There is some construction fencing up an the east side of Key Tower and some of the granite pavers have been removed. Could this be the landscaping project described earlier in this thread? (Sept. 12, 2017)

 

 

Pretty sure thats the case.  There was an extremely small convenience store that is becoming a sushi joint, Marble Room Sushi.

 

This article describes the restaurants being added/updated: http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/08/4_restaurants_coming_to_key_ce.html

Can Cleveland Reinvent Its Historic Mall for Changing Times?

VINCE GUERRIERI

 SEP 26, 2018

 

When Cleveland’s first-ever InCuya Music Festival was announced back in April, the lineup included a host of well-known artists including British rock band New Order, folk-rock band the Avett Brothers, singer-songwriter SZA, and Booker T. Jones—the last a nod to Cleveland being the home of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

 

But the biggest star of the festival, held in late August, might have been the venue. “The location is what’s really going to make this special,” said Joe Litvag, a senior vice president for AEG Entertainment, the promotion company behind the festival, before its debut. Multiple locations were considered, including Edgewater Beach just west of downtown and Burke Lakefront Airport (unsurprisingly, the Federal Aviation Administration said no).

 

In the end, more than 15,000 music fans gathered on the Mall downtown. Stages were set up at opposite ends of the green, one offering the Cleveland skyline as a backdrop, the other overlooking the lakefront. The response would appear to prove Litvag right. “The two grassy knolls in downtown Cleveland were designed for something like this—and honestly, should and probably will be used for other events, based on the reception,” wrote The Plain Dealer.

 

MORE:

https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/09/grand-underutilized-park-heart-cleveland/570619/?utm_source=feed

 

Cross posted from the Cleveland: Lakefront Development and News TOPIC:

 

My idea I've been working on for a while now is for a combination of a LAND BRIDGE and CONVENTION CENTER EXPANSION.  That would provide a landscaped NEW MALL D area which is approximately 400 feet wide and approximately 450-500 feet long that would also accommodate extra meeting rooms and or more exhibition space.  It would provide a 20-27 foot clearance underneath for double stacked trains.  And if it keeps the same elevation as the existing Mall C/Convention Center it would provide plenty of room underneath for a New Multi mode Transportation Center as KJP has suggested in the past as well as the existing Shoreway.  And it would also provide plenty of room underneath near the Science Center and the newly ADDED DOME Browns Stadium for retail, connections to both facilities, and elevators and stairs to the ground level plaza.

 

And as a ADDED BONUS if the BROWNS STADIUM has a DOME added to it and it's directly connected to the expanded Convention Center then it's floor/field area could be included in the total amount of exhibition space. As other cities do like INDIANAPOLIS.

Edited September 9, 20195 yr by Larry1962

Oh no, you can't do that! You'll block the windows of the existing convention center!!

 

It still blows me away that Tony Coyne said that. 

 LAND-Studio has 2 more interactive spaces planned for the Historic Burnham Malls.  I'm not sure why these 2 sites were chosen. The first is the northern side  of Mall C that is behind the Sky Blossoms public art installation.  The second is Lincoln Lawn/Mall A, which is directly outside The Drury Hotel.  There are a couple of design renderings on their website. These proposed designs feel out of place to their historic/classic surroundings.  A greater site would be to turn all of Voinovich Park into a version of Maggie Daley Park which is located in Chicago.  

 

https://www.land-studio.org/projects/216go

 

The following sites have been identified as the first locations for 216GO! active spaces, with two additional sites still in the vetting process:

Mall C: Greenspace north of Lakeside Avenue and adjacent to City Hall to the west, directly behind another LAND studio public art installation, Sky Blossoms. Sky Blossoms, designed by Stacy Levy, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Shaker Lakes Garden Club and serves as a major landmark and public space in Downtown Cleveland. The artist worked with landscape architect Jim McKnight to develop this public art/green space that debuted in 2015.

Lincoln Lawn: Greenspace along Mall A, outside of the Drury Hotel

Instead of one, main playground considerations have been made for a series of playscapes, a signature gateway park, and a place to play basketball. LAND's short-term goals for this ongoing project include formalizing our engagement of Chiaozza (pronounced like Yowza), an art and design firm from Brooklyn, NY, to create an installation for The Lincoln Lawn/Mall A and work with the design studio at Kompan International, on the site at Mall C, to be part of Kompan’s design studio initiative.

Edited June 17, 20204 yr by dave2017

Forward thinking. These installations will give downtown a new colorful funky vibe!

Hideous!

Land studio seems to only do things that are totally out of context for their surroundings

based on the surroundings, what should go there..??   and do not say a beige rectangle box....

Edited June 17, 20204 yr by lockdog

I just wish we could have someone other than Land Studios doing these installations around town. You can't tell me there are no other artists or studios in Cleveland. Who does Land have on their payroll in the city to keep getting all the contracts?

