The blog is interesting.  I don't believe that the masterplan is confidential anymore. Some things have already changed since it was published.

 

Case is in a strange position.  Financially, they have had to cut a lot this year.  Conversely, they have a large endowment that really helps.  Hundert has made good and interesting changes, but he is also not well-liked in some circles.  Also, the new dorms have really added life to that part of campus.  The redevelopment of the Triangle could also be a huge improvement and add a lot of life to a vital intersection. However, there is word that the project's leader just doesn't completely understand how to build good urban spaces. 

hmmm...interesting final comment there Wimwar.  Keep us posted on what that means!

This is sad news for me, as I've come to know a few of the great staff members at the museum.  It seems like they never were really able to regain steam after their renovation.  However, it will be interesting to see what the Clinic does with the space.  It seems to me that they certainly have the wherewithall to keep it open as an outreach/health education center, since it's kinda their niche!

 

Cleveland Clinic snaps up HealthSpace museum

4:30 p.m.

 

Grant Segall

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

The ever-growing Cleveland Clinic is snapping up the adjoining campus of HealthSpace Cleveland, including a museum space barely two years old. HealthSpace leaders said Thursday that the building, $33 million and 81,000 square feet, was a great idea at a rotten time, foiled by a stagnant economy and soaring fuel costs. But leaders say the museum's outreach programs are thriving. They hope to maintain some sort of visitor center, but aren't sure where or for how long. The Clinic has yet to announce its plans for the museum.

HealthSpace moving out of neighborhood

Clinic buying museum's land, buildings

Friday, January 27, 2006

Grant Segall

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

HealthSpace Cleveland is trying to recover its health by selling its space.

 

The ever-growing Cleveland Clinic plans to swallow the adjoining HealthSpace's 3.5 acres and its three buildings, including a $33 million showplace barely 2 years old, leaders of both organizations said Thursday.

 

...

 

Healthspace sent out an email today saying that they are not closing (as of yet).  They simply say that they are selling the building to the Clinic. 

 

My take is that the Clinic will allow them to operate as long as the Clinic doesn't want to use the space.  Its a strange block. The musuem is next to a beautiful mansion. Would the Clinic level the mansion so that it could build on the land??? 

 

The Clinic also has recently extended offers to buy the land where the churches are located, just east on Euclid of the new cancer center.  In one respect, it is a very good sign that our largest employer is trying to get as many land as it can.  Let's just hope that they have learned from their very recent architectural mistakes. 

don't forget that the healthspace was responsible for the most recent demolition of a millionaires row mansion

I heard that the Clinic's Taussig cancer center is bursting at the seems and that they may move the admin stuff into the healthspace space. 

Case's Master Plan has been posted on their website.

 

Here is the url:

http://www.case.edu/webdev/mplan/

Case's Master Plan has been posted on their website.

 

Here is the url:

http://www.case.edu/webdev/mplan/

 

Perhaps this deserves it's own topic.  Wow.  If Case manages to carry through with all of those plans, it will dramatically change the look and feel of the campus, mostly in a good way.  I encourage everyone to take a look.

Nice to hear positive news about UC development amidst all the uncertainty within CWRU.  I do believe that these projects should have their own legs, but I also understand why there is trepidation at the moment.

That's the only part of Cleveland-proper that RTA GM Joe Calabrese was willing to concede has a robust economy.

I'm sure this has been asked and answered countless times, but is RTA still considering moving/adding to their existing UC stops?

 

Definitely. There is money waiting in the bank for each station.  Look for the E.120 to move to Mayfield if the Triangle plans dictate that it would be a good idea (everyone agrees, save a few Little Italy residents).  The Cedar station is waiting for the MLK Corridor study to conclude before it begins a design phase.

^yeah, with little italy being less and less italian, and a much younger crowd (slowly but surely) the anits become less vocal.

I'm wondering if the 120th Street Station is such a bad thing with development moving down that way...  I still like the idea of the mayfield Station, but then what happens to the 120th St. Station? Closed?

I thought the plan was to move the Euclid/East 120th station to a point that's midway between Euclid and Mayfield (with pedestrian access to both)? Has this changed?

 

The last time I spoke with Calabrese (almost a month ago), I thought he said RTA will be designing the new University Circle station later this year.

^the MLK Corridor Study will be done sometime later this year.

