Frank's Plan is to sell the Mall to Forest City with Port Authority financing.

 

This has been the plan all along. FCE sells there sub standard lot for 40M of taxpayer money then FCE gives the City 20M for the Mall and guaranteed development financing through the Cleveland Port Authority.

^I'm sick and tired of FCE. So, Frank has no intentions of selling the center to the county? What happens to the Mall? Just thinking about that deal makes me sick.

Ain't sick of this shyt yet?  Here's some more...

 

Some fear medical mart deal could damage local film industry

Posted by kturner

April 29, 2009 17:45PM

 

CLEVELAND — Cleveland's budding film industry will suffer a damaging blow if a medical mart project moves into the city's old convention center as planned, a local film executive says.

 

Ivan Schwarz, executive director of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, contends that the downtown center is just the kind of space that filmmakers want -- but rarely find outside of Hollywood -- for use as movie soundstages.

 

"There's nothing like this available in the United States," he said during a recent interview. "That just puts us on the map instantaneously."

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/04/some_worry_medical_mart_deal_c.html

Nonsense. Let them use the IX.

IS THERE A CITY COUNCIL MEETING THIS WEEK?  I'LL FLY UP.

 

ITS PUT UP OR SHUT UP TIME

Just when I think I've seen every aspect of the Mall deal attacked............wow. Our 'film industry'? Really??

IS THERE A CITY COUNCIL MEETING THIS WEEK? I'LL FLY UP.

 

ITS PUT UP OR SHUT UP TIME

 

http://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org/Home/TheCityRecord/tabid/65/Default.aspx

 

Council  publishes The City Record available on line meeting schedules

We'll see what happens Friday. LOL.

it was freakin tonight??

 

No wonder the PD did not publish any articles this weekend they played possum.  If they had this published the film article on Sunday it would have fired people up to go to city council and demand leadership.

 

OMFG!

^ No, the Cleveland City Council meets every Monday night at 7 p.m., except during summer. They meet throughout the week in committees. I wouldn't read too much into the timing of the article relative to council's schedule. The public actually is not allowed to speak at meetings. Best way to get a council member's attention is to call, e-mail or pay him or her a visit down at City Hall

 

Not trying to insert myself into this conversation, but I at least wanted to provide some info from my experience as the City Hall reporter. Hope it was useful.

^ No, the Cleveland City Council meets every Monday night at 7 p.m., except during summer. They meet throughout the week in committees. I wouldn't read too much into the timing of the article relative to council's schedule. The public actually is not allowed to speak at meetings. Best way to get a council member's attention is to call, e-mail or pay him or her a visit down at City Hall

 

Not trying to insert myself into this conversation, but I at least wanted to provide some info from my experience as the City Hall reporter. Hope it was useful.

 

Thanks, HJG.

This whole episode has made me sick.  If FCE/PD succeeds in driving away MMPI, I can't ever envision myself coming back to live in Cleveland.

 

I don't want to live in a company town, having FCE make all of the decisions and the Plain Dealer enable them.

 

I'll have to give up on Cleveland

How many times has the CC been used for movie purposes?  I recall just the Spider Man 3 project, where the space was given to them for FREE.  How does that compare to having several trade shows a year and a permanent medical mart showroom? 

There's got to be billions to bring to the city in studio money by having a ready and waiting empty convention center in the middle of Cleveland. Certainly..    I can't see why Universal or MGM doesn't set up their HQs here to take advantage.  Hope the Canadians don't find out because they might vacate Vancouver and swarm Cleve...

Is this reporting?? There is NO movie "industry" in Cleveland. The pee uses a pic from 2006?? The Christmas Story??

 

The County should stop subsidizing the Convention Center Monday morning. That would make a interesting Council meeting.

 

 

Doesn't Cleveland have plenty of empty buildings that could be used by the film industry, if they wanted to be here? I can think of a couple of former malls in Randall Park and Euclid that don't seem occupied, have plenty of square footage, have high ceilings like the current convention center, that could be used if the film industry really wanted to be in the area.

Wow that woke me up better than my mug of coffee. What utter crap! In case you haven't noticed PD there are a ton of locations that could house soundstages around here (or be vacant land that could be developed) that are not a integral part of a planned civic mall.

 

It's a valid opinion and position but no way should this get get it's own article and headline. This is an after, after, afterthought to the bigger debacle.

 

Well at least I won't waste money on Charmin anymore, I have the PD. 

