Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

Some environmentalists worry that the proposed waste-to-energy plant in Cleveland will not be as environmentally friendly as its proponents claim.

The City of Cleveland is proceeding with the third and final phase of the Kamm's Corners streetscape project. Bidding opened to contractors on Thursday.

An article in this week's issue of West Life offers more information about the Aerotropolis study being conducted by Cleveland State University. The study should be completed by the end of the month.

Workers have resumed construction of the townhouse portion of the former Ashbury Towers development in Cleveland's Stockyards neighborhood.

The City of Cleveland hired Princeton Environmental Group to design a 20-megawatt waste-to-energy power plant for the Ridge Road Transfer Station. The small company will relocate to Cleveland and begin work. The plant would be the first in the nation to employ the gasification technology.

Update: a Plain Dealer editorial calls the project "a practical example of sustainability".

Planners of the proposed aerotropolis around Cleveland Hopkins International Airport began receiving feedback at the first of the aerotropolis stakeholder sessions yesterday.

The Ohio House approved language that would reduce the speed limit on Cleveland's West Shoreway from 50 to 35 mph. It's part of the plans to convert the highway to a boulevard. City leaders are working to obtain funding for the project's second phase.

The City of Cleveland is seeking proposals from companies interested in building a municipal Wi-Fi network for the Old Brooklyn area. The pilot project would cover 4½ square miles, and if successful, would eventually be expanded to other parts of Cleveland.

Update: a Plain Dealer editorial calls it "an experiment that warrants both encouragement and scrutiny in the new year."

Residents on West 50th Street are challenging the City of Cleveland's Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan. They hope to retain the neighborhood's mature trees through regular emamectin benzoate treatments.

More than 100 people attended a rally in Tremont on Sunday for bicycle and pedestrian access on the planned new Innerbelt Bridge. They were joined by Dennis Kucinich, who wrote a letter to Governor Strickland in their support. Groups of attendees followed ODOT's proposed alternate routes in an effort to highlight their flaws.

Among the articles in the new issue of EcoWatch Journal are stories about deconstruction in Tremont, the Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership for Biodiversity (LEAP), and the struggle over bike lanes on the Innerbelt Bridge.

As the Kamm's Corners streetscape project continues, more businesses are opening in the commercial district along Lorain Avenue. Workers recently completed the project's second phase, and the Kamm's Corners Development Corporation is seeking funds for the third and final phase.

The $21 million renovation of the Union Gospel Press building in Tremont should be completed by the end of the year. About half of the units in the 175,000-square-foot complex have been rented.

The new wind turbine at Pearl Road Auto Parts in Cleveland began producing electricity on Friday. It was erected in September. Owner Jon Kaplan also started PearlWind, a turbine purchasing and installation company.

The Gordon Square Arts District celebrated the completion of the Detroit Avenue streetscape project on Saturday. The grand re-opening of the district's Capitol Theatre will be held on October 2, and the festivities will continue for 10 days. A Plain Dealer editorial says that "this should be an important and joyous week for the residents of Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood."

Update: WCPN and the Plain Dealer have more information.

GreenCityBlueLake and Rust Wire present highlights from the second From Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference, held last week in the Gordon Square Arts District. In a Plain Dealer op-ed, Gordon Square Arts District Chairman Lawrence Schultz describes the neighborhood reinvestment as "a unique economic dynamo" that is "rewriting the way the arts can rapidly shape neighborhood redevelopment."

Update: GreenCityBlueLake has more stories from the event.

The City of Cleveland is seeking $37 million in federal stimulus funding for the planned reconstruction of the West Shoreway.

The interior makeover of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is half complete, as manager BAA modernizes the terminal and converts the airport's retail establishments to its airmall concept.

The completion of the replacement Fulton Road Bridge in Old Brooklyn has been delayed. It is now scheduled to open in May 2010.

A Cleveland Public Power delegation is visiting Japan and China to investigate solid waste to energy conversion facilities. It is part of their efforts to establish a waste-to-energy plant at the Ridge Road Transfer Station.

