Hi everyone,

This is a project I've been working on for the past couple weeks, in the hopes of getting it done before my classes start again. I just made the deadline. ;)

 

What you'll see here is a photo essay of all the buildings that ODOT has marked for taking as part of its Innerbelt reconstruction project. If ODOT has its way, these buildings will be demolished to make way for new access roads and a softer Dead Man's Curve. This issue has been getting much less attention than another aspect of the plan: The new bridge to be constructed over the Cuyahoga River Valley.

 

Some of the threatened buildings are nothing special. But I believe quite a few -- particularly several old loft buildings that house or could house artist live/work space -- should be saved. I believe these structures hold what could be one of the biggest keys to revitalizing our region, because of their ability to draw artists and creative types from areas like NYC, where similar loft space has become prohibitively expensive.

 

More broadly, I question the wisdom behind further demolitions in a city that was decimated by the initial wave of highway construction in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these buildings host (or could host) viable businesses, right in the urban core. I believe Cleveland needs to at least maintain its current downtown density, rather than allowing it to be further compromised by a project that will ultimately ease people's ability to blast through the urban core without a second glance.

 

Here then is the tour.

 

TREMONT

 

Beginning in Tremont, several residential properties and one industrial building are threatened.

 

These three houses are between 1422 and 1430 Fairfield Avenue, on a steeply sloping street leading down to the Industrial Valley. The current Innerbelt bridge can be seen in the background.

 

Another view of 1422-1430 Fairfield.

 

Another view of 1422-1430 Fairfield.

 

A cold storage building at Abbey Avenue and W. 15th, overlooking the Valley. Fairly compromised exterior, but it's in an ideal location and could look great with a lot of work.

 

Architectural detail of above.

 

A residential property at 2195 W. 15th Street. (The street is brick, but you can't see it because of the snow.)

 

Another view of 2195 W. 15th Street.

 

*Note: There are a couple buildings in the Flats that I couldn't get to because of bridge closings. They are: 1996 West 3rd, 2394 Canal Road and 300 Central Viaduct.

 

 

DOWNTOWN AND NEAR EAST SIDE

 

The Innerbelt trench through downtown is to be reconstructed with new access roads. Several exits are also being removed to prevent what ODOT calls dangerous "weaving" (another issue that has upset downtown business owners).

 

Dead Man's Curve is also being softened (it's currently 90 degrees), which according to ODOT would require the demolition of several loft and office buildings.

 

Independent Towel Supply, at 1802 Central Avenue. I believe there were plans to redevelop this as residential until ODOT's plans were released. Can anyone confirm?

 

Independent Towel Supply.

 

Independent Towel Supply.

 

Collins Gordon Bostwick Architects, 2729 Prospect Avenue. A pristine terra cotta building on the edge of the Upper Prospect Historic District, typical of the modest and beautiful structures on the street.

 

The architecture firm displays models in its front window.

 

Showing some of the Prospect streetscape.

 

Detail of the building, showing egg and dart frieze.

 

On Euclid Avenue just east of the Innerbelt, several 1960s-era office buildings are threatened. This is the Parkwood, at 2829 Euclid.

 

The building housing Project: Learn, at 2728 Euclid. The building to the left in this photo is not threatened.

 

A loft building at 2630 Payne Avenue, on the western edge of Chinatown. The spitting image of the recently renovated Payne Avenue Lofts, a bit further east.

 

Hard to imagine anyone being too upset about losing this one, but it does house a working business, Klein Newspaper Services, at 2635 Payne.

 

This old loft building, at 1748 E. 27th Street, struck me as pretty special.

 

Detail of 1748 E. 27th.

 

The lintel above the doorway at 1748 E. 27th reads, "The Musterole Company."

 

Just north of Payne, between 1600-1606 E. 27th, are two residential properties marked for taking. The street itself is brick. This could be a charming block with a little TLC.

 

The houses again.

