I had no idea that Tower 230 was changing either.  Hopefully the Lincoln Tap House does well there.

 

Today...Tower City valet getting a makeover and festive lights stretching over W. Prospect

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool! Thanks! Maybe it will help West Prospect become more inviting.

Loving all these surprise upgrades on Tower City!

The additions of the American Flag and Ohio Flag look good!

I think the white lights may be a bit of overkill.  They work beautifully down the street, E. 4th givning the Bourbon Street effect... Here at Tower City?  Seems gaudy imho.

I think the white lights may be a bit of overkill.  They work beautifully down the street, E. 4th givning the Bourbon Street effect... Here at Tower City?  Seems gaudy imho.

 

I'll take any "updates" to downtown cleveland, but I would be interested to see what they look like at night (before making a final decision)  :wink: .

I assume the old Century/Bice restaurant spot at at TC is still vacant or???

I asked about this a while back. It's no longer a restaurant and for a while the Ritz Carlton used it to setup their brunch. Right now it's only used for special events I believe. Hopefully all this activity will bring about it's opening again!  Such a neat space, I think it's time for something new in that spot!

With all of the new wayfinding signs downtown I always wondered why TowerCity would not have some type of store directory outside in front of TowerCity. I'll bet most people who are downtown everyday could not tell you what stores make up The Avenue. And with all of the new potential customers walking around in front of TowerCity I am thinking it would be helpful to draw them inside. Below is just an example.

I think the white lights may be a bit of overkill.  They work beautifully down the street, E. 4th giving the Bourbon Street effect... Here at Tower City?  Seems gaudy imho.

 

I'll take any "updates" to downtown cleveland, but I would be interested to see what they look like at night (before making a final decision)  :wink: .

 

When you understand urban architecture and realize that certain buildings, in themselves, are highlights without additional, artificial adornment such as these lights, you don't have to wait until the night to make an assessment.  :wink:

I like what it brings...but there need to be a few more.  It seems kind of underwhelming at night.

 

Saw these on the way home from picking up carry-out last night. I think the aim of these is more to give that area a presence in the evening/night.

Since there will ostensibly be many visitors to downtown who will not be from the area, this lighting will give TC more of a mark on W. Prospect, somewhere to walk to (that's what we want). If it gets out-of-towners and locals to walk down W. Prospect and venture into TC especially in the evening, then it's a plus. Maybe TC stores wont close so early eventually. Or does anybody know...have any stores (or restaurants there) extended their hours already?

RE the aesthetics, Im 50-50 on it.

One thing for sure,  I. like. lights.

But it's not so bad that it's like the end of the world or something.

With all of the new wayfinding signs downtown I always wondered why TowerCity would not have some type of store directory outside in front of TowerCity. I'll bet most people who are downtown everyday could not tell you what stores make up The Avenue. And with all of the new potential customers walking around in front of TowerCity I am thinking it would be helpful to draw them inside. Below is just an example.

 

You're right. I know I couldn't tell you what's in there. I'm usually making a bee-line to the Rapid.

 

Saw these on the way home from picking up carry-out last night. I think the aim of these is more to give that area a presence in the evening/night.

Since there will ostensibly be many visitors to downtown who will not be from the area, this lighting will give TC more of a mark on W. Prospect, somewhere to walk to (that's what we want). If it gets out-of-towners and locals to walk down W. Prospect and venture into TC especially in the evening, then it's a plus. Maybe TC stores wont close so early eventually. Or does anybody know...have any stores (or restaurants there) extended their hours already?

RE the aesthetics, Im 50-50 on it.

One thing for sure,  I. like. lights.

But it's not so bad that it's like the end of the world or something.

Speaking of not closing early...on Friday Forest City sent a letter around to all the stores stating that while they won't be officially switching to a 9 a.m-9 p.m open and close time YET stores are allowed to open and close at those previously stated times upon request and approval from Tower City Management. So all this tells me is that Forest City may be testing the waters to see if these open close times are beneficial to them and if they are we will see an official switch. Actual I had a conversation with a couple of the workers in the restaurants in the food court and they told me that their respective stores were discussing staying open 24 hours and the Charley's Subs store is strongly considering it. So hour changes may be coming sooner than people think I'll keep you posted.

Although not in Tower City Center, Jake's (at Ontario and South Roadway) is going to stay open 24 hours a day. I do believe that is downtown's first 24-hour "restaurant" in a long time. And that, by itself, is a sad statement. Glad to see the change, though.

I like what it brings...but there need to be a few more.  It seems kind of underwhelming at night.

