Either Cleveland public art or parkworks (or both) have designs for a new park at Market Sq.

 

 

any speculators care to speculate? park rennovation? new proclamation as beer capital of Ohio? record sales at cleveland vibrator company?

 

Given the location of the announcement, I'm going to guess that the WSM is going to be open on Sundays? 

The park may be ugly to some... I can take it or leave it, personally.... But all I was saying is that I wish the basics were tended to before attempting the grandiose.

Charter One grants to help build up West Side Market neighborhood

Published: Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 7:00 AM

Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer

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west-side-market.jpgView full sizePlain Dealer fileWest Side Market in Cleveland.

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An investment from Charter One will help support development of businesses in the West Side Market and the surrounding neighborhood.

 

The bank will provide $130,000 in grants to nonprofit groups that are focused on building up the neighborhood as a Market District.

 

Those grants, to be announced at a news conference today, are the first of several potential Charter One investments in the district between now and late 2012, when the West Side Market will celebrate its 100th birthday.

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/09/charter_one_bank_to_award_gran.html

 

Any news like this is good news.

 

If not already in the works by the city itself, I'm hoping some of this money can help return the lights to the WSM Clock Tower.

Is there a clock on it, or is it just a water tower?

 

Here's MayDay's photo thread from this Summer.

It looks like a bona fide clock. (Picture #8)

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24345.0.html

^well label me blind, I never noticed the clock!

Is there a clock on it, or is it just a water tower?

 

It's actually just a clock tower - at one point there was a water tower inside the clock tower, but the metal water tank was scrapped for the war effort.

The clock is so obvious. The lights out for years have made it a ghost at night.

The lights have not been out for years.  I lived in an apartment with a direct view of the clock tower for 5 years, and I'd say it is poorly lit, with the lights turning on and off throughout the night, but it is lit.

Physical improvements to the WSM are not a part of the Charter One Initiative.  Specifically, the Charter One Growing Communities initiative includes the following:

•A small business development competition for start-up grants to help small businesses launch in the neighborhood.

•Micro-grants for small businesses including market vendors and urban farmers.

• Urban farm development support, including farm stands at the Ohio City Farm and developing vacant properties into small urban farms. 

•The promotion of local fresh food efforts and sustainability programs.

• Nutrition and health education programs for neighborhood residents.

• Neighborhood beautification through public art enhancements to the urban farm and to the neighborhood.

• Financial literacy and workforce programs.

 

Over the next two years, Charter One will add new programs and grants to support the neighborhood development projects and the 2012 Market Centennial celebration through the Charter One Growing Communities initiative.

 

 

That being said, obviously capital improvements at the WSM are a key component in preparing for the WSM centennial celebration.  The Charter One grant is very big news for the neighborhood.  It is also just the beginning for the Market District.

Thanks for the info, and welcome!

Please get the lights working on the clock tower.

Hmm, at least some are on the same page... An article on Cleveland.com about the upcoming 100 anniversary, some of the Market's dilemma's and possible future plans.

 

"Larry Schade, owner of Kaufmann Poultry, wants the city to re-illuminate the market's clock tower and repair the clock, which rises over West 25th and Lorain. Those repairs, he says, are the least the city can do to reward vendors who bring diversity and recognition of Cleveland."

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/changes_considered_for_histori.html

 

Way to go Mr. Schade!

The want to fix the historic clock tower?  Where's Doc Brown when you need him.

 

Yeah and I'll gladly be Marty McFly to make this happen  :lol:

 

 

The want to fix the historic clock tower? Where's Doc Brown when you need him.

 

Actually it was the lady from the Hill Valley Preservation Society. And yes I am Mr. 1980s!

 

Now......

 

(Cross posted in the Cleveland restaurants thread)

 

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/10/12/dim-and-den-sum-plans-actual-restaurant-more-trucks

 

Dim and Den Sum Plans Actual Restaurant, More Trucks

 

"The answer came last week, when a partnership was struck with restaurateur Alan Glazen and the red-hot team behind ABC Tavern on West 25th St. and the forthcoming XYZ Tavern in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. In the works, says Glazen, is a bricks-and-mortar Dim and Den Sum on West 25th St., in a locale they’ve identified but prefer not to reveal just yet. Also on tap are additional trucks to spread the Dim Sum lovin’ to a wider audience."

 

[full story at the link above]

Ohio City Farm near Cleveland's West Side Market produces a bounty

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Debbi Snook, The Plain Dealer

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The first harvest is in at Ohio City Farm. What a haul.