 

Daniel's Furniture, at 2800 Superior Avenue. This building is not on ODOT's official takings list, but Councilman Joe Cimperman told our Emerging Cleveland tour last week that it is in fact marked for demolition. He said a developer had plans to convert it to live-work until ODOT's plans were released.

 

Detail of the Daniel's building.

 

2975 Superior Avenue, housing a working carpet store and supplier.

 

The 1400 E. 30th building, another of our biggest potential losses. This is another functioning artists' live-work building.

 

Facade detail, 1400 E. 30th.

 

Frieze detail, 1400 E. 30th.

 

The ground floor houses Tastebuds organic restaurant, run by one of the resident artists. It's normally packed for lunch, but was quiet on a holiday Monday.

 

Tastebuds.

 

The light-filled loft apartment of Bill and Harriet Gould, inside the 1400 E. 30th building. (Photo by E.A.)

 

Another shot of the Goulds' apartment. (Photo by S.S.)

 

A *bit* less spectacular is this abandoned strip club ("Bada Bing"), at 30th and St. Clair. It was slated to be redeveloped as a restaurant employing 30 people, but the developer scrapped the project once ODOT's takings list was released.

 

Bada Bing again. The large building in the background is 1400 E. 30th.

 

3100 Hamilton Avenue, home of State Industrial Products, Zucker Building Company and several other businesses.

 

3100 Hamilton.

 

The Cleveland Mounted Police stables, on 11.3 acres north of Lakeside on E. 38th Street.

 

Stable grounds.

 

Architectural Real Estate Company, at 3000 Lakeside Avenue. It was hard to get a good perspective on this building, but it's pretty cool.

 

Another view of 3000 Lakeside.

 

The Cleveland Fire Training Academy, in a neat 1950s-era building at 3101 Lakeside.

 

That's the end of the tour. I will write more on all this later, but in the meantime please post your thoughts.

The houses that get lost are meh, but the greatest losses will be all the industrial brick buildings we will loose. Those are the buildings that become live-work places, those are the buildings that the creative classes live in, those are the first buildings that get renovated, those are the buildings that start a neighborhood turnaround.

 

As a side note, I wonder if/when those buildings get razed will it get the ball rolling on tyler village?

The single family homes could be moved, relocated and rehabbed for new families (or the current owners).  Or they could be donated to Habitat for Humanity for re-sue on other land.  Yeah, they're nothing special architecurally, but that doesn't mean they are less deserving of trying to find a new use for them.

 

The larger industrial-style buildings would be a loss, especially the ones used for artists lofts.  I wonder how much of this building loss is really necessary.  Past highway projects have tended toward over-kill in claiming adjacent properties.  I hope someone up there is asking the right questions and not just accepting it as fact that these buildings are really needed.

 

One thing not covered in blinker 12's report that is worth noting.  Another property potentially threatened by the Dead Man's curve project is the former Conrail (now CSX) East 26th Street rail yard.  This is important because the Ohio Rail Development Comission's Ohio Hub Plan calls for using this yard as a future staging area and maintanence facility for passenger trains into the 3-C Corridor and other parts of the proposed rail system.  Loss of this yard would mean trains could not be staged into the 3-C Corridor from Cleveland.  (See the Ohio Hub Plan at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/  and look for the link to The Ohio & Lake Erie Regional Rail / Ohio Hub Plan)

 

BTW: Nice work blinker 12 !! Great photos.  Really helps illustrate the problem.

I feel sick.

Can anyone link a graphic as to what "dead man's curve" would look like after it's "fixed"?  The logic side of my brain goes crazy, every time I read something where the stated problem is that it's a 90 degree turn.  It always comes down to how do you turn the highway 90 degrees without a 90 degree turn...  I personally wouldn't mind the highway having a less degree of turn because either we'd have one really big pier or maybe even a bridge to Canada bout 50 miles long.

http://www.innerbelt.org/Innerbelt/Nov2005InnerbeltVisuals/Innerbelt%20Curve%20Focus.pdf

http://www.innerbelt.org/Innerbelt/Nov2005InnerbeltVisuals/Trench%20Focus.pdf

 

I am skeptical if alot of the buildings need to be razed, sure they ~might~ be close on one side to an on/off ramp. Alot of it just looks like razing buildings for the sake of razing for clear space near the highway.

