^ It was pretty obvious (to me, at least) that @327 was kidding....

10 hours ago, edale said:

^ It was pretty obvious (to me, at least) that @327 was kidding....

 

You should read more of 327's posts.

It looks like security for terrorist that now like to to rent large vans and trucks and drive them into crowds. Sure you see this all over the world and country where large crowds are assembled sadly but good for Pittsburgh on standing up to terrorist.

Edited December 3, 20186 yr by Mildtraumatic

In some cities, crowds are always present. Perhaps we in Cleveland aren't used to them or go in panic mode when we expect them to appear.

Did the promoters of InCuya Fest have dump trucks parked all around the site? 

Cleveland is truly sad when it comes to how they deal with large crowds.  It's like they are still living in the 1960s. 

On 11/27/2018 at 11:00 PM, KJP said:

 

You should read more of 327's posts.

 

I was agreeing with you.  Whenever anyone points out Pittsburgh has a better way of doing things, the response is always that their topography is more favorable.  Or less favorable, somehow leading to better results.  Either way, adopting their policies is out of the question because they have hills and we don't.  I think that's bunk.  They manage their square, including programming and security, better than we do.  And we should be looking to adopt those policies.

Redirected from the May Co. thread....

 

On the blank wall of the Standard Building, I would love to see a changing mural of the square, displaying images of historical events that have occurred or been recognized by activities at the square. And they would be shown on their anniversaries. Perhaps a text crawl across the bottom.... "On this date, April 16, 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train visited Cleveland and a procession visited Public Square. Thousands of Clevelanders paid their final respects to the assassinated president." On the few days that there was nothing of note to remember, perhaps some general historic images of the square could be shown. Or information about upcoming civic events could be shared. This is supposed to be Cleveland's living room and a place for the sharing of information, ideas, politics, and commerce -- the reason why all cities exist. So use that blank slate to play to that role.

21 hours ago, KJP said:

Redirected from the May Co. thread....

 

On the blank wall of the Standard Building, I would love to see a changing mural of the square, displaying images of historical events that have occurred or been recognized by activities at the square. And they would be shown on their anniversaries. Perhaps a text crawl across the bottom.... "On this date, April 16, 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train visited Cleveland and a procession visited Public Square. Thousands of Clevelanders paid their final respects to the assassinated president." On the few days that there was nothing of note to remember, perhaps some general historic images of the square could be shown. Or information about upcoming civic events could be shared. This is supposed to be Cleveland's living room and a place for the sharing of information, ideas, politics, and commerce -- the reason why all cities exist. So use that blank slate to play to that role.

 

That would be really cool. Our public square is so beautiful, but it’s being brought down largely by the vacant lots and to a minor extent that ugly blank wall haha. I’m not sure if the owners will ever do anything with that wall. Probably not financially worth the effort. 

Before we worry about the blank wall how about finding the money for the bollards and getting rid of those godforsaken jersey barriers and flower pots?!?!  

^ Personally, I don't think the bollards are even needed.  Just take pout the jersey barriers and return to the original two crosswalks and be done with it.  This city always finds ways to mess up the simplest things. 

Edited December 27, 20186 yr by freefourur

I don't disagree unfortunately I don't think we will ever see the end to the barriers until someone coughs up the money for the bollards... and even then I don't know if that will happen.  I wish everyone could get together and contribute?  Dan Gilbert+Key Bank+Huntington Bank+K&D...???  Everyone on the square.

2 hours ago, mrclifton88 said:

I don't disagree unfortunately I don't think we will ever see the end to the barriers until someone coughs up the money for the bollards... and even then I don't know if that will happen.  I wish everyone could get together and contribute?  Dan Gilbert+Key Bank+Huntington Bank+K&D...???  Everyone on the square.

 

Donors wanted Superior closed off and they're still trying to prove it's a public menace.

I hope the media rips the city on this embarrassing two-headed sh!tshow (the enduring jersey barriers and the fouled-up listing in the city budget)....

 

 

Still there. Monuments to fear....

On 7/9/2018 at 12:09 PM, ethlaw said:

The original design was perfectly fine. Frank Jackson really screwed this thing up.

Is it time for Cleveland to try another Mayor?