 

I agree with this. I love the nights, they're a nice touch for the city, would love more of them... but they could definitely use some more.

I like what it brings...but there need to be a few more.  It seems kind of underwhelming at night.

 

I agree with this. I love the nights, they're a nice touch for the city, would love more of them... but they could definitely use some more.

 

I think we are averaging about one night for every day. Which is pretty much on par with every city in the world. So we are pretty much maxed out on nights.

Speaking of staying open later Forest City sent around a paper to all stores in Tower City stating that while they won't switch to a 9 a.m to 9 p.m open close time just yet they are giving the stores the option of opening and closing at those previously mentioned times starting this week pending request and approval. Also some of the workers in the food court were saying that their respective stores were discussing a 24 hour operation especially Charley's Subs. Some stores will be open from 9-9 this week so I feel Forest City is testing the waters with this plan we will have to wait and see if the switch will be permanent. I'll keep you all posted.

I like what it brings...but there need to be a few more.  It seems kind of underwhelming at night.

 

I agree with this. I love the nights, they're a nice touch for the city, would love more of them... but they could definitely use some more.

 

I think we are averaging about one night for every day. Which is pretty much on par with every city in the world. So we are pretty much maxed out on nights.

 

First post on UO that's ever had me flat-out laughing out loud. Good work.

Is it just me or do you think that the hard rock cafe at TC should really fix up the guitar sign out side and get it rotating again etc. like it did when it first opened?

I seriously doubt that the Hard Rock will fix the sign.  It probably will have to be moved anyway when Phase II starts on the casino.  Personally, I'd like to see them mount that big guitar above the door.  I think it would look really cool and you'd see it for quite a distance.  If Dan wants it to look like a mini Times Square, then I'm sure he'd love to see all of that neon above the door.

Welcome, tvviewer!

The retail in tower city has a mix of local chains (Next, Villa), National chains (Brooks Brothers, Bath and Body Works, FYE, The entire food court), and one location stores, which I can't name off hand. Not the best picture, but certainly not completely void of useful stores like some would have you believe. If anything the place still looks nice, though could use sprucing up in some spots, but the train station aspect and the fountain that dances to music (lol) as well as the mall's interconnectivity to all the hotels, restaurants, arenas, and casino make it an interesting property to say the least.

Villa is a national chain.

The retail in tower city has a mix of local chains (Next, Villa), National chains (Brooks Brothers, Bath and Body Works, FYE, The entire food court), and one location stores, which I can't name off hand. Not the best picture, but certainly not completely void of useful stores like some would have you believe. If anything the place still looks nice, though could use sprucing up in some spots, but the train station aspect and the fountain that dances to music (lol) as well as the mall's interconnectivity to all the hotels, restaurants, arenas, and casino make it an interesting property to say the least.

The fountain hasn't danced to music for a few years it just runs and Villa isn't local it's based in Philadelphia

I seriously doubt that the Hard Rock will fix the sign.  It probably will have to be moved anyway when Phase II starts on the casino.  Personally, I'd like to see them mount that big guitar above the door.  I think it would look really cool and you'd see it for quite a distance.  If Dan wants it to look like a mini Times Square, then I'm sure he'd love to see all of that neon above the door.

 

When I moved to Cleveland I tried to get this sign to function again, talking with Tower City and Hard Rock to see what the problem was and why it wasn't being fixed.

 

Basically, the gears are stripped and rusted out on the sign and it would cost $40,000 to fix (from a few years ago), nobody wanted to pay for it, so they locked it in position so people could at least get a photo in front of it from the restaurant entrance.

^ $40 grand?!  Hopefully the sign company that created it has gone belly-up now.  That sign only worked properly for 18 months, if that.  The sign's location near the road likely added to the road salt settling on it, but still not a good design to only work for that long. 

Could they have done more to the entrance of TC? Probably, but I think what they did really made it much more inviting.  I took some pictures today and it felt welcoming and safe.  Of course there are police everywhere, but hopefully this new energy will make TC a place to go once again.  Inside there were all sorts of people coming and going, I thought it felt very different than it has in the past, I thought it was great!

 

 

Question: why is there virtually no advertising of the observation deck?  If a person came into Tower City from out of town they would not even know such a thing existed. There was signage in the lobby when it first opened but as far as I can tell there is nothing now. Just seems like a wasted opportunity especially with the new influx of people.

I don't know why that is the case, but I agree with you. The Observation Deck is open Saturday and Sunday. You can buy tickets at Customer Service or online for $5.

