Housing may land on school site

Thursday, February 07, 2008

By Ken Prendergast

Brooklyn Sun Journal

 

CLEVELAND The site where Memphis School stood soon could become housing for low-income seniors.

 

There will be a series of master planning meetings for Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre taking place in March.  I'll post info about a second round of Lower Big Creek Valley meetings that are set to take place in the spring.

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Old Brooklyn/Brooklyn Centre

Two Neighborhoods Preserving Our Past,

Planning Our Future—Together

 

Topics to be discussed include:

Housing & Neighborhood Character, Community Heritage & Identity, Recreation & Tourism, Community Facilities & Services, Retail & Entertainment, Economic Development, Transportation Connections, and Environmental Protection & Natural Resources

 

Please join us at one of the following public meetings to provide feedback on key issues and preliminary goals for our neighborhoods’ Master Plan. Residents, business owners and others from our community will be on hand to hear your comments and answer your questions.

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8TH

9:30 am to 11:30 a.m.

Corpus Christi School Building,

5204 North Cliff Avenue (4850 Pearl Rd)

 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12TH

6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Auditorium

3900 Wildlife Way

 

THURSDAY, MARCH 13TH

6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Grace Church

2503 Broadview Road (Corner of West 28th St)

 

For More Information Contact: Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation

3344 Broadview Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44109

Phone: 216-459-1000 Fax: 216-459-1741

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Residents challenge Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation Board to respond to their concerns

by Chuck Hoven   

 

(Plain Press, March 2008) Residents of Ward 15 and Ward 16 packed into the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) Board of Trustees meeting on February 19th to voice the concerns of a community upset with the development corporation and its lack of responsiveness to neighborhood concerns. The last straw for the many residents attending the board meeting was OBCDC’s firing of the organization’s code enforcement officer Debra Zeleney.

 

Residents calling the Plain Press about the firing of Zeleney said she was passionate about her work in enforcing code violations in the neighborhood. She had a history of 17 years working with various groups doing code enforcement. She had received recognition from City Hall as the best code enforcement officer in the city and for the last few years was working passionately in her home neighborhood of Old Brooklyn.

 

 

Follow up to the previous story...

 

An Old Brooklyn code enforcer spoke out and lost her job. Did Councilman Kevin Kelley get her fired?

 

Through the window of her office, Deb Zeleny looked out at another colorless, windswept January morning. As she replayed the drama of the night before — a heated meeting about a troublesome bar in Old Brooklyn, where she worked for the local community-development group — she organized her notes on the subject. She had a meeting with her boss shortly. She believed — she hoped — they'd be talking about that bar.

Her boss arrived around 9 as expected. But Zeleny was surprised to see two board members following behind. Then she noticed the white envelope in her boss' hand.

"Deb, your services are no longer needed here," she heard her director, Robyn Sandys, saying. "This is a severance package. You're going to need to contact an attorney."

Zeleny briefly considered laughing; the whole thing might be an overzealous prank, she thought. But when she asked her boss why, she got only a vague, stone-faced side step: "insubordination." She looked at the men. They'd been at that meeting the night before. They'd seen the cop when he'd pointed Zeleny out and said, "There's Deb Zeleny, the best damn code enforcer in Cleveland."

"Deb, you'll land on your feet," one of them said, trying to reassure her.

"But why are you firing me?" she asked. The question was met with silence.

Zeleny was hired in 2006 as a code enforcer for the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation — one of the city's 47 federally funded community groups that, at the whims of the city council members who control them, work to keep their communities alive and breathing.

As the neighborhoods' hall monitors, code enforcers shift between the streets, where they document nuisances like abandoned buildings, and the courts, where they manage the steady flow of arcane filings. The job requires a unique mix of aggressiveness and compassion — an ability to blow the whistle and then help the offender get up to code. For Zeleny, whose fixed gaze matches the burnt-cedar glow of her hair, it was a natural fit. She'd done code enforcement for 15 years in seven different wards.

"Deb invented the job," says Councilman Joe Cimperman, who worked with Zeleny in Ward 13. "She set the tone for how we do code enforcement today."

An experienced guide through Cleveland's seemingly unnavigable bureaucratic backwaters, Zeleny loved to problem-solve for even the most troublesome residents. One had collected 600 TVs. Another was hoarding 1,200 bowling pins. And one, strangely enough, liked to steal his neighbor's trash. In each instance, Zeleny organized a chain gang of residents to feed the mess out of the homes and into dumpsters. Then, for good measure, she tried to find the people jobs.

"With Deb, it didn't matter if she was on the clock or not," says Peggy Zeleznik, OBCDC's former treasurer. "She followed through on everything."

And that, Zeleny says, is what got her fired.

It started in November. That's when Otis Elkins, manager of a brick bomb-shelter of a bar on Old Brooklyn's main drag, asked the city whether he could add live entertainment to the traditional sit-and-sip offerings of his Greenleaf Tavern. Elkins wanted country music on the weekends and karaoke during the week. But Zeleny could hardly imagine a worse scenario for Old Brooklyn.

Zeleny, who's 48, used to live and work in Slavic Village. She was there in 2001 when Rebound, Elkins' previous country-music bar, saw its liquor license revoked. Elkins had been caught stealing 60 cases of beer from a distributor. But the charge of possessing stolen property was a minor offense compared to those in his past: At 70 years old, he's the owner of three felony convictions, including theft and assault with a deadly weapon.

