In a previous thread somebody brought up the idea of using the grain silos near the Center Street swing bridge as some ultra contemporary condominium complex. I love that. Imagine how interesting this would look if some weird shaped addition to those silos was designed onto it. Maybe it engages the river somehow. It’s just an example, but it can be applied to almost anything.

 

Thanks! See...

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9270.msg104135#msg104135

Yes, I love the grain silo idea...it's been done more than a couple times and in a variety of ways.  I'll post my fave later...

 

"there is a lot of merit to utilizing the idea of exposing the contrast between new and old as a dynamic design gesture.  It reveals the intricacies and detail of the old (buildings, in the case of W65th & Detroit) vs. the smooth or angled of the contemporary (lighting/signals), playing off the idea of the city being a multilayered organism.  This idea could be used throughout the city in a variety of different programs."

 

Though I do think that historically appropriate fixtures would be nice in certain places, I do agree with w28th that a program like this could yield some fabulous results!  I think we'd benefit a great deal from something like this and I think it could be a wonderful success (or a colossal failure, who knows?) and why not try?  Cleveland Public Art, local design schools (CIA, UDC, Levin, etc) and the utility companies could run a year-long charette or competition and everyone would end up paying more attention to the little things they pass by each day.  Who could complain about that?

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=54852

 

Cleveland neighborhood gets makeover

 

Reported by  Tom Beres 

Created: 7/26/2006 9:07:23 AM

Updated:7/26/2006 9:43:41 AM

 

CLEVELAND -- Something exciting is going on in an old Cleveland neighborhood.

It's getting a makeover and becoming a hip place to live and visit.

 

We're talking about Gordon Square -- along Detroit Avenue between West 58th and West 73rd Streets.

 

From new and remodeled theaters to galleries and shops, our Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres shows us the new booming arts district.

 

Click the "Play Story" link to watch Tom Beres' report.

 

(Here's the link to the video http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=25280&bw=)

Well, its always good that the local news shines some positive light on the inner city.

Gypsy coffee moving business near Shoreway

Thursday, October 05, 2006

By David Plata

West Side Sun News

After two decades as a wholesale coffee operation in a Fulton Road warehouse, Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. is moving to the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.

 

And while the wholesale coffee sales, serving restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area and beyond, will continue, the new venue also will include a neighborhood coffee house.

 

I've always been an urban pioneer of sorts, said Niki Gillota, who is spending some $200,000 to move the business and open at the new location.

 

I love being in a community, added Gillota, who has lived in Lakewood about a year but is looking to move back to Cleveland. I think Cleveland is so great for having these little pockets of community that grow and expand and develop around some key players.

 

The new business covers 2,200 square feet at the southeast corner of West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue, in a former Dollar Store, vacant about two years.

 

It's awesome, said Councilman Matt Zone, D-17, noting the key players Gillota referred to include the 1point618 art gallery and a new Mediterranean-style restaurant, yet to be named, to be opened by chef Marlin Kaplan _ all of them next to Cleveland Public Theatre.

 

The project is aided by some $30,000 in city loan and grant funds, including $20,000 routed through Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, which owns the building.

 

Matt Wiederhold, the group's commercial development director, said the property was kept vacant until the right project came along.

 

Nothing really fit with the arts district we wanted to do there _ until Niki's proposal, he said.

 

The fix-up was designed by architect Eli Mahler.

 

It was pretty much bare-bones space, Gillota said. We had to remove the ceiling and put up a fire barrier; we're redoing the hardwood floors, putting new hardwood floors in toward the front; all of the electrical and plumbing _ things like that.

 

Gillota said the business, expected to open the second week of November, will have five employees at first.

 

Hopefully by next summer we'll be up to nine or 10, she said.

 

She described the new venture, seating about 15 on antique oak or Mission Arts and Crafts tables and chairs, as a European-style coffee house.

 

That means cappuccino, espresso, drip coffee, she said. I'm using a variety of beans from around the world. Like your Costa Ricans, your South Americans; different roasts of those blends.

 

Our house blend is going to be a darker roasted mocha java. Mocha javas tend to be smooth and creamier. We want something that's very snappy and palate-cleansing to complement the food and pastries.

 

Gillota said all pastry _ muffins, scones, quickbreads, such as banana, zucchini carrot, cranberry orange and more _ will be baked on-site.

 

 

Yay! :clap:

hooray!  I can't wait! 

Detroit-Shoreway CDO has begun marketing the artists' lofts in the old Lou's Furniture building. They are being called "Near West Lofts." Income restrictions apply; you can't be a full-time student or make more than I think $28,000/year (for a single person). Here are a couple interior photos; the units are quite beautiful and the upper floors have views of the lake! All units have their own washer and dryer.

