Posted February 16, 200619 yr Fannie's flight of fancy There are better places than Midtown to lock up felons, no matter how rosy a picture the councilwoman paints Plain Dealer, Thursday, February 16, 2006 In the battle over the old Ward Bakery site on Chester Avenue, Cleveland Council woman Fannie Lewis is right about one thing: Cuyahoga County desperately needs what's known as a "community-based corrections facility." But the war horse from Hough is trying to force the issue with misinformation and with little apparent concern for potential damage to Myers University, Dealer Tire Corp. and the entire Midtown area. ... http://www.plaindealer.com/
February 16, 200619 yr I don't know much about this one. Anyone have any background, comments, thoughts, etc.? Here's an old postcard showing what I assume is the now-demolished factory (Source: Cleveland Memory Project). Pity we couldn't save it.
February 16, 200619 yr Google earth shows a site seems to fit the description. Its right up next to the railroad tracks where it crosses chester. I concur its not a good place to be putting such a facility in a commercial district on the upswing. NIMBY's like this should be tucked away in places where people dont see them. That area is "too nice" for a prision, im sure we can find a crappier place
February 17, 200619 yr I remember seeing this building coming down when I was in high school. There was a big uproar in the community because a significant number of homeless people had set up shop in the building. Homeless advocates didn't want them to knock the building down and there may have been some resistance where people refused to vacate the building...sad, all the way around. Another tidbit...did anyone else notice that Sam Fullwood wrote an incendiary piece about Ken Lurie's decision to move his growing office to Prospect Avenue last week? One week later, what is he writing about? He's writing about the site next to Ken Lurie's current office building, which just happens to be slated for development as a "prison" or reentry facility. Do you think this might have something to do with Ken Lurie's decision to move his offices? Perhaps he proposed staying put and expanding in place several years ago, but a certain councilperson wouldn't allow it because she had plans of her own? Can you imagine that a developer might get a little ticked off when things like this keep happening and then an editorial writer talks poo poo about you on the front page of the Metro section? Interesting...
February 17, 200619 yr Bakery site a test of political vision Tuesday, February 14, 2006 Sam Fulwood III Plain Dealer Columnist Years ago, Ward Bakery made tasty treats that sweetly perfumed the air along Chester Avenue. But the five-story building is no more, shuttered in 1979 and torn down more than a decade later to prevent vagabonds from nesting inside. Now it's an abandoned lot with rubble and rocks littering the landscape. If you think that's a metaphor for Cleveland, wait till you hear how this bitter civic dispute threatens the future of Midtown. A group of developers had plans to turn the land into a sports complex for nearby Myers University. ... To reach this Plain Dealer columnist: [email protected], 216-999-5250 http://www.plaindealer.com/
February 17, 200619 yr Councilwoman's heart misguided Thursday, February 16, 2006 Sam Fulwood III Plain Dealer Columnist Councilwoman Fannie Lewis is confused. Sort of. She has based her opposition to development of the old Ward Bakery site on the stubborn - and wrong-headed - belief that a county-run facility could be built there to house some of the people dumped on the city streets after serving time in prison. "I have been actively seeking to identify a project for that land that would aid people coming back to Cleveland from a period of incarceration," Lewis wrote in a letter published Wednesday in the Plain Dealer. "While everyone loudly proclaims we have a crisis brewing because of the 5,000 individuals that return to Cleveland every year, no one wants to do anything about it." ... http://www.plaindealer.com/
February 17, 200619 yr Cleveland landmark now off the menu Tuesday, February 07, 2006 Sam Fulwood III Plain Dealer Columnist Like many people who live or work downtown, I ate many meals at Ruthie & Moe's Diner. That silver spot at East 40th Street and Prospect Avenue is a landmark. Oops! Make that was a landmark. A recent blurb in my colleague Mike McIntyre's Tipoff column noted that developer Ken Lurie wants to buy the property and erect a headquarters building for his expanding real estate firm. Sigh. ... http://www.plaindealer.com/
February 17, 200619 yr Fannie's Ward 7 creeps out and away from the residential portion where her voters live and on down into Midtown along Euclid, Chester, and Prospect. She can politically put a halfway house there because while it is in her ward, it is far enough away that her voters won't consider it to be her back yard. Noone really cares what she does in Hough, and she runs it like her own personal fiefdom. But when she steps into Midtown, she's really dealing with a whole 'nother set of players. But none of this uproar is going to upset her voting base, or her. Most likely she will dig in. This will get ugly. Make no doubt she really does care about the prison reentry issue. It is her biggest issue, as far as I can see, and a winner in her ward as well. Unless they can offer her something she will think is better for these people, she won't budge.
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