I don't get what's so bad about this, downtown needs a playground and we have ample public greenspace that should be utilized to the city's benefit. I get the local artist point, but for folks calling this ugly- it's a playground! It looks like a really cool space for kids.

 

Edit: @LlamaLawyer put it much more eloquently than I. I'm 100% with you. Random tidbit but I was showing my buddy the 'Eye' statue in Dallas, it's a long story of how it got there but people flock around it nonetheless.

Edited June 17, 20204 yr by GISguy

I think they look cool (although some of that playground equipment looks dangerous as rendered LOL).

 

These aren't exactly the kind of permanent installations that would be hard to take down and replace later.

 

We need more interesting fixtures and playgrounds downtown, and I for one basically don't care at all what they look like. Statue of a golden pile of poop? Cool, people will come look at it and climb on it. What a photo op! Statue of a giant spider? Cool, people will come look at it. What a photo op! I mean we already have a giant rubber stamp. How does that mesh with the surrounding area? It's weird and in theory a super dumb idea, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

 

These kinds of installations (particularly playgrounds) are the kind of easy, inexpensive addition that makes an area way more liveable. Have you ever heard of someone saying, "Oh, I would move there, but their public art installations are too modern and weird for my Victorian era sensibilities." No, but lots of people say the opposite and talk about how cool, weird, and unique an area is.

 

Think about University Circle. There's some weird stuff there. There's a giant silver hand statue. It's really weird. But there's no way in which it's a net negative.

 

Let them build their weird modern installations!

Speaking of playgrounds, is the playground by the science center open now and how does it look?

16 minutes ago, PoshSteve said:

I just wish we could have someone other than Land Studios doing these installations around town. You can't tell me there are no other artists or studios in Cleveland. Who does Land have on their payroll in the city to keep getting all the contracts?

 

LAND isn't an artist or studio. The city has essentially offloaded certain programming/management functions to LAND. 

1 hour ago, PoshSteve said:

I just wish we could have someone other than Land Studios doing these installations around town. You can't tell me there are no other artists or studios in Cleveland. Who does Land have on their payroll in the city to keep getting all the contracts?

 

Contact 5D City (US representative for Ukrainian placemaking artist Roman Turetskiy is based in Lakewood) 

https://5d-city.com/ (website loads slowly)

https://www.facebook.com/5dcitycom/

That playground doesn't look like it would be much fun to play on ?‍♀️

6 hours ago, skiwest said:

Speaking of playgrounds, is the playground by the science center open now and how does it look?

This is a pic from Dec 2019. I haven't seen any other photo with its rubber padding poured. 

That playground doesn't look like it would be much fun to play on.

 

Colors were selected to match the ship behind it. They only got the little bit of turquoise after a major exception was allowed.

Edited June 17, 20204 yr by Pugu

LAND Studio is a consultant for the city that helps facilitate the projects. They are involved in a lot of good projects for the city that will have a very positive impact when complete. They are though used too much and personally I'd like them to utilize more local artists/designers rather than relying their more favorite NYC ones.

 

Disclaimer: I'm working with them currently on a project and so far have mixed feelings.

6 hours ago, scg80 said:

LAND Studio is a consultant for the city that helps facilitate the projects. They are involved in a lot of good projects for the city that will have a very positive impact when complete. They are though used too much and personally I'd like them to utilize more local artists/designers rather than relying their more favorite NYC ones.

 

Disclaimer: I'm working with them currently on a project and so far have mixed feelings.

 

They had Cimperman's wife working there while he was voting to award them contracts.   That's part of why he resigned. Perhaps similar is still going on at a less obvious level.

^Actually, he resigned because he got busted for doing it.

I don't necessarily dislike what we get from Land. I just wish we had more variety and could give other people a chance instead of always going back to the same group. Just seems fishy the city would give one company control over it all.

All for a playground downtown and replacing an empty lawn.

On 6/17/2020 at 4:58 PM, dave2017 said:

This is a pic from Dec 2019. I haven't seen any other photo with its rubber padding poured. 

 

Not to go too off topic but here is the updated photo from the other day.  A rather odd location, and doesn't seem like the landscaping is being well maintained (shocking).  The whole back of the science center really could use an update, because the rest of the harbor and Voinovich Park is actually really nice.  While the playground was empty, Voinovich was packed with kids.

 

Not sure how a playground on the mall would do... but it seems we aren't putting these where they would actually get use!

If only there were a technology where you could do a suitability analysis based on foot traffic, areas with higher concentrations of kiddos, and public greenspace...oh wait, there is ? .

 

I tried to get on the DCA YP board but they didn't seem to think location intelligence/GIS was important ?‍♂️

Nah, who would make a decision based on data? 

6 hours ago, mrclifton88 said:

 

Not to go too off topic but here is the updated photo from the other day.  A rather odd location, and doesn't seem like the landscaping is being well maintained (shocking).  The whole back of the science center really could use an update,

 

Though small, Another example of a neglected green space.  