Update: a Plain Dealer editorial is cautiously optimistic about the concept.

The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture will hold From Rust Belt to Artist Belt II on September 17–18 in Cleveland's Gordon Square Arts District. It will continue the conversations of the first symposium held in May 2008.

The Infrastructurist identified the planned reconstruction of the West Shoreway in Cleveland as one of seven urban freeway removal projects that could benefit American cities.

The renovated Capitol Theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District is scheduled to open on October 3. The movie theater is owned by the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization and will be managed by Cleveland Cinemas. It will show a mix of mainstream and independent films.

A noise mitigation pilot project is underway at sites along the Ohio Turnpike in Berea and Strongsville. A final report on the effectiveness of the sound barriers should be ready in September. Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Transportation is considering the installation of noise walls along I-90 in Tremont, and is gathering public feedback on the proposal.

Construction of the new Fulton Road Bridge in Old Brooklyn is 75% complete, but poor weather earlier this year may push back its opening from November 2009 to March 2010.

Yesterday, RTA's board of trustees approved several resolutions, including contracts for the design of the new Brookpark rapid station, for a study of the Warrensville Center Road-Van Aken Boulevard intersection in Shaker Heights, and for the construction of the new East 55th Street rapid station. The board also authorized spending to complete the overhaul of its light rail fleet and to purchase 6.7 acres for the expansion of the Westlake Park-N-Ride facility.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is conducting an update of its Noise Compatibility Program. Work on the 18–24-month noise study, last completed in 2000, began in January.

Cleveland Councilwoman Dona Brady introduced legislation that would designate Saints Philip and James church and school as a Cleveland Landmark. It is one of the churches being closed by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.

ODNR's Office of Coastal Management awarded more than $1 million in Coastal Management Assistance Grants to 10 organizations and government entities (PDF). The grants include $50,000 to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District for its Walworth Run Green Infrastructure Feasibility Study and $68,250 to the Cleveland Metroparks to develop a shoreline management plan for Huntington Reservation.

Update: West Life has more details.

RTA held a groundbreaking ceremony today for the new Puritas rapid transit station in Cleveland. Construction of the $9.6 million Red Line station is scheduled to be completed in fall 2010.

The Stanford Homes development in Old Brooklyn is being deconstructed. Construction of the six-house project on Stanford Avenue began in 2005, but was never completed.

Installation of a wind turbine at Pearl Road Auto Parts and Wrecking in Cleveland began today. It is expected to supply 100% of the company's electricity when it begins operating in July. Demand for small-scale wind turbines continues to grow.

Bishop Lennon of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese amended the plans to consolidate parishes and close churches. Two west side Cleveland churches that had been slated to close will remain open: St. Colman on West 65th Street and St. Ignatius of Antioch on Lorain Avenue. Meanwhile, the Ohio & Erie Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America will continue its tours of historic Cleveland churches with tours of St. James Cathedral and St. Ignatius of Antioch on May 9.

The Finance Committee of Cleveland City Council approved $211,000 in redevelopment funding for the purchase of the Variety Theater on Lorain Avenue. The Friends of the Variety Theater organization has already secured the remainder of the building's $1 million asking price.

The City of Cleveland and a group of neighboring communities hope to create an aerotropolis around Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Mayor Jackson proposed the concept in 2007. Cleveland officials also want to build retail on City-owned property near the airport.

An article in the March/April issue of the Journal of Housing & Community Development highlighted the Tremont Pointe development in Cleveland.

The Wall Street Journal looked at the role of artists as urban pioneers during the foreclosure crisis, focusing on examples in Cleveland's Collinwood and Detroit-Shoreway neighborhoods.

The Pearl Road/West 25th Street Comprehensive Transportation Study will be unveiled at at public meeting on April 23 at the Gavin Lee Party Center in Old Brooklyn. The plan was was adopted by the Cleveland City Planning Commission on March 20.

