MidwestChamp

I agree. All of this talk of placing this and that on the waterfront, no mention of waterfront vistas, lookouts...places to interact with the water. Planning should start from that premise and branch out from there. Maybe these themes will come more in focus as they flesh out their plans, but this area has to be a place where you first enjoy the water and the scenery in a unique way that's only available in Downtown Cleveland...and secondly offers unique things to do to keep you there and coming back (museums, apts, retail, etc).

Maybe for second graders. For eighth graders, it's wierd. Good point. And in the 90's we had middle schools. I really don't get the movement to k-8 buildings.

I too remember lining up, and having worked at an elementary school in the city about 10 years ago, I can tell you they still line up today. Thinking back on that work expeience I think this is standard practice because it's just the most efficient way to keep up with little ones that otherwise would wander off and not consider the teacher is trying to keep track of 20+ kids at once...so not creepy just efficient. No one wants to be the one who missed little Johnny wandering off during bathroom break!

^I think this time lakefront planning is different. Previous plans were sweeping proposals requiring tens of billions of dollars, moving of large public assets like the port, etc. After the pretty pictures and press conferences, the plans sat on a shelf in hopes that work would magically begin on the plan. Mayor Jackson's approach has been much more realistic, and doable, which is why we're actually seeing movement. He's proposed smaller (tens of millions...still huge) manageable projects to build upon, and he's positioned the city to take the lead in moving the process forward. Previous plans never reached a point where RFP's were sent out and developers contacted to move the lakefront from the city's broad thematic plan to a working development plan...but that's what we're seeing now. And the city/county are working together to identify funds to move public pieces forward, like the bridge to the lakefront from the convention center, that will further encourage lakefront development by addressing connectivity issues. I look forward to this plan unfolding.

^ I'd sure love to see a fair cost-benefit analysis that addresses what the available options are. Agreed. Given the cost of replacing this high level bridge the cost may not be all that different between a new high level bridge and your option ClevelandOhio. Plus with all of our turn of the century lift bridges in the flats, how cool would it be to see an iconic modern bridge down there as well.

Thank you for putting forth your time, efforts and dollars exploring a solution to our disconnected waterfront assets. We all may not agree, but someone has to be bold enough to propose solutions and encourage debate that moves us towards solutions. I look forward to learning more about the project, its feasibility and aesthetics.

While your proposal appears to be well thought out, I'd like to point out the fact that there is no real incentive for the Port to spend all that money to move.. Cleveland has more empty lots downtown than it knows what to do with. It would be completely different if we had run out of viable options for development downtown and the city coffers were overflowing with money. However, that is not the case. Furthermore, in my opinion pumping a ton of development into that area would only further disjoint the walkability of downtown. If any area deserves serious attention it is the no-mans land of parking lots between the Warehouse District and Public Square. I agree that the lakefront is very poorly utilized. Hopefully, developing the area north of First Energy Stadium will be the first step in the right direction. +1 I don't see how we can talk of opening up new lands to develop when so much of the core of Downtown needs work as well. I support the more realistic plan Mayor Jackson put forward...let's develop in the existing gaps now and fill those in. That process alone may take 20 years. With that said the dredging must go somewhere, and I also support containing this material west of Downtown in some fashion. When that containment comes close to filling in 15 or 20 years, we can re-evaluate where CLE stands. If all the gaps are filled and demand exists by all means we should begin moving the port to this new land. If not the area would certainly make another wonderful passive lakefront parkland. Again we've got to put this dredging material somewhere, why don't we plan in such a way that we leave options open...none of us sitting here today have a crystal ball to see where the city and development will be in 20 years, but thoughtful planning can set a flexible stage for something both great and needed based on future market realities.

I can certainly see this and I know the CSU master plan some years ago called for a "green ribbon" to run through the campus. No doubt the brutalist campus left little to be desired in terms of greenspace, an important amenity that was/is lacking and CSU has been trying to address. For me and I think others on this board the issue is should this greenspace be situated to front Euclid, the campus and city's main street. To me better design would place buildings along Euclid, Prospect and Chester, maintaining the building wall and creating quads in the spaces between. I would love this scenario and feel this would be ideal, but the placement of existing structures, past and more recent, make creating a central quad or greenspace this difficult at best...so CSU is in a difficult position and the green ribbon was their solution.

This doesn't have to be ugly. I'm neither for or opposed to this idea yet...I'd like to see what it's capacity would be, its route and what it would look like before making judgement. And I do not pretend to think this is transportation, but I do think it is something unique that would be only here in this fashion. If built right it could draw people here. At first people thought the Eiffel Tower would be a blight on the Paris skyline (I know...apples to moon rocks comparison, but you see my point), but who now a can imagine Paris without it. I think if real design went into the towers, the gondolas, even the wires, this could compliment the lakefront and be a unique attraction. Imagine these towers, if iconic, glowing at night...or during the day being out on a boat watching these things float gracefully in the sky with the skyline as a backdrop. The risk is bad or cheap design that looks like an out of place ski lift...that wold be a damning mistake. If we're only dreaming of this dream big and make it an icon...people will love or hate it but make it a post card worthy icon only available here in Cleveland.