 

 

^Hadn't heard of the MLK Corridor Study (but that's not saying much - you guys are far more plugged in than I am).  What's it supposed to study and to what end?

I think the dumpy buildings have to do with the fact that

1) ECP is being built, and nobody along euclid wants to move in/renovate till its done.

2)The realy low rise dumpy building accross from csu, contains a gyro shop, is slated for demolition at an undetermined point in the future for a pedestrian corridor

3)Alot of buildings is owned by brothers printing. Instead of consolidating in one building they are spread out between 3 bottom floors of buildings, upper storeies of some of the buildings, and used to lease one of them to goodwill. They pretty well block out diversity along there, as well as off campus/downtown housing.

4) Students really dont't live or stay on campus, so there really hasn't been a push for development to cater to that demographic

Case Western Reserve University Hospitals of Cleveland, quite a mouthful.

 

Would that alienate the Clinic and Lerner's $100million school at Case?

^Punch, the article says the name would be Case University Hospitals of Cleveland, Western Reserve was not included. 

 

I wondered about how the Clinic would feel about that as well.  I also wonder how Western Reserve alums feel about Case moving toward dropping them from the name altogether.  I think it's a good idea, if they can get substantial buy-in from the remaining Western Reserve grads, Case is a lot easier to brand than Case Western Reserve.

A lot of Western Reserve grads have stopped giving money once Hundert branded CWRU as Case.  There is a lot of tension because of this stuff.  While it makes sense to brand CWRU, it has burned a lot of bridges and could only complicate matters with the Clinic. 

 

Case has also requested that the Orchestra refer to Severance Hall as "Severance Hall on the Case Campus." 

Case has also requested that the Orchestra refer to Severance Hall as "Severance Hall on the Case Campus." 

 

That's a lot of balls. CWRU is a good school, but when they achieve the standing that the orchestra has achieved within its own category, then they might have some standing to make such a ballsy request.

 

So when are we going to change the name to "University Circle at the Case Campus"?

"Case has also requested that the Orchestra refer to Severance Hall as "Severance Hall on the Case Campus." 

 

If I were the Orchestra, I'd request that Case go f#ck themselves. How absolutely smug and pompous of them to even think they have any place to make that request. :x

^I laughed when I first heard it. I thought it was a joke.

Knowing your sense of humor, Wimwar, I thought it was a joke that you made up!

 

My grandmother, a Western Reserve grad from somewhere back in the 40s, said that she doesn't give to CWRU anymore because the letterhead just says "Case."  I thought she was just being silly, but I've heard several other people say the same recently.  Hopefully someone's paying attention to all this!

This would just flip the problem around but I always thought Western Reserve University sounded better than "Case".  Why not the Case Institute of Engineering etc. as a school of WRU?  Oh never mind.

This would just flip the problem around but I always thought Western Reserve University sounded better than "Case".  Why not the Case Institute of Engineering etc. as a school of WRU?  Oh never mind.

 

Because a big chunk of the endowment for the university was left by Mr. Case with the condition that the school name always start with "Case".

I think Case just launched a significant master plan update on its website today.

 

You can see the link here:

http://www.case.edu/webdev/mplan/index3.html

 

Also, outgoing president is interviewed by Cool Cleveland:

http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.CoolClevelandInterviewEdHundert

I don't see how "Case University" is easier to market than "Case Western Reserve University".  I frankly liked keeping the name as it was, it adds a distinguished sounding touch, and an air of mystery-  "What is Western Reserve anyway?" It gives people a reason to ask some questions about the University.

I don't see how "Case University" is easier to market than "Case Western Reserve University".  I frankly liked keeping the name as it was, it adds a distinguished sounding touch, and an air of mystery-  "What is Western Reserve anyway?" It gives people a reason to ask some questions about the University.

 

being an alum of case, about the only question you get is: "oh, is it a military school?"

 

I can agree with Hundert wanting to get the school more name recognition (i.e. VP debates), but I don't think droping think dropping the WR of it was the way to go. Case University is still just as unknown outside of ohio and academia as CWRU is.

It doesn't look like Western Reserve has been officially dropped from the title. The website still uses the full title near the top (albeit under "Case" in much larger and distinguished font) and the copyright at the bottom is still Case Western Reserve Univeristy. I would be in favor of keeping the full name, and simply encouraging "Case" as shorthand or term instead of CWRU.