The News Sun has more details about RTA's plans to redesign the Brookpark rapid station. The design process is expected to take 13 months, and RTA will continue to market the surrounding property for a potential transit-oriented development.

A ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of the first of the Green Cottages in the Cleveland EcoVillage will be held on April 24.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority may break ground for the new Puritas rapid transit station later this month. The $9.6 million project, designed by DeWolff Partnership Architects, will be one of the first local investments to benefit from federal stimulus funding. Construction is expected to take 18 months. RTA also issued an RFP for the design of a replacement for the Brookpark station.

The Stockyard Redevelopment Organization is facing a funding shortfall. Leaders are looking at short-term and long-term strategies for the future of the community development corporation.

RTA will use some of its federal stimulus money to initiate the planning and design a four-mile line along Clifton Boulevard in Cleveland and Lakewood. The entire project will cost an estimated $14 million. New articulated buses will enter service along the corridor this fall.

Christopher Evans of the Plain Dealer praises an effort to establish an orchard on a vacant property in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, calling it an example of "grass-roots revolutionary thinking".

A runway extension at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday. FAA grants covered 75% of the $44.2 million project.

Now that the Lower Big Creek Valley Greenway Redevelopment & Restoration Plan has been adopted by the City of Cleveland, backers have begun seeking funding for the implementation of the $11 million plan.

Some neighbors of the proposed townhouses at Lorain Avenue and West 47th Street in Cleveland are resisting the development. Councilman Santiago supports it.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that building a disposal dike north of East 55th Street would cost between $250 million and $300 million. The site has been proposed as the new home for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority

The Cleveland City Planning Commission today unanimously approved the Lower Big Creek Valley Greenway Redevelopment & Restoration Plan (PDF, 79.1 MB). It calls for investments of nearly $11 million in a trail network and environmental restoration projects. The new trails will connect Brookside Reservation and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo with the Towpath Trail.

Update: the Plain Dealer published more details.

The NRP Group has proposed building 30 to 40 townhouses at Lorain Avenue and West 47th Street in Cleveland. A public meeting on the proposal will be held on February 11 at the Urban Community School.

The Tremont West Development Corporation's increased focus on code enforcement has been a source of controversy in the neighborhood. The CDC held its annual meeting last week.

The Cleveland City Planning Commission unanimously approved the Train Avenue Greenway Plan last week. The plans call for creating a 2.5-mile trail and greenway along the Train Avenue corridor between West 65th Street and the Towpath Trail. The project will cost an estimated $2.6 million.

The two developers who purchased portions of the former Ashbury Towers project in Cleveland hope to resume townhouse and apartment construction at the site.

The winners of the 2008 Cleveland Design Competition were announced today. First prize went to Nini Spagl and Gerald Haselwanter of Wein, Austria, second prize to Sylvain Delboy, Dimitri Boutleux, and Sarah Kassler of San Francisco, and third prize to Elise Shelley and James Roche of Toronto. The Design Competition posted images of the winning entries.

The Plain Dealer looked at the renovation plans for the closed Variety Theater on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland's West Boulevard neighborhood and the La Salle Theater on East 185th Street in North Collinwood.

The Ashbury Towers property was sold at auction last week. It was divided into two parcels, and a piece with 12 completed and uncompleted townhouses sold for $375,000. The other portion, the site of the former Joseph & Feiss factory, was sold to a second developer for $255,000. The two developers could resume construction of the stalled development.

The Plain Dealer's editorial page again addresses the West Shoreway reconstruction plans, encouraging Cleveland and ODOT officials to collaborate on making the project a Cleveland signature.

The City of Cleveland allocated $175,000 in CDBG funds for the purchase of the landmark Variety Theater on Lorain Avenue. The Friends of the Historic Variety Theater are raising funds for its restoration, and hope to install a new marquee in the spring.

While RTA's 2005 plans for a transit oriented development and a new Brookpark Road rapid station did not come to fruition, the agency still plans to build a new station. However, it has been delayed because other projects are higher priorities.