Cleveland.com moved the movie article over to the entertainment page, and deleted all of the comments.

(They probably also called Positively Cleveland to have them write comments complaining about the lack of connectivity at the mall site)

Cleveland.com moved the movie article over to the entertainment page, and deleted all of the comments.

 

Its actually posted in both entertainment and metro sections with separate comments, most of which are calling them out on the stupidity of the article.

Sunday PD front page headline, "Grass Objects to Mall Site, Thinks It's Unfair It Will Be Ripped Up. Waste of Tax Payer Dollars It Says."

The PD has turned into such a destructive force in the city over the past 5 or so years

The PD has turned into such a destructive force in the city over the past 5 or so years

 

The reason i cancelled the PD 2 months ago.

I was getting ready to write Cleveland City Council when I noticed this on the website.  Was this reported by anyone?  From the photos, it looks like every member of council went.

 

 

 

    Chicago convention tour provides perspective to Council 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, a delegation of Council Members travelled to Chicago to meet with representatives of Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI) in order to learn about the company’s operations. The delegation included Council Members Terrell Pruitt, Ward 1; Zack Reed, Ward 3; Kenneth L. Johnson, Ward 4; Mamie Mitchell, Ward 6; TJ Dow, Ward 7; Sabra Pierce Scott, Ward 8; Kevin Conwell, Ward 9; Roosevelt Coats, Ward 10; Michael D. Polensek, Ward 11; Joe Santiago, Ward 14; Brian Cummins, Ward 15; Kevin Kelley; Ward 16; Matt Zone, Ward 17; and Council President Martin J. Sweeney, Ward 20.

 

The trip included an extensive tour of the Merchandise Mart, which is similar in function to Cleveland’s proposed Medical Mart.  Council Members had the opportunity to see how permanent and temporary display show rooms are laid out in such a building and learn more about how businesses use such show rooms.

 

“Walking through the Merchandise Mart and seeing how the show rooms are laid out and how they work first hand has helped to reassure me that MMPI, as a successful operator of such a facility, can manage business at a Cleveland Medical Mart effectively,” said Councilwoman Pierce Scott.

 

Additionally, Council Members had an opportunity to see a conference style meeting room at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center. The room, which featured tiered seating and full access connections to presentation technology, is similar to the ones envisioned for inside Public Hall. 

 

“The layout of the Gleacher Center meeting room is sophisticated and promising,” said Councilman Kelley. 

 

A tour of Navy Pier’s ballroom, convention space and loading docks further provided Council Members with a visual understanding of how older, historic building space can be used to facilitate convention business.  A glimpse of the new addition to McCormack Place presented the Council and opportunity to see how spaces with various ceiling heights are utilized and to examine various layouts for convention space.   

 

“Learning about convention center operations while viewing the variety of convention space at the Merchandise Mart, Navy Pier and McCormack Place has definitely increased my comfort level,” said Council President Sweeney.  “When deliberations on this project come to Council, we will be able to use the knowledge we gained to better assess what is presented to us.”

 

Finally, circling Millennium Park gave Council Members an opportunity to see how a slight rise in the Mall due to extending ceiling height in Cleveland’s Convention Center can be engineered to preserve sight lines.  Millennium Park is also a prime example of utilization of green space to attract visitors.

 

http://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org/Home/Chicago_Convention_Tour/tabid/659/Default.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was getting ready to write Cleveland City Council when I noticed this on the website. Was this reported by anyone? From the photos, it looks like every member of council went.

 

The PD did mention that council members had visited Chicago.

This is really getting under my skin. Isn't the PD's job to report the news objectively? I'm getting tired of the PD trying to torpedo this project. Cleveland's film industry, seriously? Is it because they're in FCE's pocket or are they just trying to create controversy to sell papers? Also, sounds like city council had a productive meeting in Chicago. I wonder if they will put pressure on Frank.

It's like not building the Rock Hall on the lake out of fear it would damage Cleveland's booming surfing industry.

Please write to your council reps!

...are they just trying to create controversy to sell papers?

 

I have to hope this explains it, but they're throwing away their own credibility this way. I'm more disappointed than anything else by the whole mess.

I'll have to give up on Cleveland

 

If you can't secure the Mall Site get the hell out of here. I'm right behind you.

 

I'm gone for a week and look what happens. 

