Quilliam

The steam plant originally had three stacks; two were taken down around 2000. The trio of identical stacks so near to downtown were somewhat iconic, such as in this T-shirt image that was popular in the 1970s and '80s. (The image has been credited to local artist George Kocar, and I remember the original shirts being produced by Western Reserve Screen Printing. The below image is a later version from Daffy Dan.)

Paul Volpe has withdrawn his proposed Cedar Hill Villas project, and won't be buying the city-owned land. He spoke at the June 2 council meeting, saying, “We’re done. I’m done with this city. I’m finished.” The cleveland.com story is subscriber-only: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2025/06/cleveland-heights-condo-developers-withdraw-offer-to-buy-half-acre-of-city-property.html

Restoring underground utilities today at the Marquee. Snaking and jetting drains in the lower left, extending the pipes up from the slab at center. I don't think they are keeping the old elevator doors, it appears that they have cut through the third floor one. That might be the car at the fourth floor. (This photo taken last week, but it is the same today.)

Miceli Dairy is breaking ground on their new cold storage expansion tomorrow. https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2025/05/clevelands-miceli-dairy-breaking-ground-on-12m-expansion.html

For comparison with the photo on the last page of the cleared Marquee foundation, this is the same foundation on January 11, 2024. So, it took about a year to get from this to the 70% completion at the time of the fire. As for the cinderblock elevator shafts, unless there is heat damage, most of the soot can probably be pressure-washed off and what remains sealed with paint. There are fire restoration paints made specifically to eliminate smoke stink.

Nobility Court site prep and underground utility work continues. This photo is from the rear (south) end of the property, with Noble Road and the actual building where the machines are in the distance. The gravel foreground is to become parking lots. The driveway in the second photo comes in on the right, in front of the truck with the white trailer. Driveway entrance at 860 Woodview. Noble Food Deal's back lot is at right.

Demo is complete at Marquee Cedar, clearing the slab of minor debris this morning.

More earthwork at Nobility Court today. The red lowboy at left just dropped off another piece of earthmoving equipment. Demo continues at Marquee Cedar. With the collapse hazard now gone, how long before the city removes the plywood from the parking garage and reopens its north stairway? The same view, from the top of the parking garage, about 14 months ago on February 8, 2024.

Just an historical note: GCRTA may never have had a heated bus shelter before, but the Cleveland Transit System had at least one. As late as the early 1970s, the University-Cedar Red Line (then just called the Rapid; Blue and Green were the Shaker Rapid) had a heated bus shelter, with infrared heaters for the bus waiting area outside — each with a sign on it noting that the East Ohio Gas Co. provided them. The heated shelter had a newsstand that was open during peak times.

Glad to see this addition to Playhouse Square. I do hope they stay open after shows as Ken indicated, later than the 9 pm of the University Heights location. I've often been frustrated that none of the restaurants in the Square seem to be open for dining after evening shows, at least on weekends. Even the Hofbrauhaus closes their kitchen at 9 pm. With our work hours, there is just enough time to make a 7:30 curtain from Cleveland Heights. So, dinner is after the show -- in Tremont or somewhere else.

Interior demo continues at Taylor Tudors. Site prep seems to be done at Nobility Court, no activity on a Wednesday afternoon.

Marquee Cedar is about halfway demolished. It appears they are trying to save what they can, such as the steel in the commercial spaces. Pipes coming up through the slab are sprayed pink in the lower photo.

Cedar is now open past the Marquee. I noticed that they have left the first floor standing. I wonder if this is to save time so that Cedar could be opened quickly, or is it so they can remove it more carefully later to protect the floor slab and the utilities that pass through it. Next to Marquee, Arthur Treacher's is also opening soon.

^ "And that AI-assisted article is just too much." To be clear, the article linked above is an MSN rehash of a transcript of a Cleveland.com podcast in which an earlier opinion piece is discussed. The podcast transcript, not the original piece, was AI assisted. Leila Atassi's original March 24 opinion piece is here: https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2025/03/justin-bibb-battled-the-haslams-now-cleveland-needs-a-browns-exit-deal-leila-atassi.html

Demolition has begun on the Marquee Cedar building. With the excavator working from the Cedar roadway, I don't think they can reopen it until this wing of the building is down. A second excavator is working at the rear of this wing.