The delayed plans to convert the West Shoreway to a boulevard are regaining momentum. The Ohio Department of Transportation has agreements in place, and plans to begin Phase I work (PDF) in 2010. Phase II construction is now scheduled to start no sooner than 2013. ODOT will hold a public open house on December 11 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

Update: a Plain Dealer graphic breaks down the plans.

Work on the Pearl Road/West 25th Street Comprehensive Transportation Study is nearing completion.

The City of Cleveland sued Standex International, the former owner of the Trinity property on Detroit Road, and is seeking more than $1.5 million in compensation for the environmental cleanup of the site. Meanwhile, the Ohio EPA reached a settlement with the owners of City View Center in Garfield Heights. The developers agreed to make major infrastructure improvements (PDF) and pay a $1.2 million fine.

The Ohio Department of Transportation may drop its proposed two-bridge plan for carrying I-90 over the Cuyahoga River valley due to the rapid decay of the Innerbelt Bridge. One proposal calls for building a steel girder bridge under the existing truss bridge, which would require closing the bridge for two years. Meanwhile, a group of Tremont residents protested the continued closure of the West 14th Street entrance ramp to the bridge.

Update: a Plain Dealer editorial says that shutting down the bridge "would be disastrous for Cleveland."

A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday for the second phase of the Kamm's Corners streetscape improvement project (PDF). Work should be completed next year.

Update: the West Side Sun has more details.

On Friday, the American Planning Association presented Mayor Jackson with the award designating the West Side Market in Ohio City as one of the country's Great Public Spaces.

Research on the small house on Denison Avenue in Old Brooklyn indicates that it likely was built in 1853 by the son of one of Brooklyn Township's first settlers. Meanwhile, the North Olmsted Landmarks Commission may designate the Standen House on Kennedy Ridge Road as a historic property.

Including the proposed international village for West 25th Street in Cleveland's master plan is complicated by several factors, including disagreements between Councilman Santiago and Clark Metro Development Corporation, nonpayment of consultants' fees, and the lack of a recognized CDC for the area.

The new Fulton Road Bridge in Old Brooklyn remains on target for its scheduled November 2009 opening. Construction of the new bridge will require approximately 18,345 cubic yards of concrete.

This week's episode of WVIZ's Applause visits three houses: the straw bale house on Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights, architect Robert Maschke's modernist home near the West Shoreway, and Tremont's Clarence Court townhouses designed by Dan Bickerstaff.

Cleveland Councilman Brian Cummins is looking for more information about a small house on Denison Avenue. It was built in the 1840s, but has been poorly maintained and could be demolished.

The American Planning Association named Cleveland's West Side Market as one of the nation's great public spaces, including it on their 2008 list of Great Places in America.

The partners working on the proposed Big Creek Trail and Neighborhood Connector hope to select a preferred alignment next month. About 100 residents attended an August public meeting about the trail.

Councilman Santiago will announce plans for an international village centered around the intersection of West 25th Street and Clark Avenue in Cleveland. His intent is to create a brand for the area.

The new offices of Douglass & Associates on Grayton Road in Cleveland were designed to attain LEED gold certification.

This week in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, work started on Detroit Avenue streetscape improvements and on five green cottages in the Cleveland EcoVillage.

On September 22, the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals will again discuss a request to install an electronic billboard in exchange for removing five existing nonconforming billboards. A group of residents wants six additional billboards to be removed.

The September issue of the Plain Press includes articles about housing code enforcement in Tremont, conflicts caused by construction at the Union Gospel Press building in Tremont, and the status of Ashbury Towers, the stalled redevelopment of the Joseph & Feiss site in Cleveland's Stockyards neighborhood. In addition, WCPN devoted this morning's Sound of Ideas show to a discussion of Tremont issues.

Several potential routes have been identified for the planned Big Creek Trail and Neighborhood Connector, and residents are invited to provide input about the proposals at a public meeting this evening in Brooklyn City Hall. The greenway would link the Cleveland Metroparks Big Creek and Brookside Reservations by running through Parma, Brooklyn, and Cleveland.