 

 

 

Also, Gypsy Beans & Baking is looking sharp. They've got their new windows in featuring a nice, old-timey logo.

Nice timing.  It'll help immensely to have a new cafe/bakery on the corner when they're marketing these new units.  Are those original hardwoods?

Just as a quick add on to projects in this neighborhood.  Some may have been talked about already.  There is a new art gallery, and a graphic design firm moving into open spaces on south side of Detroit west of 65th.  

 

There is an issue on the ballot for residents of Precinct I(very small area between 58th and 65th and bridge and Detroit) to approve a liquor license for a new restaurant next to Maschke Architects.  Should be a very cool restaurant if approved.  By the chef that is at Walnut One downtown.  

 

There is a new wine bar opening up north of Detroit on 65th called Toast.  

 

There is a new pub called "stone Mad" that is currently under construction north of Detroit on 65th. It will be an Irish pub/restaurant with boccie ball.  It is by the owner of the Tree House in tremont.  He has invested nearly two million dollars in this pub.  It is on the west side of 65th, it is pretty cool looking.

 

And Matt Zone has secured over 2 million dollars in a streetscape makeover for next year which includes burying electric lines, widening sidewalks for outdoor seating and cafe areas, and other various art related add ons (not sure the exact details).

 

Also, down the way, pipe dream sort of, is to renew the capital theater into a three screen indie movie theater, akin to the Cedar Lee.  I was in this space last weekend, it is amazing, falling apart but amazing.  Supposedly they do have some funding and this project will happen, but it seemed to me like it would be down the line.  This is the theater in the Gordon Square Arcade.

 

Lastly is the Near West Theater moving to behind Lou's Furniture, better known as the lofts shown above.  I believe this will happen next year.

 

Most of these are underway or will be soon.  I live in this hood, I'm very excited about things to come, including Battery Park and the new bakery.

Thanks for the enthusiasm and updates and welcome to the forum!  Much of that info has been posted elsewhere, but it's always nice for the newbies to see a concise run-down of what's going on...

Excellent!  Det-Shoreway continues to, er, percolate.

Yeahhhhhhhhh!  The "Percolator", the best song ever! It's time for the percolator!

Damn you all for making that song go through my head!

 

I tried to up load this from my itunes, for all to enjoy, but I dont think I did it right as it said the file was to large.   Oh well.....back to dance around the house to house music!

Are those original hardwoods?

 

Yes.

Cajmere

Percolator

 

 

Sample - Keep Movin' Mix (1:17)

http://www.turntablelab.com/assets/audio/3569/88871.ram

 

Sample - Green Velvet Mix (1:39)

http://www.turntablelab.com/assets/audio/3569/88872.ram

 

Thanks Musky!

 

Another Traxx Cleveland moment!  People say studio 54 was legendary (they just got more press) ..but Cleveland's Traxx was the shiznit.

 

Straight, Gay, Black, Latin, White, Male, Famale, Drag Queen....when you went to Traxx....everyone had a good time!

 

Ok...back to the topic!!! :wave:

Thanks Musky!

 

Another Traxx Cleveland moment!  People say studio 54 was legendary (they just got more press) ..but Cleveland's Traxx was the shiznit.

 

Straight, Gay, Black, Latin, White, Male, Famale, Drag Queen....when you went to Traxx....everyone had a good time!

 

Ok...back to the topic!!! :wave:

 

my first night club experience was the Traxx in Dc in 1984...nothing will ever compare so I do not even try any more. NOW back to topic..

Thanks Musky!

 

Another Traxx Cleveland moment!  People say studio 54 was legendary (they just got more press) ..but Cleveland's Traxx was the shiznit.

 

Straight, Gay, Black, Latin, White, Male, Famale, Drag Queen....when you went to Traxx....everyone had a good time!

 

Ok...back to the topic!!! :wave:

 

my first night club experience was the Traxx in Dc in 1984...nothing will ever compare so I do not even try any more. NOW back to topic..

 

OK Ms. Peabody....saying you went to Traxx in DC....I have confirmation you were a party girl!  Cause Traxx in DC was not in the safest neighborhood, frankly, it was straight up scarey, but once you got inside....it was hot!

yeah I first started going when I was 15 (for shame!)  with daring friends, and  that was the height of the crack epidemic in DC..the worst of times. still we needed to go to the hottest club in town.  Oddly I didnt have any known gay friends at the time. This was the mid 80's era of Reagan Youth. In fact I recently read those born in 1969 are the most conservative adults out there today. Anyway back then nobody but Boy George was gay   :wink: . Not even Michael Jackson!!!

