August 12, 201014 yr ^Nice! I like the highbrow media cluster there. In a time when many cities are being left with no stations with classical formats, WCLV is a great asset. Agreed. Now if they could only strengthen their signal a little. Of all the stations I listen to, I seem to lose that one the fastest.
August 12, 201014 yr Im not sure if anyone else noticed but they got a new website. http://www.playhousesquare.org/default.asp?playhousesquare=1 This one seems temporary. The one they had at the beginning of the year was borderline kick-a$$.
August 12, 201014 yr Im not sure if anyone else noticed but they got a new website. http://www.playhousesquare.org/default.asp?playhousesquare=1 This one seems temporary. The one they had at the beginning of the year was borderline kick-a$$. Why temporary? I personally like this one, the old one was more generic and hard to use compared to this one IMO
August 21, 201014 yr Some chatter on the E.14th street renovations and expanded productions at Hanna theater and 14th Street Theater http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2010/08/playhousesquare_spotlights_the.html
August 29, 201014 yr There are scaffolds on the Bulkey Building and the Hanna Building from VIP Restoration. Nothing on VIP's website. Anyone know what is going on?
August 30, 201014 yr Please tell me their cleaning them...please, please...puhleeze They could use a cleaning
August 30, 201014 yr I heard VIP Restoration will be cleaning the Buckley and Hanna buildings!!! If my source is correct and this is true, these exterior cleaning will make a huge difference. Especially with the Buckley building which has a really dirty facade. Now that the Euclid Corridor is finished and the exterior renovation at E. 13th & Euclid is moving along, Playhouse Square will look fantastic after this job with VIP is completed.
August 30, 201014 yr New rendering for Allen Theatre Addition from Landmarks... http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/photo/08262010/index.php
August 30, 201014 yr Meh.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 30, 201014 yr I like the way the design opens the inside to the outside; hence enlivening the outside space. what is the alley on the far left side of the rendering? is it currently open, and if so, does this design close it off? thanks for posting, btw.
August 30, 201014 yr The intersection of Dodge Court and East 15th is at the bottom right, and this view is looking west/sw. The alley at the far left must be maintained for access to the rear of the Bulkley Building and shipping and receiving for the Allen addition. The white building is sitting where there is currently a parking lot and the pedestrian "tube" overhead.
August 30, 201014 yr ...If my source is correct and this is true, these exterior cleaning will make a huge difference... Yes, definitely. Except nothing for the cornice (for a few years) and that happens to be the most beautiful part of the Bulkley, IMO. The wire screen covering the cornice is falling apart and should be replaced though... hopefully with one that is more see-through.
August 31, 201014 yr Meh.... Has there ever been a rendering on Urban Ohio that no one has complained about?
August 31, 201014 yr Has there ever been a rendering on Urban Ohio that no one has complained about? Nope. Have you ever seen a poll question that was unanimous for or against in its answer? It'll never happen. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 31, 201014 yr I heard VIP Restoration will be cleaning the Buckley and Hanna buildings!!! That's great news if that is the case, it will make a huge difference. Also I hope that PS is considering some type of new marquee for the complex, the current one is old and dated. Certainly not befitting the second largest performance center in the country. And as for the Allen rendering, I'm a fan.
August 31, 201014 yr The rendering is fine given the location. It's tucked away behind the theater buildings and a parking garage. From the street almost no one will see it. Some nice small scale detailing would be nice.
September 2, 201014 yr I was down in this area last night for class, the difference in what's been cleaned is amazing. Unbelievable the amount of soot that has been allowed to accumulate on the buildings for years at a time. The buildings will look so much newer & brighter. Cleveland should initiate some type of program to do this on a host of buildings downtown, perhaps offer some incentives for owners who have this done. Now that we've gotten away from the days of heavy industry, coal fired boilers, etc these buildings should stay clean for decades
September 2, 201014 yr Seconded, Thirded, whatever I'm tired of looking at that smoot covered building. Would look so much better.