The Cleveland Design Competition announced its second annual competition. "Project 2008: interPLAY challenges entrants to propose active and passive recreation along an existing multipurpose path that connects Cleveland's west side neighborhoods to Edgewater Park and Lake Erie."

Consultants for Cleveland Public Power are conducting a feasibility study on the potential for establishing a waste-to-energy facility at the Ridge Road Transfer Station.

The Clark-Metro Community Development Corporation is trying to reinvent itself as a provider of social services, and will no longer focus on community development activities.

Although earlier plans to rehabilitate the landmark Fifth Church of Christ Scientist on West 117th Street fell through, Cleveland officials now plan to incorporate the building into a mixed-use redevelopment of its entire block.

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District will accelerate plans for a new west side high school. The school is intended to relieve overcrowding at other buildings. A site has not yet been selected.

Phase II construction of Tremont Pointe could begin as early as next month. The first phase included 102 units of market rate and subsidized housing, and the second phase will add 78 more units.

The senior housing development proposed for the site of the former Memphis School in Old Brooklyn was not selected to receive tax credits through the state's Housing Tax Credit Program. Councilman Kevin Kelley said, "It's not likely that (housing project) will work out so we may be looking at other options for that site."

The Plain Press describes the plans for the Train Avenue trail and greenway in Cleveland. Officials hope to obtain funding for the project through ODOT's Transportation Enhancement Program.

Construction Digest reports on the construction of the new Fulton Road Bridge in Cleveland. The $45.9 million project is scheduled to be completed in November 2009.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport received an $880,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to study noise pollution issues. The funds will be used to place sound monitors in communities near the airport. If areas with noise levels that exceed federal standards are found, Hopkins officials will seek federal funding for soundproofing homes.

NASA Glenn officials are reviewing 11 proposals for a new 90,000 square foot central office building. They expect to award the design contract for the $28 million building by August. It's scheduled to open in early 2012. The construction is part of a $150 million redesign of the NASA campus.

At the first of three community meetings about the Pearl Road/West 25th Street Comprehensive Transportation Study, Cleveland residents offered suggestions for improving the corridor. The work is partially funded by a 2006 TLCI grant.

The Regionally Speaking series of the Western Reserve Studies Symposium continues with a pair of conversations about the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.

In a letter sent yesterday, six councilpersons from Cleveland's west side asked the Cleveland Municipal School District to build a new west side high school immediately. District officials say that construction may not begin until 2012.

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District's revised building program still includes plans for a west side reliever high school and a new John Marshall High School. The plans do not call for any school closings, but leave the future of over 30 schools to be determined later.

The latest conversation in the Western Reserve Studies Symposium's Regionally Speaking series is about the revitalization of Tremont.

The Treadway Creek Greenway Restoration & Trail in Old Brooklyn was offically dedicated at a ceremony at Harmody Park this morning.

About 400 people celebrated the start of renovation of the Capitol Theatre in Cleveland yesterday. A Plain Dealer editorial says that the $7 million project "could be the star of a much needed revival of the down-on-its heels Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood."

The renovation of the Capitol Theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District will begin tomorrow, following a celebration this afternoon. It is scheduled to reopen next April as a theater showing art and independent films.

Because of challenges facing the airline industry, Continental Airlines is scaling back and postponing parts of the $50 million Cleveland Hopkins expansion it announced last fall.

Cleveland State University and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority will share the costs of restoring three WPA murals that were salvaged from the former Valleyview Homes in Tremont. Two of the murals will be installed in the University's new student center once it is built. Another piece of art from the complex will be installed in a community center at Tremont Pointe.

Yesterday, Cleveland City Council approved a $1.5 million, 30 year low-interest loan for the rennovation of the Capitol Theatre at Detroit Avenue and West 65th Street.

The owner of Pearl Road Auto Parts in Cleveland wants to build a 168 foot tall wind turbine on the property near I-480. The zoning for that area limits structures to 115 feet, so a variance is required before construction can begin.

