keybank donates $4m towards revitalization of public square, bringing project closer to its goal

Lee Chilcote Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Public Square renderingPublic Square rendering

The KeyBank Foundation has announced a $4 million donation towards the revitalization of Public Square, bringing this long-sought project one step closer to a fall groundbreaking and completion in 2016. The gift is the project's first corporate donation, and the single largest gift in the KeyBank Foundation's history. In recognition, Group Plan Commission leaders spearheading the project have pledged that the new pathway that will ring Public Square will be called the KeyBank Promenade.

“The redevelopment of Public Square will be one of the most significant projects in the city’s history, and we are proud to be able to play a part in making it happen,” said KeyCorp Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney in a press release. “It will provide the kind of public space that acts as a magnet for residents and visitors. Years from now, Clevelanders will regard this project as one of the essential elements in the city’s revitalization.”

KeyBank's gift also meets the requirements of a $1 million challenge grant from the Cleveland Foundation. The gift includes $500,000 for long-term maintenance.

Check out Fresh Water's past coverage of Public Square's revitalization here and here.
Lee Chilcote
Lee Chilcote

About the Author: Lee Chilcote

Lee Chilcote is an award-winning journalist, writer, and author whose writing has been published in The Washington Post, Associated Press, National Public Radio, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Vanity Fair, Next City, Belt, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Magazine, Crain's Cleveland Business, and many literary journals and anthologies. He has also written poetry chapbooks, produced plays, and won a grant from the Ohio Arts Council. He is founder and past editor of The Land, a local news organization reporting on Cleveland's neighborhoods, and founder and past executive director of Literary Cleveland. He lives in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland with his family.

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