Confiteordeo

Yeah, well the PD takes every opportunity to sink Cleveland PERIOD, so that doesn't surprise me. Frankly I'm sick of all of their "in-depth reports" whose only goal seems to point out how Cleveland is going to hell in a hand basket, and if we don't start listening to their advice, things will only get worse. :roll: I wish the Cleveland Press would come back...

Would it be worse than what Key Tower does now? Personally, I think that having it on Public Square would complement the cluster of very tall towers that are already there, rather than detracting from them. It would be much different if the Ameritrust tower were to be elsewhere downtown.

Thanks for the correction.

This is interesting, and it's neat to see someone moving from Westlake into Lorain. Quixotic quest for a variance Tuesday, April 10, 2007 Molly Kavanaugh Plain Dealer Reporter Lorain -- Tom Philipps loves to shoot the breeze about his latest project. He is renovating a 67-foot-high brick windmill tower into a house with two bedrooms, four bathrooms, four circular stairways (nearly 100 steps in all), a kitchen, living room with gas fireplace, a circular deck, a roof that rotates and an attic... http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/117619462844290.xml&coll=2

Is there an echo in here? :wink: Seriously, though, I like the idea of pricing to encourage rail travel. They could also sell the 50-cent tickets in hotels to people staying there, which would encourage more use of the bus by tourists and free up parking space at Cedar Point.

Now that's what I call urban! :-D One thing that I forgot to mention above is that most of the houses in the Edgewater area are duplexes, just for your friend's information.

Now that's an idea. An aside, though (and please correct me if I'm wrong,) but if memory serves, I think that the current main access road to Cedar Point is rather narrow and bike-unfriendly. There might need to be some widening or the addition of a specific bike lane for that to be really feasible.

Edgewater sounds like a no-brainer, although home prices might be a little on the high end, depending on exactly where the house is. I think Clifton, West Blvd. and the W. 100s to 110s north of Detroit would be good bets, since he'd be close enough to Clifton to either head west into River or east on the Shoreway to downtown. Detroit Shoreway and Ohio City would both be ok, but he wouldn't be as close to Rocky River. He'd probably want to take 90 west if he lived in one of those neighborhoods, which is less scenic than Clifton, of course. Still, those are the three neighborhoods that I'd recommend. Nice job, 8Shades!

Especially Cedar Point. I wonder if Cedar Fair would be interested in helping fund an extension to Sandusky. I could see lots of people flying into Hopkins, taking the Rapid to their hotel downtown, then the commuter rail line west to downtown Sandusky where a feeder bus line would pick them up and take them to Cedar Point. Park attendance could get a big boost from something like that, which would naturally be the selling point to CF, L.P.