 

Give up on Cleveland?  Ha!  Never!  Instead, I'm moving into city limits so I can vote against Frank Jackson.  I might even pick an opponent and campaign for them.  After that I run on my own.  Onward and upward.  I'll make sure the Lorax and Punch and all their friends can come back here.

 

Seriously, we can't let garbage like this discourage us.  It's not their town it's ours.  Their time is done.  Maybe we won't get our medical mart.  Maybe we will but not like we're expecting.  Either way, these bastards will eventually retire or be forced out in disgrace like McFaul and Richard Nixon.  The sooner the better.  Cleveland gets fixed as soon as we fix it.

 

Frank's Plan is to sell the Mall to Forest City with Port Authority financing.

 

This has been the plan all along. FCE sells there sub standard lot for 40M of taxpayer money then FCE gives the City 20M for the Mall and guaranteed development financing through the Cleveland Port Authority.

 

This is fascinating.  What exaclty would FCE do with the mall?  Build on it?  Scrantonize it?  We've had it long enough to realize it has limitations as a public space.  Its vastness seems like overkill.  To be honest I'd love to see some density there instead.  That would go a long way toward reducing the compartmentalization of downtown.  The same can be said for having a convention center there and keeping the grass roof... but not to the same extent, I don't think. 

 

That's where I'm at with this project now.  I still think the TC site would be insanity.  I've never been opposed to a midtown/uptown site and I'm still not.  And I'm starting to think my universal answer to concerns about the mall is:  Screw the mall, it's never worked well, let's try something else there entirely. 

I posted the following on Cleveland.com at 11:52 a.m. today. Let's see if it actually appears.....

 

This is bordering on desperation between PD Publisher Terry Egger and the kingpins at Forest City Enterprises who allowed Egger to serve on the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

 

If there ever was a need for a second major print media presence in Cleveland beyond Advance Communications (which owns the PD, Cleveland.com and Sun News), this type of reporting proves it. This is journalism by corporate control (from Forest City Enterprises) and not the pursuit of truth that journalism is supposed to be.

 

Where is the Society of Professional Journalists in all of this?? They need to make a statement on behalf of all the victims of "designer journalism" in Northeast Ohio.

You may want to post it in the responses to the metro section copy of the same article.  That one made the most commented on list, so it will be viewed for a few more days.

 

The comments on that thread made me proud.  What an upside-down world we in now!

The PD has turned into such a destructive force in the city over the past 5 or so years

FIVE?  :?    FIVE?  :?  Honey, they've been distrorting things for 15 years, easily.

I wrote to councilman Polensek this morning, and he called me back and left me a message.  Paraphrasing he said that Forest City and the Plain Dealer along with several elected leaders and groups are trying everything they can to kill this deal.  He suggested writing letters to the editor, rather than just commenting on the blogs.

 

People, lets please get writing to the editor!!

Here is the note I wrote him.

 

Councilman Polensek,

 

  Please save the Medical Mart from being run out of town.  It seems like the powers that be want build the convention center as a lobby for a casino, shoehorned onto the back side of Tower City.

 

  I was born at Euclid General, grew up in Euclid, my brothers attended St. Joe’s, my sisters attended VA and I attended VASJ.  We watched our father pass on at the Hospice of the Western Reserve.  E. 185th is what I think of when I think of home.  But like my parents who considered themselves exiles from Ireland due to the lack of opportunity, I too am an exile, but from my home in Cleveland.

 

  I am an engineer who has his degree from Ohio State, who specialized in manufacturing of specialty metals.  When I first heard of the Medical Mart I became exited, because I could easily see the vision of having the Medical Mart draw medical device manufacturers to Cleveland.  That specific industry, which is growing and dynamic, could provide me the opportunity to have a career and bring me home.

 

  My hopes are now fears.  Ever since the County Commissioners and the City Council, in their wisdom, endorsed the mall site, there seems to be a coordinated effort to not only lobby to have the CC/MM at Tower City, but to force MMPI out of the picture.  If MMPI were to leave, politicians who are more loyal to campaign contributors rather than could steer the CC back to a cramped, ugly Tower City site, and substitute a casino for the Medical Mart.

 

  Councilman Polensek, you have always been a fighter for the people of Collinwood.  I am asking you to fight this fight for the future of Cleveland and for the Cleveland exiles like myself who are waiting for an opportunity to come home.  Being a blackjack dealer for Dan Gilbert is not an opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your kind attention.