This is embarrassing to see.  It also makes me nervous to see LAND Studio's involvement with Shaker Square . They were instrumental with what we have now on Public Square.  An idea of a park setting that did not take into any account the component being a major transportation hub.  A good design would have resolved these unsightly additions prior to a rush to build

4 minutes ago, dave68 said:

This is embarrassing to see.  It also makes me nervous to see LAND Studio's involvement with Shaker Square . They were instrumental with what we have now on Public Square.  An idea of a park setting that did not take into any account the component being a major transportation hub.  A good design would have resolved these unsightly additions prior to a rush to build

 

It's crazy that the city is still doing business with LAND.  I can't tell if they misunderstand urbanity or if they're fundamentally opposed to it.  Either way I've had enough.  But even after the Cimperman scandal we continue to give them every public dollar we can.  That too is embarrassing to see.

1 hour ago, dave68 said:

This is embarrassing to see.  It also makes me nervous to see LAND Studio's involvement with Shaker Square . They were instrumental with what we have now on Public Square.  An idea of a park setting that did not take into any account the component being a major transportation hub.  A good design would have resolved these unsightly additions prior to a rush to build

 

LAND isn’t the reason there are unsightly temporary barriers out there. Fear mongering with no basis in actual data is.

Yea this actually has nothing to do with LAND, this was the City & the Mayor.  Apparently they still cant find the money for the bollards to replace these monstrosities. 

Edited February 20, 20196 yr by mrclifton88

On 12/27/2018 at 8:14 AM, imjustinjk said:

 

That would be really cool. Our public square is so beautiful, but it’s being brought down largely by the vacant lots and to a minor extent that ugly blank wall haha. I’m not sure if the owners will ever do anything with that wall. Probably not financially worth the effort. 

 

The other side of the blank wall is a bank of elevators that line that entire side of the building. I can't imagine they would do that unless they thought another high rise would go in behind the Old Stone Church. Also, the Standard building is a great building to live in, my wife and I love it. 

6 hours ago, smimes said:

 

The other side of the blank wall is a bank of elevators that line that entire side of the building. I can't imagine they would do that unless they thought another high rise would go in behind the Old Stone Church. Also, the Standard building is a great building to live in, my wife and I love it. 

 

Yeah I love the building and I understand it’s elevators. Just kind of unfortunate to have the huge blank wall. I live, work, and go to school downtown - so I’ve become fairly familiar with the “sore spots”. The wall isn’t a huge detractor, just kind of sad to loom over the public space.  It’s probably not worth the cost to cover it. But something like a large Cleveland/sports themed poster such as on TC by the stadiums would be nice. 

Those jersey barriers aren't the only impediments in play.  Most of the square's north half is fenced off, with signs saying the grass needs to hibernate.  That grass kidney bean with the fake hills takes up a lot of room, which is now inaccessible to humans all winter every winter.  And why does the grass need protection?  Because they put it in the middle of Ontario Street, the direct pedestrian route between Tower City and the courts.  Now, for the betterment of grass, we're asked to take a circuitous route behind the ugly concrete retaining walls that hold up those fake hills.  Hills which-- this point bears emphasis-- are now closed off to the public all winter every winter.  And come spring, the precious grass will once again become Ontario Street, by necessity, and get torn up.  Pedestrians were an afterthought in this design.  They prioritized greenspace over humans.  Gotta quit doing that. 

Why shouldn't LAND Studio be held responsible for a design that was deemed unsafe.  Also to note, removable bollards were initially designed to close off Superior for special events but Nora Romanoff was quoted as saying those were cut because they didn't figure out how to do that with the utilities running under the road. I find that hard to believe since additional monies were allotted for underground utilities to be rerouted for construction needs.  

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2019/03/04/happy-two-year-anniversary-public-square-jersey-barriers?utm_source=featurefollow&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=hpfeatures&utm_content=HomeTopFeature

 

Happy Two Year Anniversary, Public Square Jersey Barriers!!!

Posted By Sam Allard on Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 12:47 pm

 

Sunday marked the two-year anniversary of the installation of concrete jersey barriers on Public Square, the ugly "safety" features that Frank Jackson has stubbornly refused to remove. 

The barriers border the 600-foot strip of Superior Avenue through the Square and were placed there because of Jackson's stated concerns about lone-wolf terrorists. These concerns were debunked by local terrorism experts and roundly mocked by City Council. 

Watch the video in the first tweet and weep. Not a jersey barrier in sight.....

 

 

If those pics from Nice, France make you sick, these will make you weep.  I was is Israel last year and this was the scene.  In the video notice the tram goes by with NO BARRIERS whatsoever!  And it all works...bikes, pedestrians, trains...and it's busy day and night.  I asked and at least the few people I talked too said they knew of no accidents or incidents.  

That's really nice. 