September 2, 201014 yr I was down in this area last night for class, the difference in what's been cleaned is amazing. Unbelievable the amount of soot that has been allowed to accumulate on the buildings for years at a time. The buildings will look so much newer & brighter. Cleveland should initiate some type of program to do this on a host of buildings downtown, perhaps offer some incentives for owners who have this done. Now that we've gotten away from the days of heavy industry, coal fired boilers, etc these buildings should stay clean for decades Seconded, Thirded, whatever I'm tired of looking at that smoot covered building. Would look so much better. Have you either thought about this? [*]Who is going to pay for it? [*]If a program is created the money will have to come from somewhere [*]If another tax/fee is initiated, then the business leaders will toss out the "Another Tax/Fee, this is why Cleveland is anti business...blah, blah, blah" If there is a building code or law on the books already that requires X degree of exterior maintanence, then it should be enforced.
September 2, 201014 yr Yes I have thought about it. I've done historic renovations in a number of cities, and those renovations included cleaning the exterior limestone/masonry similar to what's being done. A city can create & enforce this along with their building code, same way they can enforce businesses to keep up their storefronts to a certain level so there aren't tattered awnings, broken sidewalks, peeling paint. Of course it becomes difficult if the building doesn't have a full rent to help pay these maintenance costs, but it can be done in a downtown district.... another thing some cities do is to require inspections on the exterior of such buildings every other year. They inspect caulk, tuckpointing, make sure ledges, cornices, window sills, ballusters etc are not loose & crumbling. It basically forces building owners to do preventive maintenance on the exterior so the buildings don't get to a point where they are beyond repair....
September 2, 201014 yr Maybe not pay for it, but would it be feasible for the city to facilitate a deal between multiple property owners and one or more cleaning companies to reduce the cost for individual owners? We've got a lot of stuff coming up, and it'd be nice to have clean buildings (Casino, MM/CC, RRHoF Inductions, Gay Games, etc.)
September 2, 201014 yr Yes I have thought about it. I've done historic renovations in a number of cities, and those renovations included cleaning the exterior limestone/masonry similar to what's being done. A city can create & enforce this along with their building code, same way they can enforce businesses to keep up their storefronts to a certain level so there aren't tattered awnings, broken sidewalks, peeling paint. Of course it becomes difficult if the building doesn't have a full rent to help pay these maintenance costs, but it can be done in a downtown district.... another thing some cities do is to require inspections on the exterior of such buildings every other year. They inspect caulk, tuckpointing, make sure ledges, cornices, window sills, ballusters etc are not loose & crumbling. It basically forces building owners to do preventive maintenance on the exterior so the buildings don't get to a point where they are beyond repair.... Thats what I'm taling about. Enforce laws already on the books!
September 2, 201014 yr I don't think that there are actually as many buildings left downtown that need this as one might think. Most of the buildings that could use a cleaning actually need a full rehab. With the Bulkey and Hanna Buildings getting cleaned, and the already mentioned Landmark and Huntington, I don't think I could name any others that need cleaning badly that aren't in fact in need of a full rehabilitation.
September 3, 201014 yr ^I think you are referring to the Landmark Office towers which X mentioned. They are part of the TC complex and they definitely do blight the skyline driving in from the west.
September 3, 201014 yr Gotcha, didn't realize they all had different names. Time to do some research :)
September 6, 201014 yr Work begins on renovations to Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare Published: Saturday, September 04, 2010, 5:48 AM Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The seating capacity of the Allen Theatre, one of the largest in Cleveland, has dropped from 2,504 to 760 since "The Phantom of the Opera" closed there last month. But the case of the vanished theater chairs, revealed this week by PlayhouseSquare officials, is not a result of backstage hijinks by the Paris Opera House's apparition-in-residence. Instead, it is the initial step in a $30 million renovation and construction project for a new, three-venue, 1,000-seat home for the Cleveland Play House and Cleveland State University's drama program. http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2010/09/work_begins_on_renovations_to.html
September 7, 201014 yr Its not the best picture, all i had at the time was my phone but it still shows the progress of the cleaning.
September 8, 201014 yr I still can't help but cringe somewhat when I hear about the hacking up of the Allen Theater into smaller theaters. I guess it's a good thing that we'll have more theaters, but isn't a lack of larger theaters a negative? I know, if there was a big enough demand those big theaters (like the Allen) would have been filled to capacity, but there wasn't and this is much better than tearing them down. Still, it doesn't seem like the perfect situation...