 

It dosent look like we will loose the Artcraft building...

Thank you for an excellent piece of work. I knew there were a lot of buildings proposed for demolition, but seeing them all in one place communicates the extent.

 

I think more people need to see this and I'll do what I can to make sure they have that opportunity.

yeah, I personally have not paid much attention to this project with exception to the bridge and the side proposal of the UC "boulevard".  Now seeing the rest of it I really don't like it, especially towards the northern end.  It looks as though ODOT had one objective in mind and then said screw you all to anything that was in the way to the easiest way to accomplish that objective.

^ Especially since this project is designed to speed the way through downtown for 15 percent of the traffic, and reduce the access points for the remaining 85 percent which is heading to/from the core city.

Pretty much a bulldozer mentality on ODOT's part.

 

The problem is there really is a need to fix Dead Man's curve.  But what ODOT's proposes is the usual Draconian solution when such a severe solution may not be what's needed.  I cannot believe there is not a more reasonable solution that addresses the problem without demolishing entire neighborhoods to achieve the end.

 

ODOT fought a "cap" over I-670 in Columbus for years, until enough local support for the "cap" convinced them to give it a try.  They did.  It worked.  Now, you;d never know an Interstate Highway was rolling by underneath North High Street.

 

I think you need to be talking with the new administration in City Hall and the local MPO.... NOACA.... and let your misgivings be known.  But don't just complain.  Offer up alternatives.  Challenge ODOT to think outside the off-ramp.

I have an idea to fix Dead Man's Curve.  I call it "Slow the F*ck Down".  The idea is based on the recent scientific findings indicating that a car can make a curve of any radius without incident if the proper speed is maintained.

Thanks for that tour and meticulous detail B12!  This has been getting a lot less attention than it deserves, even at the meeting last year where they unveiled all of their huge posters with visuals and "marked" buildings. 

 

The best explanation we could get out of ODOT or the B&N engineers was that they had to move the trench east during construction so that it would still be usable.  Basically, they'd be knocking down many of the Midtown structures to ensure smooth passage during the construction phase.  In the end, we'll end up with an even wider, more divisive trench and even fewer reasons for drivers to get off the highway and onto local streets.  In my eyes, this is a no-brainer...close lanes, slow it all down for as long as it takes...fix only what must be fixed and let's talk about ways to lessen the negative impacts of this already destructive throughway...no more demo!

I can fly through dead mans curve at 50...

 

The curve itself is not a problem, it the way the access points are made. I agree with ODOT on that the ramps that exit and enter into eachother in short distances is a problem. That causes all sorts of breaking and cutting off dicyness in there.  Another problem is the unsessisary traffic that has to go that way. Because there was no 290 ever made (not that im advocating making one) everyone taking 77 or 71 must go through there.

I have an idea to fix Dead Man's Curve.  I call it "Slow the F*ck Down".  The idea is based on the recent scientific findings indicating that a car can make a curve of any radius without incident if the proper speed is maintained.

^ lol  :laugh:  I like your solution!

One of the greatest potential losses is the Artcraft Building, at 2530 Superior Avenue. An established live-work building, it is chock full of artists' studios and living spaces.

^ I really like this building; it would be ashame to lose it.  It would be ashame to lose any the industrial-style buildings.  I grew next to the B.F. Goodrich complex in Akron; I watched as many of the closed and abandoned buildings were transformed for light industrial use, office space, resteraunt space, etc.  I'm very fond of these old buildings; they have so much character and once they're gone they can't be replaced.

I once took Dead Man's Curve eastbound at 65 mph in my little sports car -- the fact that I had someone heavier than me in the passenger seat helped! The biggest problem with the curve is that it gets sharper as you go eastbound. Just as you're ready to accelerate out of the curve, the curve gets tighter, and that's where the trucks flip.