Saturday's Plain Dealer included an exploration of the Gordon Square Arts District in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. The initial quarterly Gordon Square Experience, a collaborative effort by the district, will be held this Friday and Saturday.

The Ohio Department of Transportation announced that the already-delayed West Shoreway reconstruction project has been pushed back even further, and that construction will not begin before 2013. The latest delay is intended to avoid simultaneous construction on the West Shoreway and the Innerbelt Bridge.

Three neighborhood associations want to see leadership changes at the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation. Their actions stem from the recent firing of OBCDC's code enforcement manager.

This evening, the Stockyard Redevelopment Organization will convene the first of three public meetings about a proposed Walworth Run trail. The trail would run along Train Avenue and connect the West Side Reliever High School and Zone Recreation Center to the Towpath Trail.

The company that proposed building senior housing on the Memphis School site in Old Brooklyn also wants to build cluster homes for seniors along Denison Avenue east of Pearl Road. Both developments are outgrowths of the MetroHealth Senior Health and Wellness Center that opened last year at the former Deaconess Hospital.

A Plain Dealer editorial says that the Strickland administration's decision to delay or scuttle the West Shoreway reconstruction project "shows a stunning insensitivity to this community's needs."

50 housing units for low-income seniors might be developed on the site of the former Memphis School in Old Brooklyn. If approved by Cleveland City Council, the NRP Group could begin construction by 2009.

Retail redevelopment may take place at the intersection of West 117th Street and Clifton Boulevard, including the Fifth Church of Scientist building, given the impending opening of the Giant Eagle supermarket at West 117th Street and I-90.

A Plain Dealer editorial asserts that state and local officials must not let the Ohio Department of Transportation abandon the plans to reconstruct the West Shoreway.

With several renovation and construction projects underway, Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone believes that "Gordon Square will be synonymous with other destinations like Soho, Dupont Circle and Greenwich Village" within ten years.

Officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the City of Cleveland continue to disagree about implementing the stalled plans to reconstruct the West Shoreway. The bones of contention include speed limit changes, traffic congestion projections, and funding. Andy Guy identified similar disputes in other Great Lakes cities.

This week's issue of Scene looks at the continuing delays afflicting the planned reconstruction of Cleveland's West Shoreway.

Cleveland Public Power may hire consultants to study the feasibility of building a waste-to-energy facility at the Ridge Road Transfer Station in Cleveland. They may seek grants to help pay for the study, which could cost as much as $250,000.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said that the stalled West Shoreway redesign is one of his highest priorities. Construction has been delayed by several problems, including rising price estimates and a controversy about the design of its western end.

Update: Saturday's Plain Dealer has more details.

The City of Cleveland will extended West 122nd Street to Berea Road in order to provide a route for truck traffic to the Elmwood Avenue industrial area. Their old route was closed due to the construction of Target and Giant Eagle stores on West 117th Street.

Updates on proposed residential developments:

• For the third time, Chagrin Falls Village Council tabled a request for water and sewer connections for the proposed 24 unit Madison Woods development in Bentleyville.
• Developers of the proposed ten house Chagrin River Ridge subdivision in Moreland Hills decided to not proceed with the development. No reason was given.
• The Preserve at Hathaway Farm is a proposed 23 house subdivision on the 13.2 acre site of the old Walcher farm just west of Valley View Village Hall. Officials are concerned about additional stormwater runnoff from the development.
• A spring groundbreaking is scheduled for Casa Romana, an eight unit luxury condominium building on Warren Road in Cleveland near St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Cathedral. Developers are targeting an October 2008 completion date.

The Gund Foundation awarded $6.5 million in grants, including $1.2 million to the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization for the Gordon Square Arts District and $1 million to University Circle Incorporated for the Bring Back Euclid Avenue campaign. The Foundation also gave $300,000 to Shorebank Enterprise Group Cleveland and $70,000 to Entrepreneurs for Sustainability.

