BK

^ But the sprinklers from above sure did go off just after the fireworks started! ::Grin:: Everyone was stampeding towards Tower City, but I just kinda stood there and got wet-- what's a little water going to do to you? On another note, the lighting out over the lake during the performance was probably more spectacular than the fireworks.

It seems like the data is already out dated. I went to look for my place in Battery Park and they still have the old street layout. I clicked where my house was and it said it was owned by Battery Park Limited and previously owned by Everready. I find it really odd that they spent this much time building this application from scratch instead of trying to leverage something like Google Maps. I know that is mentioned in the article, but Maps is quite flexible and I have seen it used in many different applications. Seems like a waste spending nine months driving around verifying addresses (and having omissions at launch) when others have already done it for you. Maps certainly has the new street layout for Battery Park.

^^ When most the retail left those stores we didn't have the population to support it downtown. With population going over 10k and signs pointing to it increasing, things should be more sustainable this time around.

I like how all the railroad tracks are missing from the lakefront massings in this picture: http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/photo/071008/image/Frankfort_W9_W6_006.jpg

I have been there several times and have never noticed any odor. However, I have noticed that depending on the wind direction, it can be VERY stinky in Valley View. Both before and after the construction of the shopping center I have been greeted with a foul stench after exiting the Cinemark on many occasions.

While I have lived in Cleveland for the past 8 years, the first 23 years of my life were spent in Toledo. I was a west sider there and a west sider here. ::Grin:: My folks still live there, so I try to keep tabs on it and make it back when I can.

It was even funnier that he saved a screenshot of the desktop and then set it as his wallpaper and then moved all the icons off the screen. It would be hilarious to hear the sales guy's reaction when he tried to click on those. heh

What are folks supposed to do when the front of the first car is unboardable due to too many people packing in? I can "imagine" situations (Indians & Cavs playing at sametime) when all you can do is squeeze yourself into the back car and hold your breath while the door closes. This may or may not have been at the West Blvd Station-- everyone at W65 & W25 couldn't even think of boarding.

My girlfriend and I decided it had been too long since our last Melt fix, so we headed over there a couple nights ago. We walked in the door and what followed was mass disorientation. I was standing in a room that did not exist the last time I had better there a few months ago. They knocked down a wall and took over the storefront to the west. The new space doesn't appear to be utilized very efficiently yet, but they might be just waiting on new furniture. The capacity looks to only be increased by a third because there is a big open area in the middle now. Anyway, it looks great and it is good to see a Cleveland original thriving.

There has definitely been progress on both the Power House and the volleyball courts over the past week. Scaffolding has been going up on the smoke stack steadily over the week. Apparently for stability sake, they are going to have to amputate the top ten feet. While this is a shame, it should preserve most of the charm of the building. I snapped a couple photos of the scaffolding this past Saturday and then a few more earlier this evening. There are also a couple shots of the fresh sand for the volleyball courts against Battery Park and the downtown skyline. The fence came down around the courts today allowing me to take these photos without trespassing. Enjoy!

Why the heck did they do that to the building? From what I saw in the photos, the original facade appeared to be in pretty good shape. What a shame it was covered up. Oh well, maybe they were just saving it for us.

I just found this information on the sand volleyball leagues: http://www.hermescleveland.com/sportandsocial/leagues/summer/sand_volleyball/index.php Looks like they have a few more weeks to get things ready for the league.

^ and ^^....that is no longer going to be a "park"....at least not right away. It is going to be volleyball courts for some league. The reasoning was that the land needed to torn up when the W73rd intersection with the Shoreway is put in because there are pipes below it. That and I have a feeling that Marous wants to get a little revenue out of it in the meantime. We have been "re-assured" that after it has been torn up in the coming years, that it will be returned to greenspace. As for why the volleyball courts are not done yet-- I am not sure. They told us about them about a month ago and there was a lot of work going on with them for a couple weeks, but not much has happened since then.

Mayday- I'm confused why the posts about the tunnel and volleyball courts were pruned. The volleyball courts are on land owned by Vintage/Marous Brothers and are part of Battery Park. I can assure you that it has been a very hot topic with residents of Battery Park.