 

Councilman Cimperman believes the curve's severity may be eased by using some of Burke Lakefront Airport's property. In other words, the curve would set farther north than what ODOT is proposing, and wouldn't take any buildings.

 

As for the closeness of the ramps in the trench, private engineering consultants I've interviewed contend that, making the Inner Belt faster is trading one devil for another. While it's true the Inner Belt's accident rate is unacceptably high, most of the accidents occur in heavy traffic at slower speeds, and are mostly of the fender-bender, side-swipe variety. Injuries are often minor or less. Improve the flow of traffic and thus the speed, the accidents may be reduced. But the accidents that do occur are likely to be of a more catastrophic nature, resulting in serious injuries or deaths.

 

Pick your poison.

I pick the poison that won't spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make hasty work of destroying more of our heritage and recent success stories.

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful responses. KJP, it would be *great* if you could help spread the word on this. In fact, to whoever is reading this thread -- please send the link to anyone you think would care.

 

I agree with others that the loft buildings would be the greatest losses. Of those, the most heartbreaking losses in my view would be the two large buildings that already house artists live-work space -- the Artcraft and 1400 E. 30th. Those two buildings are among the most visible in the near East Side's nascent live-work movement. To destroy them for a highway project would demonstrate that we as a state are more interested in accomodating motorists than in building vibrant, livable urban communities. Already, as I noted above, developers interested in converting some vacant loft spaces (such as the Daniel's building) have abandoned their projects because of ODOT's plans.

 

But what about the less spectacular buildings? Sure, Klein's Newspaper Service with its surface parking lot and nondescript one-story building will never make it into an urban design textbook. But it does house a viable business that creates jobs and generates tax revenue in the urban core. What will happen if we wipe it out? Will it relocate to the suburbs or to another area entirely?

 

This is to mention nothing of the elimination of downtown exits. ODOT will essentially be limiting access to downtown while destroying some of what remains.

 

There is hope. Joe Cimperman, the Councilman whose ward includes every building pictured above, is very much opposed to ODOT's trench plans. He's a big supporter of live-work and sees its potential for revitalizing the city. He has led opposition in City Council to ODOT's plans; as Sun Newspapers reported several months ago, Council has blocked needed permits for the project until ODOT completes an economic impact analysis.

 

Yet we also need to generate greater public discussion about this project. Please, if you don't want to see these buildings lost, help spread the word! Construction is still a few years off, so there's time to make this plan better -- or failing that, to stop it entirely.

 

OK, stepping off my soap box now. ;)

"I have an idea to fix Dead Man's Curve.  I call it "Slow the F*ck Down"

 

I've always called it a great way to "thin the herd". I'm sorry but if someone is so oblivious to my tax dollars at work in the form of giant signs, multiple flashing lights, and rumble strips and STILL manages to flip their vehicle, I think they're a danger to society anyways.

I won't miss Parkwood..

Hey, KJP, thanks for the shout-out in this week's Sun!

 

Excerpt from the column "City missing chance to develop prime site":

 

Worse, consider how many downtown buildings, including an emerging live-work district, will succumb to the wrecking ball if ODOT's plans for the Inner Belt trench are realized.

 

To gain an appreciation of the scale of this threatened loss, check out this photo essay by Justin Glanville, a Cleveland State University urban planning student, which he posted at [this Web page].

 

Here, Cimperman is fighting the good fight, with the help of affected community development corporations and others.

 

It's time that ODOT realizes that the two D's -- density and diversity -- are what makes a city vibrant. Density of development and population energizes a community, as do diversity of buildings, architecture, people and transportation.

 

Instead, ODOT seems to think the two D's are demolitions and driving. Here's hoping the city's approvals process ... sends this project back to the drawing board.

It's OK if you want to post the whole thing.