Looks like the darker colored concrete that was installed in front of the building is getting replaced with pavers. 

 

I'm not really thrilled with the overall "improvements".  I will admit that it was in terrible shape and something needed to be done, but this has quick and cheap written all over it.  I'm sure that the opening of the casino hastened the "improvements", but a little time and effort is required here IMO.

Looks like the darker colored concrete that was installed in front of the building is getting replaced with pavers. 

 

I'm not really thrilled with the overall "improvements".  I will admit that it was in terrible shape and something needed to be done, but this has quick and cheap written all over it.  I'm sure that the opening of the casino hastened the "improvements", but a little time and effort is required here IMO.

The new pavement pattern getting put down now replacing the dark colored concrete...

From twitter:

 

"@mjarboe: Forest City conference call: A "tremendous increase" in traffic at Tower City since casino opened; "very robust increase" in parking. #FCE"

 

Now where are the stores!

From twitter:

 

"@mjarboe: Forest City conference call: A "tremendous increase" in traffic at Tower City since casino opened; "very robust increase" in parking. #FCE"

 

Now where are the stores!

 

If you go and read the transcript of the Q&A of the conference call, they said that they are doing demographic evaluation to find out who the new people are. They want average income info and other demographic information that you usually need to approach stores with. Once they get that info, then you'll see store additions. But they have to do their due diligence.

Oh makes sense. Thanks. Where does one read the transcript??

Oh makes sense. Thanks. Where does one read the transcript??

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/647491-forest-city-enterprises-ceo-discusses-q1-2012-results-earnings-call-transcript?source=google_news

 

The Q&A section is the one relevant to TC.

I was so glad to see the continued upswing in people around and inside Tower City today, including using the rapids.  People everywhere!  It was such a nice feeling, it felt like a real city!  :-P  They are continuing to work on the pavers in front but one thing I don't understand.... those bollards are brand new aren't they?  Then WHY does it look like the black paint is already peeling off to show yellow underneath, and not only that but several are wrapped in what looks like black duct tape to hide the patches.  Seriously????

People!  Even in the middle of the afternoon!

I was so glad to see the continued upswing in people around and inside Tower City today, including using the rapids.  People everywhere!  It was such a nice feeling, it felt like a real city!  :-P  They are continuing to work on the pavers in front but one thing I don't understand.... those bollards are brand new aren't they?  Then WHY does it look like the black paint is already peeling off to show yellow underneath, and not only that but several are wrapped in what looks like black duct tape to hide the patches.  Seriously????

People!  Even in the middle of the afternoon!

Well this just goes to show that Tower City traffic is on the upswing because this is only MONDAY! I can't wait until they finish studying the demographics of who's shopping and visiting their. Especially since a huge storefront has become vacant recently I'm super excited!  :-D

One point I forgot is that there were a lot of people there for Marine Week but even with that the increase is obvious

I don't think you have to add the Marine Week disclaimer.  Just another event downtown that's bringing in people.  There will be lots of similar things all year so I don't think we need to say, "Yes, it was busy downtown, but that's because there was an Indians games."  Or, "Yes, is was busy downtown, but that's because of the farmer's market."  You're right, if there were no events, and no open stores or restaurants and no one lived downtown, it would be pretty vacant.  :)

Quick question what happened to the fountain steaming up and dancing to music? I haven't seen that happened in a while...

Quick question what happened to the fountain steaming up and dancing to music? I haven't seen that happened in a while...

 

I suspect that when you can't pay your bills.....

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20120521/SUB1/305219983

....the cute, musical, smokey fountain goes bye-bye.

I was so glad to see the continued upswing in people around and inside Tower City today, including using the rapids.  People everywhere!  It was such a nice feeling, it felt like a real city!  :-P  They are continuing to work on the pavers in front but one thing I don't understand.... those bollards are brand new aren't they?  Then WHY does it look like the black paint is already peeling off to show yellow underneath, and not only that but several are wrapped in what looks like black duct tape to hide the patches.  Seriously????

People!  Even in the middle of the afternoon!

'

Happily, those have all been replaced with ones that are more interesting (have a little more 'ornamentation' -- maybe not the correct word, but nonetheless)

Not to be completely dense but you're talking about the bollards right? Good to hear things are still being upgraded. Can't wait to see them.

Thanks for the update and great to hear!  The bollards shown in the photos were kind of lackluster.

 

Yes I was talking about the bollards... ^ and they certainly are an improvement.

 

Here are the new bollards

 

Thanks! I was hoping for a picture ;) Those are much better.

Thanks for the picture!