CSU's recent building placements have been a$$ backwards to me. Residential dorms are built up to the street while academic buildings are all set back behind lawns. Not that I support any setbacks downtown, but wouldn't logic say if you just had to have setbacks do so at the dorms to provide greenspace and screening for residential areas, and build the more street active academic buildings up to the street??

Purely theoretical here, but how would forumers feel if "phase 2" morphed into something different...that instead of a new build on the land behind TC they used the entire Higbee building for expanded gaming / entertainment options (performance venue, sky lounge / club on top floor) and a hotel on other floors...then purchased TC mall and made major upgrades to the facility (addressing mall upkeep and attracting more upscale retailers in line with a gaming facility). They'd end up with several hundred rooms between the Ritz and Higbee hotel rooms, plush the shopping and entertainment amenities expected in phase 2. I'm not saying this is what they'll do, or being a doubter of phase 2, I'm just thinking of what could be possible since Rock Gaming seems to also be pursuing a strategy of owning the existing facilities at TC (Higbee, Ritz, Fergurson Plaza). This would also be in line with Forest City's stated objective of focusing efforts in their core markets. They could always retain historic TT but sell other TC facilities...which they've begun to do. I was excited by the plazas in the rendering for the new casino, but I'd be happy if things developed in this manner, keeping the action closer to public square, east 4th and the warehouse district. Plus this may make more economic sense given the engineering challenges behind TC and the lower than anticipated revenue the casino is generating. Just thinking out loud here...

Wasn't East 9th home to the Central Market a few blocks away at Gateway? A grocer and a butcher downtown...things come full circle.

This article has in-depth photo tours of both the BOE building, which has some fantastic public spaces, as well as a great photo tour of several historic renovations Drury has done in other cities. I was skeptical of this brand because I simply don't know it, but at least from the photo's it looks like a moderately upscale chain that does a good job of maintaining historic character in old buildings. Of course I do not know how these facilities looked prior to the Drury conversion. Crain's Cleveland Business Photo gallery: Era is ending at Cleveland school district headquarters By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, July 29, 2013 An era is ending at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's headquarters building at 1380 E. Sixth St., which has been sold to become a luxury Drury Plaza Hotel. The first of the district's employees to vacate the building, the ornate home of Cleveland schools since 1930, will start moving out next Monday, Aug. 5. The last will exit by Sept. 20. Soon afterwards, St. Louis-based Drury Hotels will gain control of the property to begin the huge task of converting it to a business-oriented hotel. (CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE EAST SIXTH STREET PROPERTY THAT WILL BECOME THE DRURY PLAZA HOTEL. GO HERE FOR A LOOK AT WHAT DRURY HAS DONE WITH HOTELS IN OTHER MARKETS.) http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20130729/FREE/306259998/0/FRONTPAGE

^I know the expansion discussion is a bit off topic, and it may be premature because the CC literally just opened, but I feel this hotel project may be our only shot at CC expansion for the center if it proves successful. With the exception of engineering something over the train tracks, there's no where to go but under the hotel. Be it to build below ground or above, we're certainly not going to knock down any of the adjacent buildings around the mall for a CC expansion...I think this issue should be seriously considered. This was the best location for the Global Center and CC, but we should be mindful that once the hotel is built...completing the original mall plan as Steve Litt put it...the CC will be landlocked for decades.

^However parking below grade here may be challenging, as it seems below ground the hotel will connect with CC lobbies as well as share the loading dock areas, which i presume will also then serve whatever banquet/conference facilities are built into the hotel. I'm hoping the below ground space can accommodate additional exhibit space, be it operated by MMPI as part of the CC or by the new hotel (the renaissance operates exhibit space as well as conference space at their hotel for comparison). I worry 230K dedicated exhibition space is smallish compared to other centers in peer cities, and expansion could only happen below the hotel or north over the train tracks...but that's more suited for the multimodal transit hub.

^Plus while not in the center of the city it's certainly not the middle of nowhere. And the free trolley will take you from the transit center to downtown. I've dropped relatives off at megabus and sat there with them and waited until the bus came because it was raining or snowing...ok for them but not good for people who took the bus/train down and are forced out into whatever elements are happening until the bus arrives. Plus using the somewhat farther out east side transit center should be seen as a temporary solution. Hopefully within the next 5 years or less we'll either have the west side transit center or multimodal transit center up and running. I prefer the ladder, but either would solve this issue.