 

The simple act of growing food on six vacant acres in Cleveland has indeed been accomplished, thanks to a partnership between a government entity with unused land (Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority), a small neighborhood group with city and private grants (Ohio City Near West Development Corp.) and a young, determined support group with willing workers (the Refugee Response).

 

But in a mere three months -- only half a growing season -- the farm has grown so vigorously, it's much more than a farm. It offers work for both new Americans and longtime Americans, food for customers at fancy restaurants and those who can hardly afford it. The farm is now a brand at the historic West Side Market, an inspiration for public artists, and news at daily newspapers in Boston and Washington, D.C.

 

Read more at: http://www.cleveland.com/taste/index.ssf/2010/10/ohio_city_farm_near_clevelands.html

 

Today's Scene says that Room Service is relocating from Detroit Shoreway to Ohio City.  It's under the "best of" write-up on Danielle Deboe. 

I was a sceptic of the farm at first, so happy to be proved wrong

Today's Scene says that Room Service is relocating from Detroit Shoreway to Ohio City. It's under the "best of" write-up on Danielle Deboe.

 

NO!!!! Any idea why?

^ None.

 

But here's the link for you to see for yourself: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/best-cleveland-minded-entrepreneur/BestOf?oid=2142063

 

I would think that the move shows there is a new found energy in OC-Market Dist.

There are so many built-in shoppers with the West Side Market and other places that generate a lot of foot traffic already.

OC, specifically around W. 25th & Lorain (although I don't know where this store is going), is more evenly a "daytime" neighborhood and "nighttime" neighborhood. DS doesn't get the barrage of daytime visitors that OC gets, imo. I would think that helps retail stores.

After-6PM places lend themselves more to eating&drinking. I think DS leans to an after-6 atmosphere, at least right now.

An exception to this would be Professor St. and other streets in Tremont where shopping/window shopping goes on into the night.

 

About my impression - Been to DS / Gordon Square during the day and night, and it's still pretty quiet during the day but with plenty of people eating and drinking in the evening. As the surrounding nabe fillis in I suspect this may change - retail follows the market, and the market needs disposable income to support retail. That being said, the city proper is still I think (and studies have shown) under-served by basic retail (clothing a prime example). Ohio City seems to follow the West Side Market's hours - bustling and traffic-heavy while the market is open, much less so on off days like Sunday.

 

 

Interesting news....

 

Retail tenants join Market District momentum in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood

Published: Saturday, October 16, 2010, 12:00 AM    Updated: Saturday, October 16, 2010, 7:56 AM

Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A popular food truck is putting down roots and several stores are moving to Ohio City, as momentum grows around the West Side Market.

 

Cleveland developer MRN Ltd. is filling spaces along West 25th Street south of Lorain Avenue. Food-truck phenomenon Dim and Den Sum plans to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant there in the spring. Entrepreneur Danielle DeBoe is moving her boutique, Room Service, to Ohio City from the Gordon Square Arts District. And fledgling retailer Salty not Sweet will leave the Collinwood neighborhood for bigger digs near Cleveland's venerable public market.

 

More at:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/retail_tenants_join_market_dis.html

^Interesting... on the one hand, no new [non-restaurant] retail coming to the city, just canibalizing from other "arts districts", but on the other hand, it's probably good to build some critical mass to sustain these places long term.  Sounds great for Ohio City.

^Penzey's Spices is new to the City. There other location is in Woodmere, no less.

^Right, sorry.  I guess I was just thinking about the newly announced tenants.  As MRN fills in W25th south of Lorain, I hope it somehow ignites interest in replacing that awful strip center at the SE corner of Lorain/W25th.  That could really be a rocking intersection.

Make the walk from the rapid station feel more alive

It's hard to get excited about the reshuffling of businesses away from other neighborhoods to this one (Crop, Room Service, Salty Not Sweet). The only net gain to the city is Penzey's...

It's hard to get excited about the reshuffling of businesses away from other neighborhoods to this one (Crop, Room Service, Salty Not Sweet). The only net gain to the city is Penzey's...

I agree completely. I feel like having businesses move from these other areas is basically saying they are giving up on these areas.

Well you can look at it as getting one really strong neighborhood. Thats the most we can be excited about. And that Room Service is doing good enough that they need a bigger space.

It's hard to get excited about the reshuffling of businesses away from other neighborhoods to this one (Crop, Room Service, Salty Not Sweet). The only net gain to the city is Penzey's...

I agree completely. I feel like having businesses move from these other areas is basically saying they are giving up on these areas.