A club run by an ex-con was a bad enough idea, Zeleny thought. But after talking with neighbors of the bar, Zeleny also believed the Greenleaf was an outpost for drug-dealing, a claim Elkins denies. So she organized a petition to stop the bar's expansion, quickly gathering 200 signatures from residents. But her activism also got the attention of her new boss, Sandys, who'd recently been appointed director of the Old Brooklyn group.

The two women had clashed since Sandys' arrival — Zeleny's loud lone-wolf style grating against Sandys' effort to take control of her new staff. "Deb's a challenging character," says Darren Hamm, president of the Brooklyn Centre Community Association. "When you put her together with Robyn, it's like two bulls in a china shop."

Sandys instructed Zeleny to remain neutral on the Greenleaf issue. Employees weren't meant to choose sides, she said. Zeleny promised her new boss she'd keep mum while at work, but vowed to speak out on her own time. "I live in this community," she says. "I own my home. I have a vested interest here."

Despite Zeleny's well-received petition, Councilman Kevin Kelley — whose ward includes the Greenleaf and provides half of the Old Brooklyn group's funding — asked the city three time to put off ruling on the bar's upgrade. In the meantime, Zeleny was fired.

During her two years enforcing codes in Old Brooklyn, she says, there were no write-ups, no come-to-Jesus meetings, and no suspensions. To Zeleny, it was clear what cost her the job: Kelley was friends with the bar owner's son, Trevor. They'd met four years prior, during Elkins' failed run for the 11th District House seat. And now Zeleny was standing in the way of a favor Kelley was doing for a friend.

"I got fired because I got residents to rally against the bar," says Zeleny.

Kelley laughs at the idea that he was behind Zeleny's firing: "I don't have time to micromanage CDCs." Sandys refused to talk to Scene. It's a "personnel issue that does not warrant a newspaper story," she wrote in an e-mail.

But Old Brooklynites, like Zeleny, want answers. And they may want more than that. Until July of 2006, Kelley and Councilman Brian Cummins, whose wards share Old Brooklyn, had overseen two separate development committees. With federal funding dwindling, they decided to merge into one group to save money.

But merging the groups couldn't merge the two neighborhoods — the slightly poorer Brooklyn Centre to the north and Old Brooklyn to the south. The rift grew when someone leaked a flier, making fun of Brooklyn Centre's glut of vacant storefronts. And it boiled over when Zeleny — who was dubbed by some residents there the "Erin Brockovich of Old Brooklyn" — was fired.

"The fuel's been building up," says Cummins. "Clearly, the termination of Deb was a flash point."

After Zeleny was fired, Hamm and other Old Brooklyn community groups tried to oust five members of the board and give Sandys a vote of no confidence. A vote ended in a tie. The development corporation has hired a mediator to smooth out the controversy.

"Worst-case scenario," says Hamm, "is the organization crumbles. And no one wants that."

In her cramped Old Brooklyn ranch — where she lives with her parents and her "baby," a 125-pound German shepherd/lab mix named Butch — Zeleny is adamant: She doesn't want to hurt her old employer. She believes in what they do, she says, and believes in code enforcement. In fact, she's still doing it — part-time for the county — while she waits to fight her firing in court. Last week, she sued Kelley, Sandys, and the board for wrongful termination.

But when her composure breaks, Zeleny lowers her voice and moves to another room — she doesn't want her parents to hear her cry. What's bothering her now is no different than what so shook her then, on that cold morning in January: No one has told her why.

"I just want someone to tell me the truth," she says.

 

http://www.clevescene.com/2008-04-23/news/an-old-brooklyn-code-enforcer-spoke-out-and-lost-her-job-did-councilman-kevin-kelley-get-her-fired/

^ It's really embarrassing that, with all of the problems in OB, time, money, and energy are going into this issue.

 

I'm really pleased that Brian Cummins has remained neutral throughout the entire process.  On the whole, he's really exceeded my expectations. 

Second negative article this week about OBCDC.  Why is Kevin Kelley so aggressively adamant about the Zeleny firing?

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Conflict continues within the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation

MEDIATION PROPOSED AS SOLUTION TO MISTRUST, MISCOMMUNICATION, AND MISUNDERSTANDING

by Joe Narkin

 

(Plain Press, May 2008) Dissenting and supporting members of the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) failed to resolve their differences at a meeting attended by 150 concerned citizens and agency representatives on March 26, 2008 at the Gavin Lee Party Center on Broadview Road. Subsequently, OBCDC and representatives of three Community Associations in Old Brooklyn appear to be headed for mediation through the Cleveland Mediation Center in an attempt to develop a more cooperative working relationship.

 

 

There is something there we sure don't know...

 

How do you think Kelly has been doing?  I have no basis to judge him as he was in office when I moved here...

^ Good question. 

 

I'm turned off by how involved he is in the OBCDC turmoil.  I'm thinking that he partakes in the CDC much more than we think.  And the other thing that really stands out in my mind is the demolition of the Memphis School.  I wish it could've been redeveloped a la the Hyacinth Lofts.  Other than that, I have no basis for judgment. 

 

I do like Brian as a councilman much more than CDC director.  And as I said, he's been a really pleasant surprise.  He's become somewhat of a black sheep that isn't afraid to go against what everyone else on council and the administration is advocating (for example, he was adamantly against the City paying $60k in taxpayer money for Emily Lipovan Holan's settlement with Martin Sweeney, and tried to rally council to deny it).  He helped substantially when it came to an issue in my neighborhood.