An email I received from Commissioner Jones: Dear Concerned Citizen: Thank you for your correspondence regarding the prospective demolition of the Ameritrust Tower, located at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East Ninth Street and designed by the renowned modernist architect, Marcel Breuer. As you are probably aware, on Thursday, March 29, 2007, the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) voted 2-1 to raze the tower, with me casting the dissenting vote to preserve the building. In determining as I did, I employed a *decision matrix* that considered the following factors: (1) architectural significance; (2) aesthetics; (3) preservation/sustainability; (4) functionality/work flow; and (5) cost. The Breuer Tower*s architectural significance is well documented and cannot be dismissed. By retaining the *brutalist* structure as part of a new complex that includes the neoclassical rotunda and a new 21st century contemporary building, an opportunity is presented for a rare *dialogue* amongst three different architectural expressions. The resulting campus will provide not only a living laboratory for students of architecture but also an attraction for our citizens and visitors alike. The architectural significance of the tower clearly favors its preservation. As regards aesthetics, some critics of the tower find it physically unattractive. At the risk of sounding cliché, however, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Furthermore, tastes have a tendency to change over time. Because some do not find the building visually pleasing, however, is not reason enough to justify its demolition. Moreover, the highly regarded firm of Davis, Brody and Bond demonstrated in a presentation to the BOCC that the tower can be externally treated and the new structure designed in a way that creates a physically compelling final product. Our relatively recent embrace of preservation and sustainability as a society and a community also militates for the preservation of the tower. With the new administrative complex, we aspire at a minimum to achieve silver LEEDS certification. The demolition of the tower will jeopardize this goal, particularly as it has been designated a historic structure by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Furthermore, demolition will be tricky, given the proximity of other structures to the site. Finally, the waste of the thousands of tons of materials that went into the construction - less than forty years ago - of this building as well as the adverse environmental impact resulting from the dumping of the debris in local landfills hardly constitutes a positive ecological outcome. A fourth consideration is functionality and work flow. Although the tower*s floor plates are too small to accommodate County departments on a single and, in most cases, on even two floors, this concern is exaggerated. Most office communication today is conducted via e-mail and telephone. Moreover, through creative intra-departmental organization and grouping, the desired face-to-face interaction can be achieved. A competent interior workplace architect and designer need only, as Tim exhorts the contestants in Project Runway, *Make it work!* Floor plate sizes and ceiling heights should not be viewed as insurmountable obstacles in our efforts to provide a physical environment conducive to the delivery of world-class service to our citizenry. Finally, impossible to ignore is the matter of cost. A minimum of $20 million can be saved by choosing adaptive reuse over new construction. An additional $15 million in federal historic tax credits will accompany the preservation of the tower. As stewards of public funds, we must ask if there is a better use of the $35 million that could be saved in the short run by retaining the structure. Considering the burgeoning economic development, workforce training and health and human service needs of our community, the answer is self-evident. An investment that addresses our critical social challenges will yield a far greater return, a more consequential community benefit than will the expenditure of valuable dollars on a pubic edifice. The Marcel Breuer Tower debate now proceeds to the City of Cleveland Planning Commission, which, by charter, must approve the demolition and construction of all public buildings within the municipality*s boundaries. On Friday, March 30, 2007, the Planning Commission voted to approve the demolition of three smaller structures on the site and passed a motion that no action is to be taken regarding the Breuer building until the panel has the opportunity to: 1) review a master plan for the entire site; 2) review plans to ensure the safe removal of art work currently in the building; 3) tour both the Breuer Tower and the remainder of the site; and 4) hear a comprehensive presentation on the merits of preserving the Breuer Tower. The Planning Commission also required that no asbestos abatement take place in the Breuer Tower without prior Commission approval. Now that the fate of the building resides with the Planning Commission, I urge you to share your views to that body as well. The names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of the panel members are provided below. I also urge you to communicate with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which, in an editorial dated Tuesday, April 3, 2007, declared that the Marcel Breuer Tower is not a *serious candidate for renovation.* You can read the editorial at: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1175589150262091.xml&coll=2 You may also wish to express your opinion on this important issue with other news publications. In addition to that for the Plain Dealer, I have included the contact information for the editorial departments of the Call & Post, News-Herald and Sun Newspapers. Again, I thank you for taking the time to share your views and concerns regarding the Breuer Tower with me. As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office if we can ever be of any assistance whatsoever. Sincerely, Peter Lawson Jones Cuyahoga County Commissioner ADDITIONAL CONTACTS CITY OF CLEVELAND PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS Anthony Coyne, Chair: 216-523-1500 (o) [email protected] David Bowen: 216-491-9300, ext. 808 [email protected] Joe Cimpermann:216-664-2691 [email protected] Norman Krumholz:216-687-6946 [email protected] Lillian Kuri:216-659-4926 [email protected] Larwrence Lumpkin: 216-299-1550 [email protected] Gloria Pinkney: 216-751-5131 [email protected] CLEVELAND CITY PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF Robert N. Brown, Director 601 Lakeside Ave. City Hall Room 501 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Phone: 216-664-2210 ~ Fax: 216-664-3281 Meetings are held the first and third Friday*s of everything month @ 9:00 am Please call for the schedule and the agenda. Robert N. Brown, Director [email protected] Gary Newbacher, Chief City Planner [email protected] Jean Crawford, Private Secretary [email protected] Letters to the Editor The Cleveland Plain Dealer Letters to the Editor 1801 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44114 e-mail letters to: [email protected] fax: 216-999-6209 Include your full name, address and daytime telephone number for verification purposes. Submissions should not exceed 200 words. Call & Post Attn. Constance Harper 11800 Shaker Boulevard Cleveland, Ohio 44120 e-mail letters to [email protected] fax 216-451-0404 The New-Herald Letters to the Editor 7085 Mentor Avenue Willoughby, Ohio 44094 e-mail: [email protected] fax: 440-975-2293 The Sun News The Sun News welcomes letters to the editor which are brief and to the point, typewritten and double-spaced. We reserve the right to edit letters. Deadline is 9 a.m. Monday, though we urge readers to submit letters as early as possible. Letters are printed as space permits and may not appear in the next edition, even when deadlines are met. Sign your letter and include a telephone number at which you may be called during business hours for verification purposes. Only names and cities will be printed, not street addresses. We never print unsigned letters. Send "Letters to the Editor" to your local office or e-mail if you wish with your address to: [email protected]