I loved Traxx! Granted it was 1995, but it was a good time!

So, let me get this straight, Traxx is opening up in the old Gordon Theater!!  Yahoo!  ;)

yeah I first started going when I was 15 (for shame!)  with daring friends, and  that was the height of the crack epidemic in DC..the worst of times. still we needed to go to the hottest club in town.  Oddly I didnt have any known gay friends at the time. This was the mid 80's era of Reagan Youth. In fact I recently read those born in 1969 are the most conservative adults out there today. Anyway back then nobody but Boy George was gay   :wink: . Not even Michael Jackson!!!

 

You go miss thang!

Gooo Cleveland Public Theater!!!

 

(Desperately trying to steer the thread back on topic) :)

The Parish Hall, a former social hall next to the Romanian Orthodox Church on Detroit at W. 61st, has rather suddenly emerged as an amazing live music venue, featuring stuff from all over the planet. Richard Buckner was there a couple weeks ago (he's a pretty big name on the mope-country scene), and check out what they've got on deck:

 

http://www.millerweitzelgallery.com/calander.htm (yeah, calendar is misspelled!)

 

We've really needed a place like this on the near west side...

Agreed!  I've seen three shows there now and they've all been fabulous.  I was at the Buckner show and would like to check out this week's show as well.  I heard Masha Qrella on WCSB  :-D last night and was very smitten!  The whole chapel/parish hall over there is very impressive.

 

BTW, has anyone heard of "the Tower?"  Apparently, after the Church folded a couple weeks back, the Tower kind of took over as the underground spot for indie rock and what not.  And then there's the Factory... sheesh!  I'm very impressed with the DIY-ism in the local music scene.

Hot damn, I love Buckner!

well, you've got to get yr ass outta norwood and move to Deeetroit-Shoreway!

loves it

give me some time.

I attended Detroit Shoreway's Annual Benefit this past Friday. It was held at Saigon Plaza, the beautifully renovated space on Detroit @ W. 53rd.  The owner of Saigon Plaza has big ideas for that area of Detroit and had displayed architectural renderings of two new buildings. 

The first, a five story condo building, was to be built directly west of Saigon Plaza on what is now a parking lot.

The second, a series of townhomes, was to built about two blocks north of Saigon Plaza.

Both renderings featured a very minimalistic "asian" inspired design.

It's pretty impressive to me that we have two (that I am aware of) Asian villages in Cleveland.  It seems that the one along Detroit is primarily Vietnamese, though, whereas the one in the east 20s-40s is more diverse.  Anyone know more about this?  Blinker?

 

Thanks for the news Guv!

There also is a decent-sized Vietnamese population in the Lorain Avenue West Boulevard. A friend of mine works at a bank near there and says they must have people on staff who can speak Vietnamese, as many of their customers are of that ethnicity. Many are living in that immediate area, she said.

Don't know the exact stats, MGD, but that sounds like an accurate assessment.

 

The Arts District is looking sharp these days. I notice that M% Gallery has opened, next door to a clothing/boutique store called The Detroit Collection or some such. City Grille has had a storefront renovation, and next door to it is another new store called Prism. I can't tell what it is though. Work continues on Gypsy Beans.

Thanks for the updates!  I've been moving too fast these days to slow down and take notice...

Mayor Jackson Joins Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood Stakeholders to Unveil $12 Million Gordon Square Homes Development

 

November 20, 2006 — Mayor Frank G. Jackson joined Jeffrey Ramsey, Executive Director of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO), Ward 17 Councilman Matt Zone, and community stakeholders for a ribbon cutting ceremony unveiling the Gordon Square Homes development. The $12 million Gordon Square Homes development includes the rehabilitation of four buildings and the creation and preservation of 85 rental-housing units designated for low-income tenants. In addition, 6,000 square feet of commercial space has been rehabilitated. The project is located in the heart of Detroit Shoreway’s emerging arts and entertainment district...

 

The full release can be accessed here: http://city.cleveland.oh.us/mayor/press_release/detail.asp?intReleaseID=88

Somehow missed this one:

 

New director brings energy to Cleveland Public Theatre

Sunday, September 10, 2006

By Tony Brown

 

Perhaps the most significant thing about the 2006-07 season at Cleveland Public Theatre is that there is a season.

 

Last year at this time, the city's biggest-budget alternative theater announced only an abbreviated fall lineup, waiting to announce winter and spring schedules. It was a move of caution in the face of budget deficits and uncertainty.