From Tom Collins at OBCDC

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The Lower Big Creek Greenway Restoration and Redevelopment Plan is ready to return to the people of Brooklyn Centre and Old Brooklyn for final public review.  This plan outlines an achievable all purpose trail connection between the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath trail terminus on Old Harvard Rd and Brookside Reservation via the Lower Big Creek Valley.  It recommends specific long term land use goals and best practices for ecological restoration along the creek and flood plain.

 

This plan is the product of the suggestions from the November 2007 public meeting and the work of the project advisory committee.  In presenting the final draft for public comment the committee will consider all comments and make necessary revisions to the final document.  That plan will be adopted by the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation and the implementation phase will commence.

 

In addition a status report will be presented by the City of Cleveland Planning Commission on the Cleveland Brownfield Assessment Project focusing on the Lower Big Creek Valley.

 

Please participate in this public presentation on Tuesday, May 13, 6:30 PM in the auditorium of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in the Zoo Administration Building, 3900 Wildlife Way.

 

Please share this information and attached flyer with all who may be interested.

 

I attended this meeting last night and it's pretty exciting the opportunities that exist through the valley.  I'll be a realist and understand it's a HUGE ordeal to remediate the probable contamination the industrial use has caused - but with a plan in place, it gives the neighborhood/city something to focus on.

 

I was most impressed with some ideas for the land use beyond the actual trail.  Developing the old Go Kart site into an "Adventure Sporting" complex seems like it could be a significant regional draw.  The proposed campsite on the shipping crate yard seems odd, personally. 

 

I would think it wouldn't be feasible given safety concerns as well as the still predominately industrial use surrounding that site. 

 

I think the neighborhood has a real opportunity here to capitalize on its great location to the towpath and surrounding metroparks.  The cost (upwards of $11MM) is a HUGE hurdle, but due to the reuse and contamination remediation involved, i bet there are significant federal and other EPA grants out there for this.

i bet there are significant federal and other EPA grants out there for this.

 

There are, but there's also a lot of competition for them.

Re: Lower Big Creek Greenway Restoration and Redevelopment Plan

 

Is there anywhere to find notes on this meeting/presentation?

I couldn't attend because of a work-related meeting, but have requested materials from Tom at OBCDC.  If I get them, I'll upload them to my hosting and post a link.

 

I attended the meeting in November, and according to lewarctj's description, the same type of info was covered.  I'd hope that some progress was made between meetings.  How was the turnout?

 

On a related note, is the dedication/grand opening of the Treadway Connector tomorrow?  Anyone attending?  I think that the only bad thing is that it's at 9am. 

I wasn't at the November meeting, but it was mentioned that feedback from the November meeting was used in preparing the final plan. 

 

With this final presentation, quotes can begin to come in for Phase II environmental studies, etc.  Apparently trail lines, etc. needed to be finalized before remediation estimates could be received due to varying costs dependant on land uses. 

 

I would estimate there was 50-60 people there.  Granted the OBCDC and City Planning people made up a large portion of those in attendance. 

 

I will not be attending Friday's ribbon cutting ceremony for the Treadway Creek trail - I have this obligation called work.  I have had the opportunity to jog and bike down it though and found it pretty scenic. 

On a related note, is the dedication/grand opening of the Treadway Connector tomorrow?  Anyone attending?  I think that the only bad thing is that it's at 9am. 

 

The trail dedication is Friday, with the registration starting at 8:30 a.m. The ribbon cutting is at 9 a.m. So you will miss a little bit of work...

The City put up wayfinding signs for the Treadway Connector.  There's one between Valley and Crestline and another in the Zelenik's parking lot.  They're kind of small and hard to read (black cursive lettering on a dark brown background, butterfly on it), but they're nicer than most signs.

 

By the way, has anyone been in Zelenik's?  How does that place survive when it's always empty?  I want it to thrive since it's been there forever and the owners are active in the community, but it looks dead every time I go by it.

 

But the best part of the whole event is that all the fine rubble was cleaned off of Jennings Road and the sidewalks.  I hate having to see/bike through/walk through that crap. 

^ My mom's uncle said that Zelenik's used to be the spot for truckers back in the day.  Now, the most people I see there is when those bicyclist that ride the Towpath Saturday mornings.  I've passed it on Friday evenings when there's live music on the back patio and the band is playing for literally three people.   

 

While on the subject of OB business, what in the hell happened to that pizza and wings place on Pearl Road near the South Brooklyn CPL and Deaconess?  The place was fixed up pretty nicely, but the work stopped years ago and nothing ever happened with it. 

 

Anyone go there when it was the Eagle's Nest coffee shop?  That place was a trip...it felt like a very uncomfortable Christian cult headquarters.  I went there once and they had these crazy militaristic Christian videos on loop.  Nothing will replace that Phoenix Coffeehouse on Pearl in Brooklyn Centre.  It was open 24 hours and people of all walks of life hung out there.  Definitely one of the most organically-urban spots in Cleveland.

During the Riversweep, I talked to the Owner of Zeleznik's and she mentioned that they were having a special "summer menu" with everything under $5.  She seemed excited about the menu in hoping to entice a more family atmosphere.