Wow, I love this one:

 

"It's time that ODOT realizes that the two D's -- density and diversity -- are what makes a city vibrant. Density of development and population energizes a community, as do diversity of buildings, architecture, people and transportation.

 

Instead, ODOT seems to think the two D's are demolitions and driving. Here's hoping the city's approvals process ... sends this project back to the drawing board."

 

What great wordsmanship!

Thanks, but there was more to that wording, that used another letter to make the point.

KJP, I had some trouble translating the formatting codes from your e-mail (you know, the codes that show up instead of certain characters). I made my best shot at interpreting; sorry if I got something wrong. That's also why I didn't post the whole thing to begin with.

Maybe you'd like to post it for us? The whole thing is great...

 

I've posted the full commentary at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3697.msg76276#msg76276

Crain's Cleveland Business

 

Uncertain futures

Business owners affected by ODOT's Innerbelt plan worry about the project's soft timeline

By JAY MILLER

 

6:00 am, February 26, 2007

 

Jerry Cohen finds himself in a dilemma. He’s not happy about it, and he’s not alone.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation last month notified Mr. Cohen that the agency plans to buy his building at 2975 Superior Ave., home to his Carpet Capitol Inc. flooring business, when it rebuilds the Innerbelt freeway later this decade.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/

 

Instead of fighting them,lets twist there hands.

 

With every brick road that is taken out,and another brick road should pop up.

 

Every Building above three stories taken down. financing has to be put,zero interest, for a building of the same magnitude to be built somewhere within a 1000 feet of the previous building.

(any other ideas)

Either we go throu the state assembly or Write are own bill.

 

These are aspect of twisting there hands.

 

In Paris France allot of the highways are capped

Hey, the cap over I-670 in Columbus has worked very well.  Ought to be just as valid in Cleveland.

I've posted the full commentary at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3697.msg76276#msg76276

 

The link doesn't work for me. 

 

Noozer: as for the cap, I think that's a good solution, other than not doing the project in the first place. 

 

Any post 1950's buildings that go I won't care about as that's when architecture in the US really went into the toilet, but it's a shame to lose the older ones.  My biggest concern is the E. 26th St yard.  I thought ORDC and ODOT were trying to work that one out?  Sounds like ORDC needs to talk to the new governor about this. 

 

If ODOT really gets the enema it needs under the new administration, perhaps they'll be more willing to pursue alternatives and things that would mitigate the impact-- like caps (I can hope, can't I??? )

 

 

I get the sense that both the Governor and the new adminsitration at ODOT will be receptive to ideas on how to do better with less $$ and create more cost-effective alternatives to just adding more lanes.  It won't be enough to just try to stop a particular project.  The challenge will be to come up with a better alternative.

 

Consider that many, if not most, highway projects are currently based on the need to mitigate congestion or create more capacity.  If that is true, one only needs to ask whether investing in other alternatives like rail and better mass transit, can redirect some of the traffic off the highways and achieve the same goal.

^but what about the 26th St yard?

ODOT is aware of the need to preserve it.

See the images I posted of ODOT's preferred options for the Inner Belt in the Grander Plan For Inner Belt thread. You will see that the East 26th Street Yard is untouched.

  The real question here is....what can be done?  When I read about some of the plans ODOT has...some of the statements that come from Joe C (RTA) about rail ("my lifetime" and 100mil cost per mile) it really chaps my ass!  (Mayday..MTS..not a word!)  There are a lot of people on here that have great ideas about how plans could be tweaked to make things better around the city/region.  I, for one, love to read everyones ideas and throw a few of my own in.  I also like to bitch about ODOT, RTA,and city leadership when it comes to some of these projects.  Is there(are there) someone here that can really get these ideas, through the right channels, to the right people (as well as the public) in a way that looks like the ideas are coming from well informed, educated, highly concerned people?  The first person that comes to mind for me(no offense to all else) is KJP.  This just seems like such a David and Goliath confrontation to me. 