At least a playground wouldn’t be a permanent thing.  A residential high rise always felt to me like the best use of Mall C, even at the expense of my ultimate frisbee games.

7 minutes ago, Sapper Daddy said:

At least a playground wouldn’t be a permanent thing.  A residential high rise always felt to me like the best use of Mall C, even at the expense of my ultimate frisbee games.

 

I really think the malls are something unique to cle and should stay greenspace as much as possible (active greenspace that is). As weird as our skyline may be from certain angles I really do think the malls add an element to cle that not many cities have.

 

And oh yeah, surface parking, burn all that before we even start talking utilizing the malls.

2 hours ago, Sapper Daddy said:

At least a playground wouldn’t be a permanent thing.  A residential high rise always felt to me like the best use of Mall C, even at the expense of my ultimate frisbee games.

There was a proposal to build something on Mall C several years ago, I can't remember if it was an office or hotel.

Anyone know the status of the art/playground installations proposed for Mall C? Hopefully something is still happening with it. Right now the closest park to downtown that really feels like a park is Lincoln Park in Tremont. With the Irishtown bend park, we'll have something closer, but that's not exactly a walk in the park if you live on East 9th (pun intended). The malls are great for events, but they're not exactly inviting places to hang out. 

On 6/21/2020 at 10:19 AM, mrclifton88 said:

The whole back of the science center really could use an update, because the rest of the harbor and Voinovich Park is actually really nice.  While the playground was empty, Voinovich was packed with kids.

I'm not kidding about this, Pokemon Go brought a ton of people to the science center area when it was popular a few years ago. I remember thinking how cool it would be if there were actually well designed public outdoor attractions there.

2 hours ago, LlamaLawyer said:

Anyone know the status of the art/playground installations proposed for Mall C? Hopefully something is still happening with it. Right now the closest park to downtown that really feels like a park is Lincoln Park in Tremont. With the Irishtown bend park, we'll have something closer, but that's not exactly a walk in the park if you live on East 9th (pun intended). The malls are great for events, but they're not exactly inviting places to hang out. 

The malls used to be much more inviting when they still contained the Hanna Fountains and the roadways around them were tree-lined.

Edited October 27, 20204 yr by Frmr CLEder

 would it be possible/has it ever been proposed to put grass on top of the parking decks? they are flush with the Malls and it'd create a nice Bluff Park that connects willard and huntington to the mall

 

^All the cars parking atop the garages will mess up the grass. 😉

As someone who worked at City Hall for a number of years, I can appreciate and attest to the importance of that short-term surface lot for engineers, permit seekers, meeting attendees, architects, contractors, speakers, attorneys... and an endless stream of others with short term parking needs from all corners of the city, and there are a ton who need to quickly dart in and out from City Hall all day long.  The Willard Garage below this deck is used for general longer term parking for City Hall staffers, and I guess the public sidewalks in front of the Convention Center are used by entitled local government employees too 🙄.

 

It is the most visible and easily accessible place for parking, so it reduces traffic messes on Lakeside and is not likely to be abandoned IMHO.

Edited October 27, 20204 yr by ExPatClevGuy

On 6/21/2020 at 5:01 PM, Sapper Daddy said:

At least a playground wouldn’t be a permanent thing.  A residential high rise always felt to me like the best use of Mall C, even at the expense of my ultimate frisbee games.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 20204 yr by MrR

I still wish GGN's proposed master plan was completely executed. The Malls still feel incomplete. Maybe with the proposed interior renovations of  converting The Global Center for Health Innovations into an extension of the Huntington Convention Center they can raise enough money to complete the plan

 

https://www.ggnltd.com/connecting-downtown-cleveland-master-plan

6 hours ago, dave2017 said:

I still wish GGN's proposed master plan was completely executed. The Malls still feel incomplete. Maybe with the proposed interior renovations of  converting The Global Center for Health Innovations into an extension of the Huntington Convention Center they can raise enough money to complete the plan

 

https://www.ggnltd.com/connecting-downtown-cleveland-master-plan

Wow, that looks so much better! Its amazing what some competent landscaping and trees can do. Where is Jane Campbell when you need her?

In this Covid world, which may not just be “disappearing” and may influence our society for a long time to come, one would think there might be a little more focus on outdoor spaces where folks can still socialize but while distancing. I’m not sure why this project seems to be on some back burner (and perhaps I’m wrong about that?)  I like the way the space remains largely open to potentially accommodate concerts and various cultural and civic purposes while creating a more beautiful and inviting aesthetic   I wish this plan or something comparable will  happen - much sooner than later. 

Edited October 30, 20204 yr by CleveFan

On 10/27/2020 at 4:22 PM, Frmr CLEder said:

The malls used to be much more inviting when they still contained the Hanna Fountains and the roadways around them were tree-lined.

 

Back in the day, the things that went down on The Mall after midnight!   Whew.....Lawd.