 

She mentioned that they would be serving ice cream as well and pointed to a "good humour" ice cream freezer.  I'm hoping that they are going to have more then what I can buy from the ice cream truck that goes up and down my street all summer long.

 

I told her I was embarrassed to say that I had never been to Zeleznik's but during my next trek on my bike to the towpath (most likely this weekend) I'd stop in. 

 

Cleat's across the street does get ridiculous amount of business, and Zeleznik's does seem quite desolate most of the time.  I'll report back if I get a chance to try it out.

 

Dina's Pizza Pub on Memphis remains my OB favorite though.

Cleats! That's the one that I couldn't think of, the one that the owners of Zeleznik's was blaming for their slow biz.

^ But Cleats only opened less than a year ago.  The place (what was it called?) before it didn't seem too bustling.

 

I feel really bad when I see the "Open" sign lit up and the front door wide open, but no cars are in the parking lot.  Seems that's the case much more often than less.  There are already ice cream signs on the windows.

Councilman Brian Cummins was on Feagler & Friends this weekend discussing the Treadway Connector.

 

Some highlights:

- Brian said that much of the old Municipal Stadium ended up in Old Brooklyn.

 

- Cost of the Treadway Connector was slightly more than $1 million.  $750k came from the State of Ohio's Clean Ohio Fund.  Brian contributed a portion of his Parks & Recreation allocation to the project as well.  I can't recall what the other sources of funding were.

 

- Brian said that studies have found that the addition of greenspace and parks have the effect of increasing property values anywhere from 8-18%.  He also said that there are approximately 100 vacant and abandoned properties within a mile of Treadway.  (where?  I live over there are don't see them!)

 

- The project was a vision of former Ward 15 Councilwoman Merle Gordon, who was interested in exploring alternative uses of OB's underutilized valleys and ravines.

 

- A Friends of Treadway Creek group, which consists of residents and other stakeholders, will be responsible for routine maintenance of the connector.

 

- City equipment was too large to fit to plow the trail, so it was "closed" for the winter season.  (I say "closed" because people still seemed to be using it)

 

He also said that there are approximately 100 vacant and abandoned properties within a mile of Treadway.  (where?  I live over there are don't see them!)

 

 

This number is suprising to many.  I dont' live in that area of OB - but I can speak for the western edge of the neighborhood.  I know there are a couple vacant homes on my street.  However, neighbors continue to mow the grass and even park their cars in the driveways to make them appear lived in.  One great thing about the majority of OB is that there is a genuine desire to maintain the quality of life. 

There may also be small slivers of undeveloped properties and so on that he may be counting. I'll be seeing him tomorrow and ask him.

I'm editting this a bit so that the formatting is easier to read...(done - whew!)

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May neighborhood activities focus on green space near Big Creek

by Lynette Filips

[email protected]

 

The eight days between Saturday, May 10 and Saturday, May 17 were more than a month removed from Earth Day, but people wouldn’t have known that from the number of green, eco-friendly activities which occurred in our community during that time period. In one way or another, they all focused on neighborhood waterways — Big Creek, the Cuyahoga River and Treadway Creek. RiverSweep

 

The “octave” began on with RiverSweep on May 10. A project of the Ohio Canal Corridor (of which Brooklyn Centre resident Tim Donovan is the executive director), 2008 was the nineteenth year it has taken place.

 

Old Brooklyn was again one of the Cleveland-area neighborhoods which participated in RiverSweep. Almost 70 volunteers (neighborhood adults and children, including members of Friends of Big Creek and three Girl Scout troops – Senior Troop 1025, Cadette Troop 998 and Junior Troop 1821) met at Zeleznik’s Tavern, 4200 Jennings Rd., at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins, Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) employees Tom Collins, Donn Heckelmoser and Sandy Worona, and OBCDC Board members Greg Huth and Lynea Reindel were among the workers.

 

After a complimentary continental breakfast, for the next three hours, the volunteers gathered debris from surrounding waterways (portions of the Lower Big Creek and the Cuyahoga River), railroad tracks, thoroughfares (Jennings Rd., Harvard Rd., Valley Rd. and the W. 14th St. hill), and the Treadway Creek ravine. Although no tally was available for just this area, city-wide, volunteers removed a total of 18 tons of tires and trash. (The event is Ohio’s largest environmental cleanup.)

 

As in past years, after the work was completed, the Old Brooklyn volunteers joined the approximately 1000 other volunteers from “Downtown”, Tremont, Ohio City, Slavic Village, Stockyards and Parma at a complimentary lunch at Nautica in the Flats. Everyone who participated also received a 2008 RiverSweep t-shirt. Lower Big Creek Public Meeting Imagine a bike and pedestrian trail passing by a camp ground (maybe primitive, and maybe with campers), a restaurant, a bicycle shop, an adventure sports park, and/or a Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad station as it works its way through the Big Creek Valley between the Ohio and Erie Canal’s Towpath Trail and the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo. These are some of the possibilities which were presented at an informative meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, in the Zoo’s auditorium.

 

The meeting was the second public session which OBCDC’s Commercial Program Manager, Tom Collins, has organized to shed some light on what “could be” in that section of the Big Creek Valley. It commenced at 6:30 p.m., a cross-section of the community was in attendance. (Not surprisingly, members of Friends of Big Creek were well represented.)

 

During the earlier portion, those present heard comments from Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins, Ward 16 Councilman Kevin Kelley, Ohio Canal Corridor Executive Director Tim Donovan and City of Cleveland Planner George Cantor.