  When I showed my concerns at the West Shoreway meeting...about all I got was a shoulder shrug.  These freaking people seem SO proud of their anti urban, nonsensical highway projects it makes me sick.  Bringing up LTR, street cars, true trench and cap systems, retaining walls to save space, or doing ANYTHING below ground is like talking splitting atoms to a caveman !!(no offense to the Geico guy)

  There needs to be someone/someway to pick up the ball and run with it and make our voices heard!  I am sure there are many others out there that may feel the same way but don't even know about Urbanohio let alone have a way of being heard by the powers that be. 

  Any ideas?  Letters, calls, public polls......how can anything be done?

... it really chaps my ass!  (Mayday..MTS..not a word!) .....

 

Maybe you should borrow the Popes assless chaps!  Sorry I couldn't resist.

I lived in Columbus during the time the I-670/High Street cap was fought for and won. I attended most of meetings, especially those held in Victorian Village. My memory is a bit fuzzy (it was 15 or so years ago) but I do recall that ODOT held to the party line -- "cap too expensive", "would delay project", blah, blah, blah... for quite a while.

 

That was until federal lawsuits were threatened and some consultant or lawyer from The National Trust for Historic Preservation got involved. Then ODOT started to soften on the "no cap" stance and other design changes. Of course it took very engaged and vocal community groups as well.

I was a reporter during that time in Columbus and your memory is correct, but that was also during Gordon Proctor's reign over the "Borg" (ODOT).  I think we will see some change with the new administration, but they still need to hear from the public to know that change is desired.

  I just sent a little letter of concern to this site  http://www.buckeyetraffic.org/feedback.asp  .....basically pleading for the new administration to check out urbanohio AND to be more forward thinking than the past admin.....

Thought these would help clear up what is currently (as of Feb 1) on ODOT list. There is also a board of possible historic issues as well.

And, here is a rendering of the currently proposed curve. It does not look like there will be any taking of the any of the rail yard from what I can tell, but I could be wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks JDD941 for the vote of confidence. I have the benefit of an opinion column in Sun Newspapers, which helps. But I am just one person. If I alone bring these arguments to the fore, then I can be easily dismissed. But if a room full of people say what they want (rather than what they don't want -- that doesn't give anyone direction), then the power of multiple voices can move even the most stubborn, ignorant and vision-less people to act in the way you want. I've seen it happen a million times. It makes elected officials whimper, then they sing your song. But you need to coordinate the voices with the same general, basic message. Just be loud and clear.

I think those of you who live in the Cleveland metro area need to start showing up at every Cleveland City Council meeting and demand a change. KJP is right. He is only one voice and you can't rely on him to carry the argument alone.

 

I am not too familiar with what is going on up there, and I don't want to speak out of turn, but I think everyone who has an inetrest (transit advocates, businesspersons affected by this, enviros and anyone else) should band together and meet to formulate a plan of action.

 

I am sure if you do this other statewide organizations will take more than a passing interest in what is going on with the Inner Belt, which I think is a poster child for what's wrong with ODOT. Maybe if there are some folks up there willing to carry the ball, one of these organizations might be willing to facilitate such a meeting.

 

At any rate, the possible destruction of yet more historic buildings makes me sick. :drunk:

 

  I did write a letter (email) to the Governor's office via the website as well as the ODOT wesite to express my dismay with the options provided for public transit, the highway projects, and the lack of emphasis on passenger rail that is historic in Ohio.  It was not completely negative...I cited ideas that I have thought of as well as others on this site.  I even urged both agencies to look into this site to see first hand what other people think as well.  I am not sure if it is worth my time or not to send a similar email to RTA due to the fact that JoeC seems completely unapproachable about alternative transit (expansion).  I would be more than willing to be part of a "push" to bring this to the powers that be as well as the public.  I can only write so many letters to the editor of the PD only to be denied or have the article chopped into nonsense.  If we all band together...I am in!!!

  I did write a letter (email) to the Governor's office via the website.....If we all band together...I am in!!!