^ “The Cleveland Heights Fire Investigative Unit, the State Fire Marshal, and private insurance stakeholders conducted a month-and-a-half-long investigation of the fire's causes before the demolition order” Do we ever get to see the results of this investigation?

^ Other than the cryptic "building was not tampered with prior to the fire" in the Cleveland.com story about the state fire marshal's investigation (previous page in this thread), I have not heard anything, other than the complete state report wouldn't be released until the insurance investigators completed theirs. It seems they are finished now, so: Was it arson or not? If not, then what was the cause? Is the state report out? (The insurance one may be private.) I'm glad to read that they are rebuilding, and apparently re-creating the same structure that burned. That means it's not a total loss, then, as I've heard said many times. They can probably reuse the foundation, since the fire didn't reach most of the first floor and foundations are made to be water and frost resistant. Plus, most of the underground sewer and storm drains, including relocation of the Cedarbrook Road sanitary and storm sewers (it originally went to Lee; the mini-park by Boss Dog is the original right-of-way). Other utilities have already been relocated. Weeks of earthwork prior to construction doesn't need to be redone, including demolition of the veterinary and beauty school buildings. Architectural and engineering work does not have to be repeated. Boards and commissions have all given approval. So, leasing this autumn, right? Ha-ha.

^ “That church they’re demolishing looks really nice, I wonder what the inside is like” I’m pretty sure it’s in decent shape. Built in 1951 as an Orthodox synagogue, the second-floor sanctuary is a large but plain room, carpeted with moveable seats. When I was last inside in the 1990s, it was lit by the original 1951 fluorescent lights — those were way cool when they first came out. The first floor has a pair of classrooms and a larger social room, plus two kitchens (one no longer used) and restrooms. The mosaic chalice over the front entrance was installed in the 1990s over a sandstone relief Star of David.

Workers are boarding up the Marquee end of the Cedar-Lee garage right now. Just plywood on 2 x 4 studs. The first floor appears done and maybe the second; studs are in for the third. I figure the garage may be open by the weekend.

The former Unitarian Universalist church on Lancashire Road will be demolished for a new senior apartment building. "With strong community support, City Council last week approved the sale of two municipal parking lots to help clear the way for new senior housing in the Coventry neighborhood. The 71-unit apartment complex to be built on the site of the former Universalist Unitarian Church of Cleveland on Lancashire Road will need to come back to council for final approval of a formal development agreement." The two lots are on either side of the church; one is at the corner of Euclid Heights Blvd. (where an aprtment building was torn down in the 1970s). https://www.cleveland.com/community/2025/02/coventry-senior-housing-deal-rates-the-nod-from-cleveland-heights-council.html

The city is preparing to wall up the openings on the Marquee end of the Cedar-Lee garage so that it can be reopened, maybe this week, before the building is demolished. https://www.cleveland.com/community/2025/02/in-wake-of-apartment-fire-cleveland-heights-prepares-for-reopening-cedar-lee-parking-garage.html

I forgot to add: ”Construction is scheduled to begin late this year on the Superior Midway, stretching from Public Square to East 55th Street.”

Community meeting Sunday, March 2 for Superior Bikeway plans: “City officials will give an overview and be on hand to answer questions following the 9 a.m. mass on March 2 at St. Vitus Social Hall, 6022 Lausche Ave., just east of East 55th Street and south of St. Clair Avenue.” https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/communitys-chance-to-hear-the-latest-on-clevelands-superior-midway.html

The state fire marshal investigating the Marquee blaze “has not found any evidence that the building was tampered with before the Jan. 24 fire,” according to a Cleveland.com story. This wording is encouraging, but a bit odd. It doesn’t say “not arson,” and it doesn’t say what “tampered with” might be. Evidence of a break-in? Many of the doors didn’t have locks installed yet. https://www.cleveland.com/community/2025/02/no-evidence-of-tampering-as-probe-into-marquee-at-cedar-lee-fire-continues.html

Nobility Court has begun site preparation and underground utility connections. Noble Road is closed from Greyton to Woodview in the daytime only, I'm pretty sure, for the next five days.