 

But now that Raymond Bobgan has been named executive artistic director (replacing Randy Rollison, departed for Portland, Ore.), the Public has returned to a full lineup, and to its roots...

Supplying demand

Leaders behind resurgence of near West Side’s Gordon Square confident in its viability as an arts, nightlife destination

 

Jeffrey Ramsey (left), executive director of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, and Matthew Zone, Ward 17 councilman, are among those promoting the development of the Gordon Square Arts District. The effort includes the planned reopening of the Capitol Theatre (background).

Photo credit: MARC GOLUB 

Related Links 

Near West Theatre

Cleveland Public Theater

Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization

 

By JAY MILLER

 

6:00 am, December 4, 2006

 

The Gordon Square Arts District isn’t ready to rival Broadway in New York or Cleveland’s Playhouse Square as a center of the arts, but neighborhood planners believe they are in striking distance of making the intersection of West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue the focal point for the arts and nightlife on the city’s West Side.

 

In the next 18 months, neighborhood planners and fundraisers anticipate the opening of at least four new eateries, a second art gallery, a new home for the Near West Theatre and a renovated Cleveland Public Theatre. All of it would be capped off by the reopening of the historic Capitol Theatre as a sort-of West Side version of the Cedar-Lee Theater, which shows independent and alt-Hollywood films.

 

“There’s a lot of unmet demand on the West Side,” said Jeff Ramsey, executive director of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, a nonprofit that is spearheading the arts district effort. Detroit Shoreway owns the Gordon Square Arcade, which houses the Capitol Theatre.

 

Restoration work is under way at the movie house as fundraising continues for the $12 million in renovations planned for the three theaters. Mr. Ramsey said 40% of that goal is in hand.

 

The hope is that the arts district will be the anchor for the rebuilding going on in the broader Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, which emanates from the arts district. This larger effort is inspiring new housing and the restoration of retail storefronts, though Mr. Ramsey said the nonprofit also hopes renovated housing will remain affordable to avoid displacing longtime residents, as often happens when neighborhoods rebuild.

 

 

The city of Cleveland is committed to streetscape improvements for the length of Detroit Avenue through the district. Neighborhood planners also anticipate increased investment in the area that will come when the planned, $50-million rebuilding of the West Shoreway begins, an effort that will remove some of the barriers between the neighborhood and the lakefront. That work is slated to begin in 2010.

 

“When people see the Gordon Square Arts District, they’ll know where they are, like Greenwich Village in New York City or the Short North in Columbus,” said Ward 17 Councilman Matthew Zone. He made the comment at a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month for Gordon Square Homes, a $12 million redevelopment of four aging apartment buildings into 85 units of low-income housing.

 

Gordon Square Homes includes one building of eight lofts that will be marketed to artists and will rent for $400 a month. Gordon Square Homes is the latest chunk of more than 1,200 new or renovated housing units that dramatically have changed the profile of the neighborhood’s housing stock.

 

The project was developed by the Detroit Shoreway organization, which has been helping revitalize the neighborhood for 20 years.

 

 

 

Night and day

 

At the same time as it is managing the renovation of the theaters, the Detroit Shoreway group is turning to rebuilding the commercial properties to create a daytime retail center and an evening entertainment district.

 

Unlike most other inner-city retail districts, the stretch of Detroit between West 54th and West 75th has remained mostly intact from the time it took shape between 1890 and 1920. Most of its storefronts and apartment buildings retain their historic look, and the neighborhood has few missing teeth.

 

Workers from Marous Bros. Construction are peeling away years of neglect from the 85-year-old Capitol Theatre. Built in 1921 as a single-screen, 1,200-seat movie house, the Capitol is being carved into a three-screen theater, with the balcony being split into two, 100-seat screening rooms and the main floor being divided into a 500-seat auditorium and a coffeehouse-type concession stand.

 

Mr. Ramsey said his group is shooting for the Capitol to open in June 2008.

 

The next step will be building a new home for Near West Theatre attached to one of the buildings in the Gordon Square Homes project. The theater currently is on Bridge Avenue in Ohio City, but it already has moved its business office to Detroit Avenue as it works with Mr. Ramsey’s group on the arts district financing.

 

“(Detroit Shoreway) has been a business magnet for us,” said Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, the theater company’s executive director.

 

In addition, plans are to refurbish Cleveland Public Theatre, which has been in the neighborhood for 20 years and whose founder, James Levin, helped breathe life into the dream of a neighborhood arts district.

 

It all will be tied together with the city-financed streetscape revitalization that Mr. Zone said is scheduled for next summer.

