in a way that doesn't exacerbate climate change.

Was there ever any study of capping both the Eastbound and Westbound lanes of I-90? Basically connecting from Carnegie to Cedar? Something is better than nothing, but it seems like this cap and plaza would be more than twice as useful if it covered the whole freeway and could serve as connecting tissue.

It's worth remembering that PS just isn't that big, and it's already doing a lot of different jobs. PS houses a war memorial, a restaurant, and a bus right of way with multiple stops. On top of all of that, it's also supposed to be a park. There's a potential design of PS for which your critique might represent a genuine oversight, but for this design the lack of a north south pedestrian connection is clearly a feature not a bug. I count three concrete slabs functioning as benches, and one miniature stage blocking the N/S route. Pedestrian and bike traffic is deliberately routed away from the N/S artery to preserve park space. A plaza with splash pad to the South and green space in the north. It's also worth pointing out that the area you'd like to see become a sidewalk would break up the only level green space in PS, taking away some of its functionality.

The grass is fenced off to protect it during the winter. People walking on frost covered grass damages it. Given the density around public square this is a smart decision. I used to work at a golf course and they are very concerned about people walking on recently frosted grass. They could make the grass more resilient by cutting it longer, but with the amount of people who walk through PS it probably wouldn't make a difference.

And/or more greenery, considering they are calling it a greenway trail.

It won't actually look like that is my main thought. If it does then great! I love the idea of integrating trees into the design, though otherwise this building is kind of meh. I think integrating nature into construction is in the future of architecture, it will do wonders for people's mental health. Plus it will be good for the planet. I've always liked the idea of buildings just elevating the ground rather than replacing it! My worry is that in a few years all of these trees will be dead or dying, and it will look horrible. I've seen it done well on Bosco Verticale in Milan, but that is a super luxury high rise that can afford high maintenance costs. (Plus their landscaping looks much better thought out than this). Unless this building is actually willing to put in the effort to maintain these trees it might bite them in the long run.

That article is poorly written, but it does point out exactly what I was going to say. "Warwick certainly isn’t the first person to suggest that Rock Hall change its name to match its inclusive nature. But it’s not as simple as it may seem. If the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame changes its name to the “Music Hall of Fame,” do you induct Beethoven, Charlie Parker, and Hans Zimmer? If it becomes the “Pop Music Hall of Fame,” do you kick out artists like Tom Waits, Dr. John or The Stooges?" There's already a country Hall of Fame. There's a Blues Hall of Fame, if there isn't one for jazz there should be. Genres aren't scientific concepts so the lines between them are blurry and overlapping, but they clearly still have use. If the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can't define Rock then what does it even mean to be inducted? I think a lot of this problem could be addressed if they stopped inducting any artist still making music. Hall of Fames should honor people after they've completed their body of work. Not during. Give their discography 20 years after their retirement to see how it ages. See if it influences future artists. The second best selling artist of the 1950's was Pat Boone, We can now clearly see he doesn't deserve to get in, nor is he a rocker, but would that have been obvious to someone at the time? Idk. Really what defines who is and who isn't a "rocker" is who the next generation of self-defined rock musicians cite as their influences.

The reason Lakewood is such a good location for potential expansion is that it would be used by so many people besides just commuters. There's a lot of cool stuff in Lakewood, I'd use the line plenty. So I agree, regional is a much better descriptor than commuter. I was envisioning adding new lines, but if the current owners don't want them... But of course, it all comes down to Money, and our lack of it. With money this would easily be a great opportunity. A trail would still be cool. And if we can preserve the right of way for a rail line at a later date, I'm fine with that. Planning for the future is essential. I'm also having the pointless thought that this would be a great location for cut and cover construction to (comparatively ) cheaply bury the line, but if we don't have the money for new rail cars then I'm just dreaming with that thought.

Bollards or no, hopefully this means Superior through PS will change to buses yielding to pedestrians, instead of having a light and crosswalk in the middle of PS.

Has there ever been a serious study about y-ing the red line off through Lakewood? I'm envisioning building next to the existing freight rail lines. It seems to me like the best combination of attainable and transformative for Cleveland rail. But what do I know?

Effectively she seems to be saying that she doesn't consider herself to be a rock 'n' roll artist. Though her mention of possibly recording a rock album in the future is interesting. It does seem like the rock Hall often uses the most broad definition of rock possible. I'm not making any judgement on that, but it would be interesting if what forces the Rock Hall to narrow its definition is other artist self selecting out of the genre. As far as the additions, screen should be nice, but I really hope they do work with the landbridge and other developments rather than rushing to get it done.

Where did these images come from? Is the document these images come from accessible?

Like I said, I can maybe see an argument for keeping one church building, provided it's done with a well thought out reason designed to benefit the park, but I can't see an argument for this church being the one that is maintained. The other church is much nicer, I'm not sure it should be saved either, but I think it is at least arguable. Also, to your point about event space, the church is currently on the planned event lawn, which is designed to take a 60' x 150' temporary tent, significantly larger than the church. Leaving the church takes away from the parks capabilities just as much as knocking it down does. In this case, a smaller event lawn, and an inability to accommodate as large of events.

What reason is there to keep the church? The article describes it as "disused", so I'm not optimistic about its condition. Will keeping it result in a better park? I don't think so. Even if there is a good use for a church like building in this park, the other church seems a far better candidate as it is much nicer, and appears to be in better condition. This seems like preserving a mediocre building at the expense of a neighborhood park, for no better reason than preservation for preservation's sake.

I'm normally strongly in favor of preserving churches, but in this case, I don't see the reasoning. This is a below average church to say the least. It is far less attractive than the other church which will likely be torn down in the next phase. And it's for a worthy cause as well, a park which will be used by the community. Build the park.

What are some good downtown bars/spaces that regularly have live music?

Finally! https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/03/mayor-justin-bibb-wants-cleveland-to-spend-15-million-to-replace-concrete-barriers-in-public-square-with-less-obtrusive-bollards.html

Didn't take too long. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/03/mayor-justin-bibb-wants-cleveland-to-spend-15-million-to-replace-concrete-barriers-in-public-square-with-less-obtrusive-bollards.html

A good, and promising, article from Cleveland.com on efforts to add Lakefront trails. Glad to see these are continuing to move forward! https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/02/5-new-lakefront-projects-led-by-cuyahoga-county-cleveland-metroparks-gain-support-accelerating-drive-to-open-up-shoreline.html