One thing I found interesting about the video is that they said that the catenary wire was deliberately zig-zagged to keep it from sawing through the crossbar. Do they do that for all catenary systems, or just high-speed trains?

Thought you might be interested in this graphic from today's issue of the Metro newspaper. It shows France in purple, and the heavy line warps the borders to reflect distance/travel time by TGV. All distances are relative to Paris. Oh, and sorry about the quality... I don't have a scanner, so I had to take a picture and upload it.

Whoa, I didn't realize it was that bad!

It's nothing special, and actually kind of cheesy... Dear Mr. Dimora, It has come to my attention that you will be holding a public meeting tomorrow whose agenda includes a discussion about the fate of the Cleveland Trust Tower as part of the new County Administration Center. I am unable to attend the meeting, but would like to express my hope and desire that the tower be incorporated into the new complex, rather than torn down. The tower is an important element of our downtown, and a unique example of Marcel Breuer's work. An adaptive reuse of the tower would preserve this important part of our heritage, save the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County $20 million in demolition costs, and if the tower isn't completely occupied by the county offices, possibly provide space for rent. Although there has been concern about the aesthetics of the building and about the size of the floor plates, I believe that there are creative solutions to these problems that will both please the public and the county administration, and demonstrate our county's commitment to honoring its past.

I emailed all three of them on Wednesday.

Too bad it was the French who built it... :-D

Exactly, gavster. Keep in mind that the Census Bureau has estimates claiming that the city of Cleveland has lost 64,000 people in 5 years, and miraculously "found" 32,000 more people living in DC and 37,000 more people living in Boston when it revised those citys' 2005 population estimates. While I do believe that Cuyahoga County is still losing people, I don't put any faith in those numbers. Too bad the PD does. EDIT: The 64,000 number is from the Community Survey, which I know is not the same thing as the population estimates, but I think it's a good example of the wild numbers the Census Bureau puts out there.

I have to wonder why the video was set to French rap. I mean, "parcours" is a French word, but that isn't a very satisfying explanation.

I was in Cologne over the weekend, where there's something of an industrial design district along Hahnenstraße/Neumarkt/Cäcilienstraße. I don't know if it was the rainy weather or the fact that it was the weekend, but there weren't many people going in and out of the stores. Also, the street(s) the district is on aren't as busy as Euclid. It did look neat, though. I can't remember if I took a picture or not... I'll have to dig around.

I can see the Oprah episode now: "Everybody gets a cornice! You get a cornice! And you get a cornice! And you get a cornice!" :-D

I really like those ideas. It's amazing that the knuckleheads in power can't come up with something that simple and effective.

Amen to Karamu House! When I was in elementary school, we used to do workshops there every so often. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

Ms. Hunter, in her snotty email reply to me, said that she was also told that it was unsafe to walk around downtown at night. I think the hotel employees and cops downtown need a reality check. As for the PD article, it's like two anecdotes were fused together, and I think the point it makes is a little too subtle. It is nice, however, to have someone write an article illustrating how overblown people's perceptions of downtown are.

Yeah, it's called sprawl... :wink:

The Reds do have a large market, but I wouldn't say that most of Eastern Ohio supports them... :wink: Did you mean western? http://www.commoncensus.org/sports_map.php?sport=2