 

Patrick Staunton

 

VASJ ‘91

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick Staunton

 

Welding Engineer

 

Textron Marine & Land Systems

 

 

 

^ Nice work.

^I like it. At least Polensek admitted the fix was in.

How long have I been saying write?  How long has GP been preaching about a fix?

 

Why havent you folks complained before?  If you have share you letter so others can draft off of it.

 

Plain Dealer Contacts

http://www.plaindealer.com/contact/contact_edit.php

 

Cleveland City Council

http://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org/

 

Wews

http://www.newsnet5.com/station/967309/detail.html

 

WKYC

http://www.wkyc.com/company/bios/default.aspx

 

Fox  ::)

http://www.fox8.com/about/station/newsteam/

 

When writing I suggest sticking to specific accurate points, don't write derogatory or insulting comments nor should you get overly emotional.

 

 

I just sent a letter off.

Be polite.

Mention their credibility, responsibility to community, undue influence of local private interests, benefits of project, bias coverage, loss of readership. You get the idea. Let them know they are being watched. The same with Council. Get the mail moving!

Everyone in Ward 13( Joe Cimp) email him. tell him you will no longer support him if this fails. Especially you Westsiders. I'm in East part of the ward and am telling him I will actively oppose him in the neighborhood and with small downtown businesses.

"Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has." (Margaret Mead)

It's unfathomable to trade a possibly functioning, public, active convention center for a movie sound stage.  If this thing ends up at Tower City because the mayor refuses to sell...  I just can't really explain how disappointing it would be.

I can't help thinking that Tower City is out of the question.  MMPI has said as much.  So it's over toward the Clinic, or it's nowhere, or it's at the mall.  Unless... MMPI drops out and FCE puts together an entirely new deal with someone else.  I'm not sure who that someone else would be.  It would be a tough sell, if MMPI ends up having to drop out after all they've been through.

^the medical mart will be replaced by a casino at Tower City

It's unfathomable to trade a possibly functioning, public, active convention center for a movie sound stage.  If this thing ends up at Tower City because the mayor refuses to sell...  I just can't really explain how disappointing it would be.

 

[dead serious MTS] I hope you've shared your feelings with the mayor.

I'm so disgusted I could spit. I would hate to lose this project. My mom works at UH, and all she talks about is how much potential Cleveland has, and how it can become the leading medical center in the country. She also talks about all the spin-offs the MM would create. All this seems so surreal. We have an outside company trying to set up shop, and one of our largest companies, along with our newspaper, is trying to bury the project. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.

I have never gotten involved in politics/government until this year (just moved to Cle after graduating college) and this is the first time I've contacted any of my representatives.  I'm pretty sure I'm in Cimperman's district but I took the easy route and emailed every single person on City Coucil ha.

^^dont spit, write

Why havent you folks complained before?

 

Some of us have complained before, but didn't feel the need to post a copy of the letter here. If I'd gotten a reply or had the letter published, that would be different.

 

The latest letter I've sent was this morning, to the editor, and to the writer of the film industry article, but it was not polite and used words not appropriate for this forum. I've written several more polite and professional letters previously.

Dear Councilman Cimperman,

 

Should the City fail to reach agreement with the County on the purchase of the Mall Site which is in our ward, I shall consider it a breach of duty on your part. In that unfortunate event, I will be unable to support you in the next election. I shall, in fact very actively oppose you for your failure to secure this on behalf of the larger community.

 

The City Planning Commission has long recommended the rebirth of the Convention Center at it's current location. It's sale to the County will provide immediate and future revenues that are much needed. The sale will relieve the financial burden of it's maintenance and rehabilitation from the Citizens of Cleveland while maintaining it's basic integrity as a public asset for all to enjoy.

 

I realize that there are powerful local private interests that have another short sighted agenda and the pressures on public officials, such as yourself, must be great. However, I believe in this case you have a greater obligation to the common citizens of this community to stand up to these pressures and do what is right for the community as a whole.

 

Respectfully. 

Why havent you folks complained before?

 

Some of us have complained before, but didn't feel the need to post a copy of the letter here. If I'd gotten a reply or had the letter published, that would be different.

 

The latest letter I've sent was this morning, to the editor, and to the writer of the film industry article, but it was not polite and used words not appropriate for this forum. I've written several more polite and professional letters previously.

 

That ok Grumpy Smurf!  That's par for the course with you!  :wink: :-D

 

Keep at them kids!!

Nothing from the city today about the county's deadline... oh what tomorrow will bring!