 

Hungry for more

 

That kind of public and nonprofit effort is capturing the attention of the private sector.

 

Niki Gillotta, who has built a wholesale baking business on Fulton Road on the West Side, is relocating that business, Ohio City Muffins, and is planning to open a retail bakery/cafe, Gypsy Beans & Baking Co., at the southeast corner of West 65th and Detroit in mid-December.

 

In addition, Marlin Kaplan, owner of One Walnut restaurant in downtown Cleveland, is planning a new, as yet unnamed, casual restaurant on the same block, between Gypsy Beans and Cleveland Public Theater. That project, Mr. Kaplan said, couldn’t move ahead until a local option issue that would allow liquor sales was approved by voters in November.

 

On a walking tour of the neighborhood, Mr. Ramsey could point to several other spots where, he said, announcements of new restaurants, an art gallery and a graphic design business were imminent.

 

As for Ms. Gillota, she already is sold on the neighborhood.

 

“When I started looking for locations, I loved that space and I love Cleveland Public Theatre and all the things that are happening with the Capitol Theatre and Near West (Theatre) and a couple of art galleries that are coming,” she said.

 

“I can’t be on the street and leave the door unlocked without about eight people walking in and asking, ‘When are you going to open?’”

 

 

 

Urban renewal

 

Along the same strip as Gypsy Beans, architect Robert Maschke has opened 1point618 art gallery on the first floor of a building he bought 18 months ago for his business. As an architect, Mr. Maschke found himself helping clients with artwork and thought a gallery would help.

 

He chose this stretch of Detroit Avenue because he likes the future he sees for the neighborhood. He is opening his sixth art show in December.

 

“The first six or seven months our (architecture) clients were still buying the art, but we started getting two, three hundred to our receptions” and some of those attendees were buying art, Mr. Maschke said.

 

“We’re not getting art buyers walking up and down the street,” he freely admitted. “But it will happen someday; I believe in the neighborhood in that regard.”

 

Mr. Ramsey of the Detroit Shoreway group said he believes Gordon Square Arts District could be a national model for how the arts can be a catalyst for urban redevelopment.

 

While following through on a plan as grand as the arts district would be a daunting task for most inner-city neighborhoods, the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood already has made remarkable progress.

 

In 1990, Mr. Ramsey said, the average sale price of a home in Detroit Shoreway was $16,000. The organization became a landlord and has been continuously renovating apartments in the neighborhood for several years.

 

Developers have joined in with new projects, notably the $110 million Battery Park, a 328-unit project of single-family homes. Townhouses and lofts are under way a few blocks north of Detroit.

 

The median home price in Detroit Shoreway now tops $70,000.

 

“For all intents and purposes, the (housing) market was dead,” Mr. Ramsey said. “Our job as a (development organization) was to stimulate the housing market.”

 

 

 

Great article!  I was over on Detroit this evening and the presence of the new retail tenants is already very apparent.  In the two newly remodeled retail spaces directly across from the Gordon Square Arcade, the lights were on in an art gallery and what looked like a design shop.  Work was being done inside Gypsy Beans as we walked by around 6:30.  Exciting!

I had heard that work had begun on the Capitol Theatre; nice to see that confirmed. I wonder what exactly is being done. Last I heard Marous had agreed to replace the roof in-kind; it had been leaking badly for years, creating lots of water damage.

I heard 2 weeks on Gypsy Beans & Baking today, which is what the article indicated.  Also, they're already doing some baking in there...I thought I smelled something good!

way cool

Does anyone know anything about Heartland's Wellington project in Detroit-Shoreway? I know that its a condo project, but I haven't seen or heard anything else about it.

All I've seen is a PDF from their site: http://www.avalonlofts.com/summer06.pdf

awesome. can we get some camerawork around there someone?

 

 

all i got is this one from last july. there was plenty of visible work being done back then:

 

^^You can see the Wellington stuff being built from I-90. They look pretty far along.

FYI, the location isn't really anywhere near the Arts District.

New, redone theaters to anchor Gordon Square Arts District

Friday, December 29, 2006

Joe Guillen

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

From the outside, the old Capitol Theatre on West 65th Street is practically invisible.

 

The theater's anonymous set of green doors, boarded-up ticket booth and archway lined with empty light bulb fixtures easily are hidden among the surrounding storefronts in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood ...

 

... More at http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1167385350132270.xml&coll=2

So if this is going to be like the village or dupont circle, is this the beginning of Cleveland propers gayborhood?

Looks like 8Shades beat you to the punch by 15 seconds KJP.  Could this be the closest multiple postings of an artile in UO history?