 

The major portion of the presentation, however, was given by two of the consultants for the project, Dennis Mersky of the Floyd Browne Group and Karen Selle of Hull and Associates. (Although he was not one of the evening’s presenters, Lower Big Creek Greenway Redevelopment & Restoration Plan Prime Consultant Michael Kannard of schmidtcopelandparkerstevens was also at the meeting.)

 

As those present learned, the professionals working on this project have many factors to consider. Perhaps the one of most interest to everyone is where the trail will be located. There are basically two choices — in the Valley or at the uplands level.

 

While there are supporters and arguments in favor of each position, at least at this point in time, it is more likely that that the trail will be in the Valley. That location seems to be more compatible with the goal of providing the public with more urban green space, and the plan includes a neighborhood

connector trail to Calgary Park in Brooklyn Centre. Of course, the green space in the Valley is not without human inhabitants, currently: Brookside Auto Parts; Turbonics and Accurate Mold and Die — two companies in the building which once housed a wallpaper factory; Martin Enterprises (a construction and demolition company); C & D Trucking; another truck and tire service; the PB Express Cleveland container storage yard; and a massive Cargill (as in the Whiskey Island company with mines under Lake Erie) pile of road salt. These firms will either have to relocate, sell a portion of their property, or grant a conservation easement before the trail can

be built.

 

the trail and what recreational facilities to locate near it, other discussion about thearea included how to restore the ecology of the Valley to its quintessential state as the flood plain of Big Creek. After a new balance between industry, commerce and nature is established in the Valley, extensive replanting of appropriate vegetation will need to be done.

 

For more information about the recreational segment of this project, refer to Tom Collins’ Restore Old Brooklyn column on page 6. His focus this month is on a possible adventure sports park in the area where the Henninger Landfill was formerly located.

 

Treadway Creek Greenway & Trail

Grand Opening

 

The morning of Friday, May16, started out with rain, but the moisture didn’t dampen the spirits of the sizeable crowd gathered in Harmody Park at 8:30 a.m. for the official opening and dedication of the almost twenty-one acre Treadway Creek Greenway and Trail.

 

What was formerly the site of illegal dumping activity has become one of the jewels of this neighborhood. Atwo-thirds of a mile asphalt-paved trail runs through the greenway from Harmody Park (at South Hills Dr. and Plymouth Rd.) to Crestline Ave. just west of Jennings Rd. It was constructed

by F. Buddie Contracting, LTD. at a cost of $1,342,265.

 

The office of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson organized the event (a grander, bigger follow-up to a “soft”opening last December 1). The Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) provided guests with coffee and donuts.

 

Both current and former political figures spoke – Mayor Jackson, Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins, Ward 16 Councilman Kevin Kelley, U. S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich and a previous Ward 15 councilwoman, Merle Gordon.

 

Ohio Canal Corridor Executive Director Tim Donovan, seated with the dignitaries, was also one of the presenters. The theme which ran through the comments was the vision for this urban green space becoming a reality.

 

The dream actually goes back to 1999, when then Ward 15 Councilwoman Merle Gordon started to include the Treadway Creek ravine in the problem neighborhood areas targeted for the RiverSweep cleanup. In 2002, when the Towpath Trail reached Harvard Ave., Brian Cummins (now the Ward 15 Councilman) was still the executive director of the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation. At

that time OBCDC got funding for a neighborhood trail connector study.

 

That same year, Brian Cummins, Merle Gordon, George Cantor, Ohio Canal Corridor’s Tim Donovan and City of Cleveland Planner Bob Laycock (who also lives in Brooklyn Centre) wrote a grant request to The Cuyahoga County Natural Resources Assistance Council applying for funds from the Clean Ohio Green Space Conservation Program to build the Treadway Creek Trail. When the Council awarded thirteen grants the following year, OBCDC learned that not only was their request funded, but that it was at the top of the list.

 

The initial projected completion date was late summer, 2005, but construction was delayed from the start. From January, 2005 to May, 2007, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District constructed/rehabilitated its Big Creek Interceptor, and since some of the work was done in the Treadway Creek ravine, building the trail couldn’t start until they were finished.

 

The restoration of the greenway in the ravine is as important as the construction of the trail. It included clean-up and the removal of invasive plants (many by James Ford Rhodes High School biology students and their teachers) and replacing them with native plants, sowing seed for native grasses

and woodland wildflowers, and doing things to resist erosion and improve the water quality.

 

Retaining walls of varying heights “spilling over” with native vegetation are located at some points along the trail. Also placed along the way are scenic outlook areas, custom benches, hand-crafted timber railings and signage (interpretive, way-finding and educational.)

 

The money which funded this project came from a variety of sources — $745,316 from the initial Clean Ohio Conservation RiverDay 2008/Friends of Big Creek Fund grant; $498,000 from the City of Cleveland; $285,000 from the Ward 15 Parks & Recreation fund; $10,000 from an Ohio & Erie Canal Association grant; and $5,000 from Ward 16 funds. The value of in-kind service and property was $273,850 and the value of a land donation from the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Association was $40,000.

 

The office of the Cuyahoga County Engineers saved the project over $20,000 by surveying the area with funds from an Ohio Canal Corridor equipment grant.

 

Members of the Richard Harmody family (the former Cleveland councilman after whom Harmody Park is named) and students/educators from nearby Benjamin Franklin Elementary School were recognized at the grand opening. Those students, in addition to the aforementioned Rhodes students, are doing some of the fieldwork in their environmental curriculum in the ravine.