Latitude 41 is nothing like the old Snickers. That being said, I don't even know how to describe the place. I have been there twice and the food was soso and so was the service. Something just didn't seem right with the concept. It has been a few months, so maybe I'll give it a try again, but I am not sure how much longer it will be there since I hardly ever see anyone in it when I pass it. And yes, Chedders Krazy Mac's still has the old dark Snickers furniture. It seems quite out of place and stuffy while eating the mac and cheese. Decor along the line of Melt (perhaps a bit more upscale) would seem more appropriate.

This event went very well. We had ~dozen folks show up for varying periods of time. It would have been nice to have a few more hands, but we got a fair amount done. Removed most of the trash and dirt from the segment that runs under the railroad tracks and also trimmed the vines off the fences that surround the section between the tracks and the Shoreway. The result should be more sunlight and fewer places for folks to hide. John wants to schedule another clean up in the near future to work more on the segment below the Shoreway and to also take a closer look at the lights.

^ Music is on the way. If you look up in the corners of the rooms you'll see speaker wire just hanging there. As for the different atmosphere in the back room, the whole place really is an Irish/Italian fusion. The bar is in an old Italian hood and he wanted to reflect that-- hence the boccie, Italian food, and the wood fired pizza oven going in outside.

They actually opened last Thursday night. I was supposed to go to the Indians game Friday night, but after that got rained out, my girlfriend and I decided to check out Luxe. It was a bit of a mixed experience, but I attribute almost all of it to being their second night open. Here is a link to a scene blog talking about the opening: http://blogs.clevescene.com/cnotes/2008/04/luxe_kitchen_opens_thursday.php Let me start by saying that the interior is awesome. Great mix modern and refurb. The dining area looks like it was designed to feel like your home kitchen with old school towels used as runners on the tables and mismatched chairs. Our service was pretty mediocre-- though I do think it was his first serving job. There was another woman who seemed to step in when she saw him stumbling and she seemed very competent. The food was promising, but didn't seem quite there yet. I had the "Caramelized Onion & Grilled Chicken w/ Goat Cheese". It was good, but felt like it was missing something....can't tell you what because I'm not a chef....but perhaps it was just more cheese. My girlfriend had the "Rigatoni w/ Hot Italian Sausage". That was decent with good flavor, but the sausage seemed really dry. Overall, it felt like we were beta testing, and in essence we really were. I'll probably check out the "Lounge" aspect of the place before I go back for the food to give them a chance to work things out. They supposedly will have their liquor license in hand today, so hopefully that might be this weekend. I know a lot of what I said was negative, but I can really see the direction their going in and it should shape to be a great joint in the near future. Here is a link to their website and menu: http://luxecleveland.blogspot.com/

Well, W. 9th St. used to be Water St. ;)

What time were you in Reddstone? It typically doesn't start to fill up in there till after 11PM or so. Tuesday is an exception because of the dime wing night. Their wings are quite tasty and suprisingly meaty for a discount night.

As far as I know, W 65th is not going to be one of the intersection streets. What I have heard is W 73rd, W 54th, & W 45th. The pedestrian at the end of W 65th is supposed to stay and the W 76th tunnel rehabbed (hopefully).

I heard the bit about no TVs from the start, but not the no jukebox bit. I admire their effort, but I think it is a mistake given the target market. Clevelanders love their beer....but they love their sports just as much.

That's great. Now if Keith would just get around to returning my calls/letters/faxes in regard to my security deposit.... :roll:

As far as I know, there is only one of the Gateway townhomes for rental. Apparently a couple people bought one jointly and originally intended to live there, but found out that they couldn't, so they have been trying to rent it out since October or so....or at least that is the story they gave my friends who were looking at the place. They would have rented it, but they didn't want to move in till 4/1 (this was in the beginning of Feb) and they wanted a tenant sooner, so they looked elsewhere. Looks like they should have gone with my friends if they are still looking.

^ That one surprised me too because my girlfriend and I specifically saw a stipulation in the home owners association that said we could not rent out. One of my friends was interested in that apartment, so I told them to call Vintage first to verify it was "legal" and they said it was okay. Perhaps it is a difference between the connected and seperated townhomes. Anyway, I can cofirm that these new townhomes will NOT be at the corner of W. 76th and Goodwalt. Let me just say that I know for a fact that ther is already a house there. ;-) From what I heard, these new homes will be directly to the East of the "Avenue" townhomes. They will be a bit shorter than the avenue homes so they don't block the views from the single family homes behind them, but they will also have rooftop decks, which was one of the complaints about the "Avenue" townhomes.