Playhouse Square
Cleveland and other cities have struggled for years with vacant schools. As empty buildings hang in limbo, they deteriorate, increasing the likelihood that they'll be torn down. Adaptive reuse, while challenging, can be a tool for preservation.
Dozens of communities across the U.S. have formed effective, ongoing partnerships with the police that have improved safety and trust.
Our city seems to be constantly in the spotlight these days, for our innovations as well as our challenges. Meet a group of leaders who are redefining the narrative of our city and pushing us to collectively move forward.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress has announced that it will be hosting two CLE City Life tours on Saturday, November 29th and Saturday, December 27th.
"Cleveland Neighborhood Progress is pleased to offer citywide bus tours to introduce (or re-introduce) you to some of the coolest and most unique places to live in Northeast Ohio," the website states. "Join us and see why Tremont and Ohio City receive so much publicity. We’ll show you why University Circle is considered the most intellectual square mile in the nation. And you’ll understand why demand is so high for Downtown living options. All this and more!"
The cost of the tour is $12. You can register here.
"Cleveland Neighborhood Progress is pleased to offer citywide bus tours to introduce (or re-introduce) you to some of the coolest and most unique places to live in Northeast Ohio," the website states. "Join us and see why Tremont and Ohio City receive so much publicity. We’ll show you why University Circle is considered the most intellectual square mile in the nation. And you’ll understand why demand is so high for Downtown living options. All this and more!"
The cost of the tour is $12. You can register here.
According to 2010 census figures, the city's population is just 5 percent foreign-born, less than half the nationwide average. This decade also witnessed our city's population slip below 400,000, a decline that advocates believe can be reversed by attracting newcomers, including immigrants.
As part of its centennial celebration, the Cleveland Foundation has anounced that it is giving away a free day of theater at Playhouse Square. The gift includes 2,300 free tickets to five holiday performances by the Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre on Sunday, November 30th. To be eligible, you must enter your name into an online ticket lottery system for the chance to receive up to four tickets to a single show.
From the press release:
"The Cleveland Foundation Day of Theater will include the following productions at PlayhouseSquare:
· 'A Christmas Story' by Cleveland Play House at the Allen Theatre at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (family-friendly show)
· 'A Christmas Carol' by Great Lakes Theater at the Ohio Theatre at 3 p.m. (family-friendly show)
· 'The Santaland Diaries' by Cleveland Public Theatre at the Outcalt Theatre at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (adults-only show)
Beginning today, people can enter the online lottery at www.playhousesquare.org/giftlottery . The website is currently open and will remain open for 100 hours or just over four days, until 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7. This lottery is not first-come, first-served; residents will be randomly selected to attend the performances."
The Cleveland Foundation has helped to sustain and bolster all three theater organizations, and officials decided to use this latest centennial gift as a way to expose more Clevelanders to the gift of theater.
From the press release:
"The Cleveland Foundation Day of Theater will include the following productions at PlayhouseSquare:
· 'A Christmas Story' by Cleveland Play House at the Allen Theatre at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (family-friendly show)
· 'A Christmas Carol' by Great Lakes Theater at the Ohio Theatre at 3 p.m. (family-friendly show)
· 'The Santaland Diaries' by Cleveland Public Theatre at the Outcalt Theatre at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (adults-only show)
Beginning today, people can enter the online lottery at www.playhousesquare.org/
The Cleveland Foundation has helped to sustain and bolster all three theater organizations, and officials decided to use this latest centennial gift as a way to expose more Clevelanders to the gift of theater.
Young people born in Cleveland in the 90s don't feel a sense of nostalgia for the city's heyday. Instead, they see an increasingly vibrant city as a place of opportunity, provided we stay on our current path.
In this candid, wide-ranging interview, the leader of the Cleveland Foundation discusses its centennial gifts, the Greater University Circle Initiative, the Transformation Plan and more.
A fresh energy is crackling all across the 216, from ambitious new developments taking shape downtown and in University Circle, to bike-friendly avenues and the transformation of blight into pedestrian-friendly green space. But the fun’s just getting started. We rounded up 10 of the most exciting projects on the horizon that have us shaking with anticipation.
travel writer discovers 'the quirky side of cleveland'
In feature titled “Discovering the quirky side of Cleveland,” travel writer Katherine Calos of the Richmond Times-Dispatch focuses on the less conventional side of some Cleveland hotspots.
“You really know a city when you know its quirks. So, let’s get to know Cleveland,” she leads off.
“Where else would you find the world’s largest chandelier hanging over a city street, Froot Loops on hot dogs, religious statues lovingly restored by a makeup artist, a leg lamp in the Christmas house that made it famous, a portrait featuring eye protection from whale-oil lamps and a museum that’s enshrined the remains of a disc jockey?”