 

By chance it happened that the trail opening occurred during National Bike Month (on Bike to Work Day, actually), and a number of well-known bicyclists were at the grand opening, including Andy D. Clarke from Washington, D.C., the executive director of the League of American Bicyclists (www.bikeleague.

org). Andy was in town for a Bicycle Friendly Community Conference at the downtown Cleveland Public Library the day before.

 

Early in the trail dedication program Andy presented Cleveland, via Mayor Jackson, with a “Bicycle Friendly Community Award”, and at the end of the program, he was one of the first in the lineup to head down the trail on his bike.

 

Local bicycling enthusiasts at the opening were Kevin Cronin from ClevelandBikes, www.ClevelandBikes.org; Brooklyn Centre resident Lois Moss from Walk + Roll Cleveland, www.walkroll.com; and Jim Sheehan from the Ohio City bicycle co-op, www.ohiocitycycles.org. The Treadway Creek Trail opening is actually featured as one of the events on the online Bike Week calendar at www.clevelandbicycleweek.org.

 

After numerous dignitaries simultaneously snipped the ribbon, and appropriate photos were snapped, the bikers and hikers headed down the trail, the first neighborhood connector trail to the Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway’s Towpath Trail.

 

Anyone interested in helping to maintain it should contact Councilman Cummins’ office at 216-459-8400.

 

Mention the word “confluence” (the point of juncture at which two or more streams begin to flow together) and Pittsburgh (the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio) or Harper’s Ferry (the Shenandoah and the Potomac) might come to mind. But this city has its points of confluence, too, and thanks to a program sponsored by the Friends of Big Creek, a group of Clevelanders recently had the opportunity to view one of them.

 

The 18th annual RiverDay which Friends of the Crooked River sponsor was held on Saturday, June 17. Events focusing on the Cuyahoga River took place in all four of the counties through which it meanders — Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage and Summit — and one of them was in Old Brooklyn.

 

Attendees at Big Creek: Where the Waters Meet gathered at Zeleznik’s Tavern’s parking lot at 11 a.m. for two hours of learning, hiking and fun. First they listened to Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins, Friends of Big Creek president Bob Gardin and Michael Kannard, one of the aforementioned trail consultants, talk about what’s been happening so far in that section of the Big Creek Valley and what the future plans for the area between the current Harvard Ave. terminus of the Towpath Trail and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and beyond are. Supporters hope that the Big Creek trail will ultimately extend even west of Ridge Rd.

 

Much of the discussion was about the same topics covered at Tuesday night’s meeting, but because it was a smaller group, it was easier to view the maps and ask questions. Of particular interest was the Harshaw Chemical site near the northeast corner of Harvard Ave. and Jennings Rd., where radioactive materials used in the atomic bomb during World War II were manufactured. Extensive soil testing has been/will continue to be done there.

 

The Friends of Big Creek are currently involved in a study about Big Creek’s watershed, and after they have the results, they’ll be conferring with the commercial consultants about the plans to achieve the ecological restoration of the floodplain and the riparian zone (i.e., the land on the banks of/bordering the stream).

 

Reducing the velocity and flow of the Creek will be necessary at times, and that might be accomplished via bio-retention ponds (man-made water features where water is temporarily pooled).

 

RiverDay participants next hiked along the railroad tracks to the seldom-viewed place where Big Creek empties into the Cuyahoga River. Although it is near to “civilization”, it gave such a feeling of seclusion

that one could almost imagine what it was like being an Indian or a French fur trader paddling down the river.

 

Friends of Big Creek’s h o s p i t a l i t y continued with a complimentary lunch set up under a canopy amid the trees. (Only tables and chairs were m i s s i n g ! ) Vice-president Mary Ellen Stasek had prepa r e d . c h i l i , a p p r o p r i a t e a c c o m p a n iments, beverages and dessert for the crowd.

 

In appreciation for the experience, some of the people in attendance then wandered the path next to the Cuyahoga, pulling out garlic mustard, the invasive species which, in recent years, has been threatening to over-run native vegetation.

 

Another opportunity to help out this month

 

The tenth annual Big Creek Watershed CleanUp will take place on Saturday, June 7th, and assistance will be needed at the following locations: Archmere Park on Archmere Ave, west of State Rd.; Brookfield Park on Brookfield Ave. between Bellaire & W. 130th St.; and Brookridge Elementary School at 4500

Ridge Rd. (behind the Brooklyn branch of the Cuyahoga County Library). The event will take place between 9 a.m. and noon. Volunteers are advised to dress for the weather, and children under 18 must have adult supervision. Refreshments will be provided for volunteers.

 

In case of rain date, the cleanup will be rescheduled for the following Saturday, June 14.

 

Call Amy Roskilly, Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District, 216-524-6580, ext. 22, or Rachel Napolitano, Bellaire-Puritas Development Corporation, 216-671-2710, for more information.

 

Another opportunity to be informed this month The Ohio Canal Corridor will be sponsoring

a public meeting concerning the preferred alignment of the Towpath Trail from Harvard Ave. to Steelyard Commons on Tuesday, June 17, from 4 – 8 p.m. at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The consulting team will give a short presentation and provide work stations to help visitors understand how they decided on the trail alignment, and give people the opportunity to ask questions and offer comments. Visit www.ohiocanal.org or call 216-520-1825 for more information.