 

That's the spirit! We know this thing is wrong. We have to band together and fight! :box:

 

Let's do this.

both buckey and JDD comments are all the more reason why the "whats next for UO" thread is extremely relevant.

This is a bit off the current topic, but looking at the buildings slated for demolition by Blinker12, one caught my eye.  I have the original building drawings of the Daniel's Furniture building at 2800 Superior Ave.  It was constructed in 1919 for the Ohio Box Board Co.  The terra cota detailing at the top is quite interesting and it would be ashame to loose it.

What I wrote (which was not as well thought out as I would have liked, but what the heck:

 

I am very concerned with a few of the highway plans that ODOT has for the Cleveland area (Innerbelt, innerbelt bridge, and the Shoreway project) for the way that they are/were planned with the prior administration. It seems to me that highway projects from the prior admin seem to be so cookie cutter, antiquated, and very anti-urban. What I mean by this is that instead of coming up with fresh ideas to save space, preserve buildings, and keep the city urban...it seems ODOT has liked to cut a huge swath with sweeping grass filled banks, while at the same time knocking down perfectly good building in order to make a highway. Why not consider making a true trench system through Cleveland, using retaining walls to save space and structures surrounding? Maybe even consider using caps ovet the trench to actually TAKE BACK land in the city! I have been to other states that employ this type of construction and it seems to work well (I-696 near Detroit is a great example). I URGE the planners at ODOT to check out a website dedicated to Ohio and it's projects...the concerns the people have on the site are just a few voices of the many. I think you might be shocked at how disappointed people are with the past admin of ODOT. You may also be surprised with some of the great ideas that are talked about on the site. Please Check out www.urbanohio.com and look at the projects and/or transportation section. Thank you for your time. Concerned taxpayer, Joe Dorsey

 

 

 

Believe it or not, I already received a response from ODOT!

 

Mr. Dorsey,

 

Thank you for submitting your comments regarding the Cleveland Innerbelt Project.  Your comments have been forwarded to the study team for further consideration and will be included and addressed in the environmental documentation prepared for the project to identify the preferred alternative.

 

Lora Hummer

Public Information Officer

Ohio Department of Transportation

 

Now we all know your name Joe!!

 

(nice letter BTW)

Overhaul, history collide on Inner Belt

Historic buildings standing in path of highway project

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Sarah Hollander

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

To someone driving by, buildings in the path of the proposed Inner Belt rehaul may not look like much. But to preservationists, they help tell the story of Cleveland and shouldn't be sacrificed for more asphalt.

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation's extensive Inner Belt plan includes realigning Dead Man's Curve, building new bridges across the Cuyahoga Valley downtown and adjusting traffic flow in the crash-prone trench through Midtown.

 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

 

[email protected], 216-999-4816

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/innerbelt/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1174985222116020.xml&coll=2

 

4 threatened buildings now 'historic'

State evaluates structures in path of new Inner Belt

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Sarah Hollander

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

The state's historic preservation office believes four of five notable buildings facing demolition to clear the way for a revamped Inner Belt are eligible for the national historic register.

 

The report labeled the following buildings eligible:

 

Broadway Mills (1894), 300 Central Viaduct. The former flour mill represents Cleveland's once-strong milling industry and is considered the city's best surviving example of mill architecture.

 

Ohio Boxboard Co. (ca. 1909), 1400 East 30th St. An example of early 20th-century industrial design and one of the few remaining buildings designed by Christian, Schwarzenberg and Gaede, an architectural firm that practiced in Cleveland from 1909 to 1972.

 

Distribution Terminal Warehouse (1927), 200 West 14th St. The large concrete building is considered significant for its role in the evolution of Cleveland's food distribution network and for its design by noted local architect Wilbur J. Watson.

 

Marathon station (1928), 300 Central Viaduct. The trapezoidal building is considered a fine and largely unaltered example of an early 20th-century service station and is associated with Cleveland's early automobile history.

 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

 

[email protected], 216-999-4816

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1175934995238400.xml&coll=2