September 8, 201014 yr I felt the same way initially, but (according to wiki) the State holds 3,400 and the Palace holds 2,700. If they schedule things well, we should still be able to have bigger touring shows in town.
September 8, 201014 yr The Allen is not being demolished on the interior. All new construction is self contained and touches the existing historic interior finishes very minimally. Basically, if this new construction needed to be torn down in 50 years it could be done, and the old theatre could be restored to it's former configuration.
September 8, 201014 yr I still can't help but cringe somewhat when I hear about the hacking up of the Allen Theater into smaller theaters. Still, it doesn't seem like the perfect situation... I agree. On another note the cleaning looks good in the photo above. I wish the same would be done for the stains on the back of the Landmark office buildings behind T.T.
September 8, 201014 yr I still can't help but cringe somewhat when I hear about the hacking up of the Allen Theater into smaller theaters. I guess it's a good thing that we'll have more theaters, but isn't a lack of larger theaters a negative? I know, if there was a big enough demand those big theaters (like the Allen) would have been filled to capacity, but there wasn't and this is much better than tearing them down. Still, it doesn't seem like the perfect situation... Smaller theaters also are easier to sell for more independent productions. Smaller shows can come in and be profitable. If you only have to sell 75% of a 1000 seats thats a lot easier than 75% of 2500 (i don't know if this is even close to what the ratio needs to be, but you get the idea).
September 9, 201014 yr ^well i've never been to an "off Broadway" complex so I can't compare. But with the involvement of CSU, smaller theaters are going to be needed just for their student run projects. Typically these are very small productions and putting them in a 2500 seat theater would make it seem empty, whereas the small "lab theater" (150 seats) would make these performances seemed much more well attended. I think that this will bring more life into the theater district as there will be different distinct venues for a variety of performances. The State and Palace can hold larger traveling shows, the Ohio has 1000 seats which is good for a variety of events, and the reconfigured Allen with stages of 500, 300, and 150 will provide that smaller setting for more local and regional acts.
September 9, 201014 yr opps, yeah. They are also a 500 seat theater and host the Great Lakes Theater. So Ideally I think that could be the future for the Allen, after all Cleveland Playhouse will be there now.
September 9, 201014 yr Great news about the Allen, I hadn't realized they were getting to work so fast. The tie-in of CSU into PHS is really awesome. That part of downtown seriously needs some more foot traffic.
September 9, 201014 yr Great news about the Allen, I hadn't realized they were getting to work so fast. The tie-in of CSU into PHS is really awesome. That part of downtown seriously needs some more foot traffic. Yeah for such a cool area there should be more foot traffic
September 10, 201014 yr I think the lack of foot traffic can be attributed to two things: - The parking lots behind and connected directly to the theaters. Something that I think we have all at some point criticized. - The lack of residential buildings. PHS should seriously consider putting some concerted effort (and $) into filling out the surface lots in its immediate vicinity with residential buildings. I know I'm not saying anything new with this, but until that happens this will remain as the coolest area in downtown that nobody wants to be in beyond the two or three hours they spend while at a performance.
September 10, 201014 yr I think the lack of foot traffic can be attributed to two things: - The parking lots behind and connected directly to the theaters. Something that I think we have all at some point criticized. - The lack of residential buildings. PHS should seriously consider putting some concerted effort (and $) into filling out the surface lots in its immediate vicinity with residential buildings. I know I'm not saying anything new with this, but until that happens this will remain as the coolest area in downtown that nobody wants to be in beyond the two or three hours they spend while at a performance. right across from the palace theater would be nice. It is a beautiful area and star plaza is a great amenity for residents. If someone shows some vision in the future, this area could be the prime residential area downtown
September 10, 201014 yr Prospect and E.14th has been screaming for development for years- heck, Prospect down to E. 18th. I know some developer has to have at least eyed the property- there's plenty of open space to build multiple high density, mixed use projects. But alas- the market. So much potential though.
September 10, 201014 yr Euclid and 13th and Euclid and 17th have both been targeted for residential development by PHS. The economy has all such ideas on hold.
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