Cleveland Convention Center faces competition from complexes around country Print Laura Johnston, The Plain Dealer By Laura Johnston, The Plain Dealer Follow on Twitter on July 15, 2013 at 12:08 PM, updated July 15, 2013 at 4:45 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County will unveil its new Cleveland Convention Center to the world Friday, with the kick-off to the National Senior Games. Rusted Root will rock, the ceremonial cauldron will be lit and county Executive Ed FitzGerald will do battle in shuffleboard at the free Opening Festival. The party has been six years in the making, since county commissioners ordered a quarter-cent boost in the county sales tax to pay for the $465 million complex. Now, the county is planning to build a $260 million headquarters hotel next door to help lure even more events. The Cleveland Convention Center is attached to the Global Center for Healthcare Innovation, formerly known as the medical mart. And its core focus is medical events. But as it opens its doors as the newest convention center in the nation, Cleveland already has plenty of competition. Here’s a look at what’s happening at complexes across the country: http://www.cleveland.com/medicalmart/index.ssf/2013/07/cleveland_convention_center_fa.html#incart_river#incart_m-rpt-1

What do you mean by "concerns"? I think Dave just means that since LMN was the architect of the Global Center and Convention Center they are already very familiar with the challenges, opportunities and historic importance of the site...something a new architect would have to learn. I assume they then could hit the ground running a lot quicker than others.

EARLY start to festival season this year as St. Clair Superior and the Slovenian Community celebrate Slovenian Carnival, known as Kurentovanje! Should be pretty awesome...furry beast costumes have been brought in from Slovenia...part of a tradition to scare away winter and welcome in spring. The parade will feature these costumes and other ethnic dress, as well as food trucks, Slovenian beer and wine, music, kid events, a flea market and more! Kurentovanje Winter Festival Cleveland!! Saturday February 23, 2013 11am - 6pm Kids Craft & Cultural Workshop Parade down St. Clair Avenue Festival on St. Clair Avenue Celebration at Sterle’s Slovenian Country House After the Festival Performances by: DJ Kishka • Fantje na Vasi Men’s Chorus • St. Clair Boys and other entertainment Experience a piece of Slovenia in Cleveland with the carnival Kurentovanje (koo-rahn-toh-VAHN-yay) Visit website: www.clevelandkurentovanje.com (event schedule, festival map, more)

I really hope they have community open house days prior to the senior games. I can't wait to see the finished product, and I am really impressed with the amount of natural light in the exhibit halls and the ballroom / prefunction area under mall C

Mark Falanga stepping down as president of developer MMPI Inc. By RYAN ORI Crain's Chicago Business 12:09 pm, February 8, 2013 Mark Falanga, the executive with Chicago-based developer MMPI Inc. who was instrumental in getting the Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center off the ground, is stepping down as the company's president. Crain's Chicago Business, a sister publication of Crain's Cleveland Business, said Mr. Falanga's exit as president comes about six months after securing a 572,000-square-foot lease with Google Inc. that will change the face of the Chicago's largest building, Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. In a letter dated Friday and sent to "friends," Mr. Falanga said he will begin a transition away from MMPI, a unit of New York-based Vornado Property Trust, which has been selling off design and trade-show buildings in markets including Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, D.C. MMPI veteran Myron Maurer will take over Mr. Falanga's responsibilities, with the transition having already begun, the letter says. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20130208/FREE/130209786

This is easily one of the most ridiculous, duplicative, destructive developments under construction right now. I'm guessing they are basically rebuilding Severance practically around the corner from Severance, destroying greenspace in the process and eventually leaving a huge vacancy filled retail center. I'm sure Walmart wanted a supercenter. I get that. Why not expand into the largely vacant arcade separating Walmart from the other retail stores. And if that's enough as leases expired I'm sure the next few retailers (Deals, Shoe Carnival and such) could be offered reconfigured space at the closed borders, or even a new outlot building, so Severance could meet Walmarts super needs. Anything would be better than this current situation...

Wow...thanks for sharing!! My great great aunt, who is 97, grew up in Vandergrith. She's always talked about it but I've never been. I looked at your thread imagining her as a young girl in the 20's roaming those charming little streets...thanks again!!

It's amazing how much smoke hung over the city from all the factories when you watch the old cleveland pics slideshow then view the 2010 slideshow at the bottom of the page. Also amazing to see the warehouse district whole...so sad it was mowed over for the automobile.

Events that bring people out routinely like this one can transform neighborhoods. This year I see people starting their day at the West Side Market for local foods and continuing their local buying at the Cleveland Flea. Lots happening recently in St. Clair Superior / AsiaTown! http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/theclevelandflea012413.aspx?utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=from+hillbilly+to+highbrow%2c+the+cleveland+flea+aims+to+launch+a+new+saturday+tradition&utm_content=%7bEmail_Address%7d&utm_campaign=Primed+for+Growth%2c+Built+to+Last