Highlighted for inclusion are:
The Happy Dog: “Chili cheese dogs seem a little lame when compared with the Mobile Home-Wrecker, the Sunday Night Special, the 1:45 AM Special and East Meets West -- a few of the suggestions for combining the 50 available toppings for the $5 hot dogs.”
The Playhouse Square Chandelier: “The world’s largest outdoor chandelier, according to the Guinness World Records, became the centerpiece of Cleveland’s theater district in May. It’s already become an icon for Playhouse Square.”
A Christmas Story House: “If you’ve ever marveled at the supreme tackiness of the leg lamp in the 1983 movie “A Christmas Story,” you’ll love it in its natural setting.”
Cleveland Museum of Art: “Put on your coolest shades for a ‘selfie’ with Nathaniel Olds. That’s what he did when he sat for a portrait in 1837. His fashionable green-tinted eyeglasses offered protection from the bright light of Argand lamps, which produced about 10 times as much light as other whale-oil lamps.”
Read the rest right here.
“You really know a city when you know its quirks. So, let’s get to know Cleveland,” she leads off.
“Where else would you find the world’s largest chandelier hanging over a city street, Froot Loops on hot dogs, religious statues lovingly restored by a makeup artist, a leg lamp in the Christmas house that made it famous, a portrait featuring eye protection from whale-oil lamps and a museum that’s enshrined the remains of a disc jockey?”
Highlighted for inclusion are:
The Happy Dog: “Chili cheese dogs seem a little lame when compared with the Mobile Home-Wrecker, the Sunday Night Special, the 1:45 AM Special and East Meets West -- a few of the suggestions for combining the 50 available toppings for the $5 hot dogs.”
The Playhouse Square Chandelier: “The world’s largest outdoor chandelier, according to the Guinness World Records, became the centerpiece of Cleveland’s theater district in May. It’s already become an icon for Playhouse Square.”
A Christmas Story House: “If you’ve ever marveled at the supreme tackiness of the leg lamp in the 1983 movie “A Christmas Story,” you’ll love it in its natural setting.”
Cleveland Museum of Art: “Put on your coolest shades for a ‘selfie’ with Nathaniel Olds. That’s what he did when he sat for a portrait in 1837. His fashionable green-tinted eyeglasses offered protection from the bright light of Argand lamps, which produced about 10 times as much light as other whale-oil lamps.”
Read the rest right here.
Tampa Bay successfully hosted the Republicans in 2012, and Denver hosted the Democrats four years before that. Fresh Water decided to reach out to representatives from each city to see if our fair city could glean some best practices on how to pull off a successful -- and inclusive -- convention.
As the 2014 Gay Games play out with eclectic events all over town, it becomes clear how they will leave a lasting positive effect on the host city of Cleveland. Uniting beneath a banner of inclusion, collaboration and unity, participants and sponsors establish a spirit that will endure long after the lights have dimmed and the last athlete has left the track.
new york times takes a shine to cleveland's reuse policies
In the Travel section of the New York Times, writer Peter Larson details the robust reuse approach to development taking place in Cleveland. Titled “Cleveland, a City Repurposed,” the article describes various projects in the city that made use of vacant historic structures.
“If there had to be a slogan to describe Cleveland as it is today, ‘what’s old is new again’ would undoubtedly be it,” Larson writes. “In the last few years, locals and businesses in this Midwest metropolis have been repurposing historic buildings from its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and turning them into restaurants, stores and draws for both residents and tourists. Many of these structures had sat empty for a decade or more before restoration efforts began infusing a vibrancy into this once-somewhat-downtrodden city.”
Examples given include Cowell & Hubbard, Zack Bruell’s upscale French restaurant that opened in a former jewelry boutique of the same name. The Horseshoe Casino, which now occupies the first four floors of the former Higbee’s department store. Ohio City’s Transformer Station, which was built in 1924 as a power-converter station for the local streetcar line. And the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, also built in a defunct power station.
Read the rest right here.
“If there had to be a slogan to describe Cleveland as it is today, ‘what’s old is new again’ would undoubtedly be it,” Larson writes. “In the last few years, locals and businesses in this Midwest metropolis have been repurposing historic buildings from its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and turning them into restaurants, stores and draws for both residents and tourists. Many of these structures had sat empty for a decade or more before restoration efforts began infusing a vibrancy into this once-somewhat-downtrodden city.”
Examples given include Cowell & Hubbard, Zack Bruell’s upscale French restaurant that opened in a former jewelry boutique of the same name. The Horseshoe Casino, which now occupies the first four floors of the former Higbee’s department store. Ohio City’s Transformer Station, which was built in 1924 as a power-converter station for the local streetcar line. And the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, also built in a defunct power station.
Read the rest right here.
After decades of population loss, cities like Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Pittsburgh are now growing faster than the rest of their metro areas. Urban developers are trying to attract the right amenities to support the new wave of urbanites. So what’s needed to sustain a dense and vibrant city? The answers might surprise you.