 

Notice that the guy on the bike is going faster than the tram.  Part of the reason why the tram is so safe is that it isn't moving that fast.

 

 

 

My mother-in-law and I went down for this. We arrived about 10am - line was already as shown in the picture above. Someone said the hosts were estimating a 3-4 hour wait. We waited about 30 minutes - at that point, based on how far we made it and how long the line was, I think 3-4 hours was accurate. So we went to West Side Market instead. But I did get some nice pictures on a beautiful morning. 

Edited April 30, 20196 yr by Boomerang_Brian

The Jersey Barriers are coming down!!! They are moving them to block the entrance to the road, so this might just be temporary. It looks like they are setting up for an event this weekend. 

 

Probably for the marathon. 

What a surprise. The square looks so much nicer without them.

The barriers should have never been placed into the design. Nor the center crosswalk when two perfectly designed ADA crosswalks were in the approved design.   This is embarrassing.

Might as well call them "Frank's Revenge".

19 hours ago, KJP said:

What a surprise. The square looks so much nicer without them.

 

And the irony of the Jackson administration claim that they are for "anti-terrorism".....every day on Public Square in Cleveland--jersey barriers.  Huge event where tens of thousands will all be in the same place in Public Square: "Take em out!" ?

It costs $9800 every time the jersey barriers are removed.  That happened nine times in 2017, costing the city a total of $88,794.  Adding 2018 and 2019 ,with the same average, we are nearing almost $270,000.   The $400,000 City Council gave for maintenance to Public Square isn't going to go very far.

Edited May 19, 20196 yr by dave2017

^ thank you for that infuriating bit of information. This is criminal stupidity. 

Security barrier shuffle costing Cleveland taxpayers thousands of dollars

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/security-barrier-shuffle-costing-cleveland-taxpayers-thousands-of-dollars

18 minutes ago, KJP said:

Security barrier shuffle costing Cleveland taxpayers thousands of dollars

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/security-barrier-shuffle-costing-cleveland-taxpayers-thousands-of-dollars

 

It's good that the local media is calling attention to this.  I'm hoping the pressure will result in permanent removal of the barriers.

A modest proposal for Public Square and the Jacobs' property:

 

How much money could be saved for a couple of years of no salaried positions on The Group Plan and Public Square's CEO,  General Manager, and the Digital Marketing Director?   Shouldn't there be a fee for any event planned  for Public Square's use so that money could remedy these mistakes?  Lastly LAND Studio should help by taking the funds allocated for the costs on public art and use that money for fixing the design flaws that they were partially responsible for.    The other issue is that bicycle lanes remain out of play in any remedy to removal of the concrete barriers.   I would like to see another option to fix the mistakes made by Field Operations than their company.  

Question.  Shouldn't the City and the Group Plan event planners be conscious of the fact they are wasting taxpayers monies every time they move the unnecessary  concrete barriers in Public Square. Move all these events to the underused Malls .Line the promenades with the tents.

I'll start a crowd-funding campaign and get the money in six months...

 

A design ridding Public Square of the Jersey barriers just awaits funding

The Group Plan Commission reconvened its design team to take another look at one of downtown Cleveland's most controversial features.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/government/design-ridding-public-square-jersey-barriers-just-awaits-funding

 

"Not a City of Cleveland project"  Mayor Frank Jackson........What a jackass.  When is he going to leave?  Can we just take the barriers in the middle of the night?

"Accusations of classism and racism followed."

 

Goddamn is every f'ing thing about race in this country???

Completely agree with mack34.  I've been saying for years that Jackson is a dinosaur and lacks vision.  The city has the money to make this happen and is waiting for donations.  Seriously??  

The city of Cleveland is also traditionally and notoriously cheap. For at least 50 years, it has never offered up its own money to instigate projects, including debt financing. Instead, it always tries to get someone else to pay for things through grants or other contributions. It is a contributing reason why so many public projects take so long to be realized.

On 9/6/2018 at 8:59 PM, KJP said:

The eagles have landed: Long-gone Public Square statues find new downtown home

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/09/the_eagles_have_landed_long-go.html

 

Completely forgot to post these pics before. A couple of Friday nights ago we were coming out of the Ritz-Carlton at about 10pm and stumbled straight into the crew installing the eagles on their new perches!

 

Looks like they might be installing walking paths in the central area of the northern half (around the stage). To me this was the biggest flaw from the original design. That's not counting the crosswalk fiasco... that was an issue created post completion. 

 

Anyone have info on this? Right now they are just digging up dirt on both sides about where people have naturally created trails to the center of public square.