 

A final FYI As a part of the Fulton Rd. bridge replacement project, $1.2 million in funding has already been secured for another trail which will replace the eastern portion of the former John Nagy Blvd. at Fulton Rd. and Denison Ave.

 

(Acknowledgment: I am extremely grateful to Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins for all the help he gave me -- on a holiday weekend -- to ensure that the information in this article would

be both accurate and complete.)

He also said that there are approximately 100 vacant and abandoned properties within a mile of Treadway. (where? I live over there are don't see them!)

This number is suprising to many.  I dont' live in that area of OB - but I can speak for the western edge of the neighborhood.  I know there are a couple vacant homes on my street.  However, neighbors continue to mow the grass and even park their cars in the driveways to make them appear lived in.  One great thing about the majority of OB is that there is a genuine desire to maintain the quality of life. 

 

I actually grew up right around the corner from Harmody Park on Canova.  During a visit two years ago, I remember there being six houses awaiting sale that had nobody living in them.  I was actually in Cleveland last week and stopped by to see the old neighborhood.  I was pleased to see that all six of those houses no longer had for sale signs on the lawns and I even saw people sitting on the porches of several of them as I walked by. 

 

In case you don't regularly check out the Photos forum, I've posted some shots of Benjamin Franklin Community Garden and the Treadway Connector.

Five pages on a neighborhood no one has ever heard of? I might have to visit it next time, and it better not disappoint.  :evil:

Try covering the neighborhood for a newspaper for three years! It's a decent neighborhood, with a large middle-class population. There's some pictures of the neighborhood I took among many along Pearl Road -- check the Cleveland-Parma transit corridor thread in the transportation section.

Five pages on a neighborhood no one has ever heard of? I might have to visit it next time, and it better not disappoint. :evil:

 

No, we certainly don't get the publicity that places like Detroit Shoreway, Tremont, and Ohio City receive.

 

I'll give you a tour, and it won't disappoint!

Five pages on a neighborhood no one has ever heard of? I might have to visit it next time, and it better not disappoint.  :evil:

 

No, we certainly don't get the publicity that places like Detroit Shoreway, Tremont, and Ohio City receive.

 

I'll give you a tour, and it won't disappoint!

 

thank you for saying that.  There is certainly more to Cleveland than the above mentioned neighborhoods and the downtown 'nabes, somehow folks (and the media) fail to remember that!

Columbusite, here are some photos of one of my favorite parts of Old Brooklyn.

 

I've been planning to take photos of the South Hills neighborhood for months now.  That, in my opinion, is the crown jewel of Old Brooklyn.  It reminds me a lot of Shaker Heights.  I'll do it soon.

Columbusite, here are some photos of one of my favorite parts of Old Brooklyn.

 

I've been planning to take photos of the South Hills neighborhood for months now.  That, in my opinion, is the crown jewel of Old Brooklyn.  It reminds me a lot of Shaker Heights.  I'll do it soon.

 

It reminds me of the Glendale section of the Lee-Harvard area.  Nice big lawns.

I've been planning to take photos of the South Hills neighborhood for months now.

 

I haven't been there in 20 years! I would love to see pics, hint, hint.  :whip:

It really is gorgeous - I grew up in OB, and just about five months ago I got some great pics of South Hills.

Where are they!!! I´m drunk, I don´t have patience!!!!

Columbusite, here are some photos of one of my favorite parts of Old Brooklyn.

 

I've been planning to take photos of the South Hills neighborhood for months now. That, in my opinion, is the crown jewel of Old Brooklyn. It reminds me a lot of Shaker Heights. I'll do it soon.

 

It reminds me of the Glendale section of the Lee-Harvard area. Nice big lawns.

 

I really wouldn't compare it to the Glendale section of Lee/Harvard being that I throw Lotus Drive, Jusdon Dr and I believe Benwood Ave in that neighborhodd also.  I view South Hills a little closer to Shaker, not exactly like it, but similar to it.  Very quiet area with a collection of different style housing and winding streets etc.  The area you quoted as a similar location is mostly a block grid neighborhood comprising of smaller ranches and bungalo's similar to Parma.  The only similarity between the two is they seem to be the forgotten areas of the East and West side. 

Columbusite, here are some photos of one of my favorite parts of Old Brooklyn.

 

I've been planning to take photos of the South Hills neighborhood for months now.  That, in my opinion, is the crown jewel of Old Brooklyn.  It reminds me a lot of Shaker Heights.  I'll do it soon.

 

It reminds me of the Glendale section of the Lee-Harvard area.  Nice big lawns.

 

I really wouldn't compare it to the Glendale section of Lee/Harvard being that I throw Lotus Drive, Jusdon Dr and I believe Benwood Ave in that neighborhodd also.  I view South Hills a little closer to Shaker, not exactly like it, but similar to it.  Very quiet area with a collection of different style housing and winding streets etc.  The area you quoted as a similar location is mostly a block grid neighborhood comprising of smaller ranches and bungalo's similar to Parma.  The only similarity between the two is they seem to be the forgotten areas of the East and West side.  

 

Since I don't know old brooklyn, the pictures are the only thinkg I could make a comparison to .

 

The homes you're thinking of are too far south, The glendale area is between Invereme and Harvard and 161 & 175.

 

The homes on Throckley, Invermere, Walden, etc. are two storey homes.  They look exactly like the homes in Shaker.

