MORE HISTORY BEING "DEVELOPED" AWAY

Back to the bad news, unfortunately. And, once again, it is the shameless Cleveland, Ohio, where the latest scene of depravity is playing out. No less than three historic buildings, all adjacent and two unusually large due to multiple units, are being led to the sacrificial alter by the ward councilperson, eager to please a developer who, for some unknown reason, has chosen the site of these three buildings for his plan. This is located in the very historic Brooklyn Centre district, one of the oldest areas on Cleveland's west side. There are vacant tracts nearby, and there are buildings of more recent construction and lesser significance nearby that could be removed, instead. More than likely, the site is appealing because there is no more than three owners to deal with. One of these buildings is a terrace ("rowhousing") built in 1905 and designed by Cleveland architect George King, perhaps best known locally for the Kennedy building on the southeast corner of Detroit & W. 65th. Another building is a strip of stores, built in 1921. The remaining building is a residence, unsympathetically altered, built in the 1880s. Certainly the councilperson is in a position to steer the project away from this site, but, he seems indifferent. Being indifferent about its history is, unfortunately, Cleveland's greatest claim to infamy. One by one, the history of this city is shipped to the local landfills. What will Cleveland be like when the very last historic building is gone?

GOOD THINGS SOMETIMES DO HAPPEN

It will most likely surprise -- or even shock -- the regular visitors to this blog to see a post that is NOT about a threatened or doomed building. But, for a good number of recent years, this actually was a threatened building. It seems nearly unbelievable that this, somehow, reversed itself. Originally known as the George Howe mansion, it is one of the tiny handful of mansions still standing on the long-ago-glorious Euclid Avenue of Cleveland, Ohio. Designed by Cleveland architects Coburn & Barnum and built in 1893, its exterior is more Renaissance Revival than any style one would expect from 1893. Although having suffered losses of some interior features and unrestorable deterioration of other features, an impressive combination restoration-renovation has recently been completed by its owner, Cleveland State University. The main staircase and several fireplace mantels have survived and look great, today. Primarily, it is already being used for some graduate studies offices, and will also be used as a conference center.

RAPE IN THE CHURCHYARD

I hope my readers won't mind the absence of a photo with this particular post. This post is about the very same building whose photo appears in the immediately previous post -- the former convent at St. Stanislaus, Cleveland, Ohio. By an almost 'freak' set of circumstances, I was just told of how some individual has paid $30,000 for "salvage rights" to the old convent, and has already begun to sell off anything and everything, including interior architectural features. I guess the fate of this building is fairly obvious now. It would appear that money -- as always -- has once again emerged "victorious" over History. From a local diocese that has a long and inglorious track-record regarding their planned destruction of buildings they cease to use, this certainly comes as no surprise.

IGNORANCE IN THE CHURCHYARD

Ironically, this next post has some 'similarities' to the previous one. At the very least, the 'villian' is, once again, a Roman Catholic church in the Northeast Ohio Diocese. St. Stanislaus, in Cleveland's "Slavic Village" neighborhood, has decided to demolish their architect-designed Convent, built in 1917. Why? They no longer use many convents, these days, as homes for the 'Sisters' and, so, they think this means it "can no longer can be used" -- which then leads to: "Therefore, it must be demolished." Why does this tunnel-vision type of thinking continue to persist all around us? Why do so many persons, and/or organizations, continue to think that just because they alone can not use a building, that that means it "can't be used"?? For God's sake, have none of these people ever heard of (or even attended) yard-sales, garage-sales, and the like? One man's "junk" is very often some other man's "treasure", as the old saying goes. This particular building isn't even in bad condition, according to a very reliable source. Reportedly, there is some effort at present to find a buyer or tenant that St. Stanislaus will accept. Or, negatively, perhaps they have stubbornly already made up their minds. We'll let you know....

...ANGELS THEY AREN'T...

By the time any of you read this, it may be true that the building this post is about has been demolished. The building in question is a 1922 Mediterranean Revivial house built for Cleveland brewer Ernst Mueller in his twilight years. He chose to build on a property he had already owned for some years, which had been used at first as a family picnic ground. This is on Rocky River Drive, in Cleveland's West Park neighborhood. This street, adjoining the picturesque valley of the Rocky River, had been a bit of a favorite for country-homes for some of Cleveland's well-heeled, from c. 1890 to c. 1930. Somehow, though, this property later came into the possession of Our Lady Of Angels (they arrived here decades ago, as well), who were immediately to the south of the Mueller property. Now, they have announced they are going to demolish this house -- apparently for the "typical" sort of reasons (e.g., it's old, and/or we have no use for it). The image with this post is a vintage one, certainly taken while Mueller still lived there. As I stated at the beginning of this post, it may already be in some local landfill by the time you read this. [NOTE: This house was demolished, July 30th.]

WIRTH HOUSE.........AGAIN!!

It has been called to my attention that it has been way, way, way too long since I last made a post. True. The blog is not my entire life. I do other things. My head is still in the same place. I haven't abandoned any and all efforts to help save historic structures worth saving. It has also been called to my attention that another post regarding the threatened Wirth House, Cleveland, Ohio, needs to be made. [Please see September 2006 for previous post.] I hereby submit to the requests of some of the blog's viewers. Wirth House is a house built in 1884 for Frederick Wirth, the final Postmaster of the Village Of Brooklyn, Ohio, before it was annexed to Cleveland, Ohio. The house is owned by a private art-school, who originally planned on restoring/renovating the house for its use. But, they immediately occupied another building on the site...and NEVER did any work on Wirth House. A few years ago, they announced that they wanted to DEMOLISH Wirth House. Why? Apparently, they hate History. Their slogan is "Where Art Lives", but we know that there must be a 'codicil' at the end that reads "And Where History Dies". Numerous citizens who live nearby have expressed their opposition to this. The art-school does not care. After all, they apparently HATE HISTORY -- hence, History must be Destroyed. And this is "Art"?????

Chipping Away History, Building By Building

Cleveland, Ohio, continues to be one of the shameless leaders in the race to rid itself of all buildings more than 20 years old. One of the latest casualties was a commercial building, with living quarters above, built in 1911 (see photo). It was in perfectly good condition (although the storefronts had been covered over), but, since it was more than 20 years old, it had to go. It has joined many of its former neighbors, along Cleveland's Clark Avenue, near W. 25th Street, in the city's landfills. Old buildings on Clark Avenue have been "dropping like flies", lately. The neighborhood development corporation is undoubtedly promoting this foolishness, which certainly makes it a lot easier to raze the buildings. There is this illusion that everyone with 'influence' on Clark Avenue has that features all sorts of new buildings, with wonderful businesses, popping up like magic to fill in all the spaces left by these senseless demolitions. So far, the only thing Clark Avenue has to "brag" about is a lot of vacant lots. Meanwhile, its long and important history is being chipped away, building by building. "The only 'good' old building is a demolished one." is certainly the 'motto' on Clark Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.