 

While that's a completely understandable feeling, one can also look at it this way:

 

1. These businesses have been successful enough in their current locations to not only remain open, but to thrive.

 

2. They are doing so well that they need more space or a larger challenge.

 

3. They've shown that business can be done and done well in Waterloo and Gordon Square, opening up the vacated space for a new business.

 

4. They've elected to stay in the City.

 

You really don't want a district to get stale with the same businesses remaining year after year. Take Tremont, for instance. For every business that has folded or left (Mojo, Miracles, Dempsey's), they have been replaced by a new store/restaurant/bar and then some. Take a clue from Heraclitus: Change alone is unchanging.

 

[EDIT: SORRY! Lolita is still open. I had it on the brain, but meant to say "Mojo". My bad, Hts.]

^When did Lolita's close?  What took its place?  I did not hear about this.

I wonder why the pending new Crop location still has a "for lease" sign in the windows.  Anyone heard if there is any sort of a hold up, or even has the deal not been offically signed?

Ohio city can be like the training ground for businesses before they move downtown

You really don't want a district to get stale with the same businesses remaining year after year. Take Tremont, for instance. For every business that has folded or left (Mojo, Miracles, Dempsey's), they have been replaced by a new store/restaurant/bar and then some.

 

I agree with all your points.... except the last part I list above. I don't think if businesses offer a great product and overall good service and atmosphere, that they ever really get stale. Maybe in the case of appearance, small changes like paint, decor...and new items or some other gimmick can keep things fresh. Some people like to go to or support places that offer a sense of permanence...some loyalty to a neighborhood and the kind of place that establishes itself as an institution.

 

One example...  and I don't eat this kind of product, but The Hot Dog Shoppe in Warren....has changed little and has been there for decades attracting people from all over and is as popular as ever. Businesses in other countries, some being in existence for 100's of years is another example. The nostalgia component, among what I mentioned before in being an "establishment" or neighborhood icon... plays a role in these types of places success.

MuRray Hill,

 

The owners of Crop Bistro are still waiting on some last minute inspection/approvals from the city. They extended their stay in the Warehouse district through December because of the delay. Tentative new opening in OC is mid January.

http://palookavillechili.com/

 

Didn't see this mentioned, but Palookaville Chili should be opening soon close to Nick's Diner on Lorain. Now I need something at 4309 Lorain and we can have the start of a nice little string of spots to link Fulton dining up to 44th.

Ohio city can be like the training ground for businesses before they move downtown

 

I'm biased because I'm a new OC resident, but isn't OC downtown enough?

 

I looked at living downtown and then I looked at OC. There...wasn't much of a comparison. Downtown isn't terrible, but OC is far, far more appealing, warts and all. I don't think there's anything bad about businesses clustering, especially if they're staying in the city. Better to develop a thriving core and let it spread outwards than a hundred small, isolated successes.

 

On the other hand, if nascent cores in other parts of the city just give up and disappear, that's not good.

I'm biased because I'm a new OC resident, but isn't OC downtown enough?

 

I view it as such...as a sort of extended neighborhood... as I am a more regional viewing person, but many don't see it that way and stick to hard core imaginary lines. But yes, the core of the core is important and the nearby neighborhoods can play off its success and vice versa. It amazes me at how many people still live in these near neighborhoods and are not very familiar with our epicenter downtown...what it offers.

I looked at living downtown and then I looked at OC. There...wasn't much of a comparison. Downtown isn't terrible, but OC is far, far more appealing, warts and all. I don't think there's anything bad about businesses clustering, especially if they're staying in the city. Better to develop a thriving core and let it spread outwards than a hundred small, isolated successes.

 

Eh, it's just a preference.  However, if someone leaves a sport event at Gateway, or a concert at House of Blues, or a comedy show at Pickwick, or a show at PlayhouseSquare, they're probably not going to walk across a half mile bridge to Ohio City.  Yes, there are "imaginary lines" at EC said, but there are real lines like a river and giant bridges.  So that might be something a business would consider...

As part of the $20 million Marketplace Development, the aluminum siding is being removed from the Former Athens Bakery building, and the original storefronts restored.

Nice!

That's really great! I'm really looking forward to seeing how that energy on W. 25th will spread westward.

^ me too - i can see a short north type of atmosphere like columbus.  not sure how the "antique district" factors into that equation however.

I think you will always have a barrier to the west created by Ignatius. No way around it . That said, I do think you could get some tie in from Momocho's, Johnny Mangos, Nicks, maybe this Chili place.