 

The other efforts of the university to add Case to every other institution in the circle seems a little ridiculous to me. Would the university change the Cleveland Museum of Art to the Case Univerisity Art Gallery? haha. Yeah changing University Hospitals or Severance Hall or anything else seems unnecessary. If anything Case should change its name to incorporate Cleveland. Like University of Cleveland or something to that effect to better communicate its location and name recognition with the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Cleveland Clinic, but this would probably be a bad idea and alienate alumni.

 

As a student caller for Miami University I encounter very few alumni who bring up the fact we changed from Miami Redskins to Miami Redhawks just a few years ago before I came here. It was a big deal when it first happened, but people did seem to eventually get over it. I do have more trouble though with the Western College alumnae. Western College was a private all-women's college here in Oxford actually associated with Mount Holyoake in MA. In the 70s the school went bankrupt, and the campus was purchased by Miami. It has since been integrated into the Miami Campus, but that part of campus remains "Western" and is the place for Miami's Interdisciplinary studies program. The alumnae from Western sometimes get abrasive when they hear a male calling for the Western College Alumni Association, which is a guise anyway for simply Miami University. The university does its best to preserve the Western College name and identity, but the alumnae from this school really aren't very valuable to the university. There aren't many left, and there aren't that many.

 

I perceive a lot of the complaints I receive from alumni regarding these changes to simply be an excuse not to give. Maybe I would feel differently in their shoes, but I think they have to realize that the institution itself has essentially remained unchanged and progressed even since the time they attended.

Case and WRU were big rivals back in the day.  If my beloved St. Ignatius were to merge with St. Ed, would I want to donate to the new entity? What if it removed the "Ignatius" part from its marketing materials?  I can see where some WRU alums would be unhappy.

It doesn't look like Western Reserve has been officially dropped from the title. The website still uses the full title near the top (albeit under "Case" in much larger and distinguished font) and the copyright at the bottom is still Case Western Reserve Univeristy. I would be in favor of keeping the full name, and simply encouraging "Case" as shorthand or term instead of CWRU.

 

case western reserve university is still the legal name of the university, but all letterhead and advertising, etc. contains only Case University.

I bet those apartments are going to be incredibly beautiful.  I'm really liking the momentum that seems to be building.

 

It's posting was highlighted in earlier posts, but do you guys have any particular reaction to the new Case master plan?  I'm still mulling it over.  Not sure I like the proposed site of the new campus center.

 

I bet those apartments are going to be incredibly beautiful.  I'm really liking the momentum that seems to be building.

 

It's posting was highlighted in earlier posts, but do you guys have any particular reaction to the new Case master plan?  I'm still mulling it over.  Not sure I like the proposed site of the new campus center.

 

Straphanger,

 

Are you talking about the structure that would go next to the library?  From what I can tell, its pretty certain to go there.  Case is in love with this area.  There is a lot of student foot traffic that goes from the new dorms, down Bellflower, past the library and over Euclid into the Case Quad.  This area will also serve as a pathway from the West Quad to UH.  As is, the location is in the middle of it all for students.  I would like to see Case put more emphasis Euclid.  While developers are not too keen on including institutional uses in a retail project, I would like to see the Student Center included in the Triangle.  Supposedly the bookstore will be there, so why not include all of the traditional student center themes?  (By the way, the SC won't look like it does on the master plan.  Case's master plan is a constantly changing creature.)

Yeah, that's exactly what' I'm talking about.  I understand the logic and appeal of slapping the thing down at the intersection of the major pededtrian circulation routes but like you would prefer to see something on Euclid. 

 

I really liked the idea of that showed up in some master planning diagrams a few years ago of building a new sudent center in place of Thwing, but retaining and restoring the old Exelcior Club building.  The oval behind the library and severance is shaping up as the most formal space on campus and could be really special if further framed by a nifty new student center on its northeast edge.  Case's new plan seems to instead deaden the oval by creating new interstitial green space in place of the new parts of Thwing.  I'm sure there is concern that you couldn't cram all the desired programming onto this smaller site but you could still fit a lot there if you go up a few stories.

 

I dig the PJ "turning point" sculpture on that site but am not sure how popular it is on campus.  Pope?  It's not covered with grafitti as I predicted when built, but that might not mean much.