 

I agree, they are both forgotten or overlooked areas.

 

 

^Gotcha.  The homes in South Hills are mostly brick colonials or tudors.  They look rather stately.  Very popular wiht Cleveland Cops.  In fact, I remember my wife and I looked at a home in South Hills, typical colonial, and the asking price was 249k!!  This was 7 years ago too.  I know which area you have in mind, and that area is very similar to Parma with the aluminum colonials, some brick scattered about, and also bungalos.  It is more kept up than the Judson and Lotus Drives area which I guess would be more Lee/Miles or Lee/131st (Very forgeotted intersection.  Mr. Hero is still at 131 and Miles however). 

From what I remember of that area, it reminds me of West Park. In some cases the homes are larger though.

Guys, I'm committing to take a ton of photos this weekend, as long as the weather is nice. 

Don't forget the commercial corridors!

Don't forget the commercial corridors!

 

I dont' know if you're going to want to see most of these!  There are some pockets of decent looking buildings - and pockets of downright neglect.  Memphis Ave. is more of your "suburban style" commercial district with Broadview/State/Pearl all hit n' miss.

 

By the way - last weekend i went to Gentile Deli and Bakery (On Broadview near Treadway) for the first time for lunch - it was incredible!  It was so fresh - they slice the meat as you order it and its on homemade bread.  Just another hidden gem in the neighborhood I was pleasantly suprised with.

We have our share of hit n misses. Upcoming Long St in King Lincoln (too much demolished/empty spaces) along with Mt Vernon (much more intact, but rundown). Both are far from perfect, but there are reasons to go. Supporting businesses in places like these help move progress along.

Columbusite, if you can't wait, you can go on Google Maps Street View.

 

Here's Old Brooklyn

 

The commercial corridors are State, Pearl, and Broadview.  The intersection of Pearl and Broadview is considered the neighborhood's downtown.

 

South Hills is pretty much the area bounded by Spring Road to the north, Schaaf Road to the south, and Broadview and the Jennings Freeway to the west and east, respectively.  But South Hills Blvd is considered the backbone of the nabe.  Happy exploring!

 

 

It's great to see the Old Brooklyn fan club singing the praises of this great section of the city. Maybe you can help spread the word about the housing fair in Old Brooklyn on July 26 at Loew Park. There will be trolley tours for realtors and workshops for people who want to learn about the area and what's involved with buying a home. So spread the word to your renter friends and folks who want to check out the housing stock. You can easily find a home in the $100K range - I personally like that it's so close to everything.

Welcome to the forum, toomuchfun!  :wave:  Are you from the neighborhood?  There are at least four or five of us that currently live in Old Brooklyn, but several other UO people have connections to Old Brooklyn.  We're all boosters of OB here, so keep the posts coming!

 

Lewarctj, I think that Gentile's (fyi, they have a website!) does the desserts at Great Lakes Brewing.  I popped in there once, but there was a long wait.  So I went to the place directly south of it and bought some bakery, and it was phenomenal.  Seems though that they do more custom cakes and orders than sell things in their store.  I can't remember what it was called. 

 

I just wish that some of the locally-owned businesses would stay open a little longer to serve the working population.

 

UPDATE: I stopped into Gentiles this morning for a dessert for a Father's Day family gathering.  I got some chocolate cake with raspberry filling, at the recommendation of the owner/head baker woman.  It was pretty good!  I also got a turkey sandwich, and agree with lewarctj's assessment...it was phenomenal!

In his blog, Bill Callahan talks about how the Huntington Bank branch on Pearl Road in Brooklyn Centre is closing. 

 

Hopefully the Coral Company, the plaza's owner, will lease that space out for something beneficial to the neighborhood.  It'd be really excellent if the Phoenix that previously occupied the space or another coffee shop opened there.  Come on, OBCDC...make it happen!  That was truly a community space that was patronized by all walks of life.  Anyone else go there regularly?

 

I'm not holding my breath, though.  :|

 

 

Jar3232 and I stopped into Zeleznik's yesterday evening on the way back from riding the Towpath, and we were impressed!

 

Some notes on it:

 

- Even though it's been around since 1919 (and has been in the family for that long), the place is nice.  There's a cool wood bar and memorabilia all over it.  It's maintained very well.  One of the wings of the building has all kinds of old Cleveland photographs that we really dug.     

 

- We had a nice conversation with one of the owners.  They live above the bar in a two-bedroom apartment, and are the sole employees of the place.  If you're ever looking to talk about Old Brooklyn, OBCDC, or Cleveland in general, Zeleznik's is the place to go.

 

- Cleats is kicking its a$$.  They don't know if they'll be around next year.  As we've previously discussed here, it's usually pretty empty.  There were maybe seven people there at its peak, but Jar and I were the only ones there for a while.  The owner said that, a few years ago, it'd be "three or four deep" on a Thursday night.

 

- There are only about five things on the menu, all of which are typical bar food.  The food was pretty good, though.  The ice cream stand is open at the one end of the building.

 

Stop in and support Zeleznik's! 

Is anyone planning to catch the fireworks on the 4th at Loew Park?  Has anyone done it before?

Here are a couple of shots of the new Fulton Road bridge taken from around the Wolf Wilderness exhibit at the zoo.  The renderings on the placards around the area have me thinking that will look exactly like old one.  It's due for a June 2009 opening.