Currently, there is more interest in University Circle than just the Triangle and CIA's East Blvd property.  Some developers are interested in putting midrise residential structures in the area. Townhomes are proposed for some other scattered lots. Given the housing studies, it won't all happen.  Some will get built and others will have to wait.  

 

 

By "housing studies" do you mean market studies that show how much new residential the nabe can support?  Or are there other types of studies?

 

Are you at liberty to discuss any of the sites developers have their eyes on?

 

I dig the PJ "turning point" sculpture on that site but am not sure how popular it is on campus.  Pope?  It's not covered with grafitti as I predicted when built, but that might not mean much.

 

turning point actually has a specific regulation in the student handbook. Normally posting of flyers or chalking supposedly shoudl only be done one sidewalk, bboards or kiosks. The university is relatively lax on this subject, however, when i was there, any posting/chalking on turning point would merit a $100 fine.

 

also, i wish that the ground crew would do a better job of mainting the floodlighting on the sculpture(and surrounding sculpture park) it really is beautiful on a summer's night. And yes i know its silly to be complaining about lightbulbs......

 

but in closing, i would add, that really no students have any idea that it is a PJ work, or just who the hell PJ is. Furthermore, i doubt many students realize the walker & weeks bulidings on campus, or the richard morris hunt we have on campus.

Great news!  There will be a press conference tomorrow that will explain some more.  I believe that the Charter One Foundation is the group behind this.

 

Monday, March 27, 2006 

 

Charter One announces $150 million University Circle program

 

2:33 p.m.

 

Charter One plans to invest $150 million in the University Circle area for economic and community development over the next three years, bank officials said today. The bank will offer below-market financing and grants to fuel business housing development in six neighborhoods: University Circle, Fairfax, Glenville, Hough, Little Italy and Buckeye. The goals are to promote business and job creation, increase affordable housing and improve existing housing and promote retail and pedestrian activity. Charter One is working with business, government, academic and civic institutions including the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Neighborhood Progress Inc., the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. 

 

 

Fantastic news Wimwar! 

 

For more pics of Park Lane Villa as it sits today, check out page 6 of this very thread...

That is super news. It's the kind of thing that can have a catalytic effect throughout the neighborhoods mentioned (and possibly beyond).

A boost for University Circle

Charter One commits $150 million to loans, grants for area

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Olivera Perkins

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Charter One will pour $150 million in low-interest loans and grants into University Circle and its environs over the next three years to add sparkle to Cleveland's cultural and institutional gem while revitalizing the tarnished neighborhoods nearby.

 

The Charter One UPtown Initiative stands out not only for its dollar amount but also for its focus. Public programs - like the federal Empowerment Zone - have targeted neighborhoods for multimillion-dollar infusions, but it is rare for a private entity to do so. Even rarer is offering such a big burst of broad-based funding over so short a time.

 

Ned Handy, president and CEO of Charter One Bank, Ohio, said the institution believes the approach is the best way for University Circle's wealth to spill over and transform adjacent neighborhoods...

 

 

 

more at:  http://www.cleveland.com

 

 

Fantastic...I'm glad that PD picked up on this right away.  Then again, it's kinda hard to miss!

Regarding Litt's commentary on the new Case dorms..

 

Does the dorms' architectural style actually qualify as gothic?  Besides the 'gothic arch', what else makes a structure 'gothic'?

Litt's correct, although the Case dorms are more of a historicist sendup than actual Collegiate Gothic. Note the brick facades with masonry accents, the dormered windows along the roofline, the assymetry of the main structure, etc. All it needs are some gargoyles...

 

 

http://construction.utoledo.edu/Collegiate_Gothic.asp

If and when Case continues to rebuild the north village, I hope that they deviate from NRV @ 115 style. I like the dorms a lot, but I would not want to see twenty buildings that all look the same. 

 

Case will start construction sometime soon on a new building on Bellflower.  It will go where Hessler's community garden currently stands.  Litt will probably love the structure.  It won't be that big (2 or three stories) and it will look very modern.  From the preliminary sketches, it looks uninspired.

are you serious about the hessler garden? That's like a slap in the face to the nimby's who don't like the new project going up on ford/euclid

The Hessler residents knew from the beginning the garden was temporary.  Case told them that they could use the land, but that they would be taking it back in the near future for university purposes.

 

 

well that garden has been there since i can remember.....

I am sure that Hessler is not happy about it.  But they have always known that a building was going to go there.