The Treadway Creek Trail in Old Brooklyn recently opened to the public. It links Harmody Park to the Towpath Trail, and will be formally opened in the spring.

At a public meeting late last month, residents provided input and ideas in the planning process for the Lower Big Creek Valley Greenway Redevelopment & Restoration Plan.

Last week, CMHA celebrated the opening of 28 subsidized senior housing units at Riverside Park Estates in Bellaire-Puritas.

Plans for the restoration of the landmark Variety Theater on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland continue to move forward. Cleveland City Council recently approved a $170,000 loan to the Friends of the Historic Variety Theater, and a West Side Sun editorial says that "the plans are creating ripples of excitement in the West 117th Street area."

The grand opening of the Tremont Pointe (PDF) mixed-income community was recently celebrated. The first phase of the Cleveland development includes 102 units. Additional phases at the former Valleyview Homes site will add another 218 units.

The renovation of the former Everready powerhouse at Battery Park is scheduled to begin later this month. When completed next year, it will house a community room, a fitness center, and a restaurant.

The new RTA Red Line rapid transit station at West 117th Street opened at 9:30 this morning. Its official name is the W. 117th St.–Madison Avenue Highland Square Rapid Station. RTA officials also announced that bicycles will now be allowed on the rapid during rush hour.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sold the mortgage on the West Tech Lofts to a Philadelphia real estate firm. Representatives of the company will meet with the property's owners to decide their next steps.

Several redevelopment projects underway along West 25th Street promise to breathe new life into the corridor.

Cleveland City Council is expected to vote on a $1.5 million Core City loan for the planned $6.7 million renovation of the Capitol Theater at West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue.

The Plain Dealer suggested that Cleveland's decision to keep Burke Lakefront Airport open was influenced by the City's desire to please Continental Airlines. Cleveland Director of Port Control Ricky Smith appeared on Monday's Sound of Ideas on WCPN to discuss airport issues.

In an apparent effort get the delayed project started, the planned reconstruction and calming of the West Shoreway has been divided into two phases. Rising prices have created a $15 million funding shortfall for the first phase.

Continental Airlines announced on Friday that it will embark on a $50 million expansion of its Cleveland Hopkins hub. Ohio offered $16 million in incentives to support the expansion. It's expected to provide 700 new jobs, a 40% increase in capacity, and 20 new nonstop destinations. A Plain Dealer editorial called it "unambiguously fantastic news".

Cleveland City Council is expected to renew a purchase agreement with Marous Development for the former Fifth Church of Christ Scientist building on West 117th Street. The property may become more attractive for redevelopment if the adjacent Giant Eagle store were to close when a nearby new store opens.

NASA has approved the $150 million redesign of the NASA Glenn Research Center. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority will be the master developer overseeing the 20-year program that will transform the facility.

With funding in place, work on the first phase of the Big Creek Watershed Management Plan is beginning. It's expected to continue through spring 2008.

In work funded by Neighborhood Progress Inc.'s Strategic Investment Initiative, a 100-year-old home near Battery Park in Cleveland was renovated using green building techniques.

Brooklyn officials obtained a $60,000 TLCI grant to help pay for a feasibility study for a three mile extension of the Big Creek greenway trail. In Middleburg Heights, work on the Lake to Lake All Purpose Trail will begin in September. The trail will link Lake Abram to Lake Isaac. In Shaker Heights, construction of the Shaker Boulevard median trail started earlier this week.

Ohio Department of Transportation officials say that Cleveland's delay in making a decision about the future of the controversial ramps at the west end of the West Shoreway is raising the cost of redesign. Cleveland officials contend that ODOT has provided confusing and conflicting information about construction costs and traffic estimates.

Plain Dealer columnist Joe Frolik wrote about the mixed-income redevelopment of CMHA's Valleyview Homes in Tremont, and called it "a pioneering effort to bring 'green' construction principles to affordable housing". The first tenants will begin moving in next month.

NASA Glenn Research Center and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority reached a memorandum of understanding for the development of a land use plan for the 350 acre NASA campus.

As phase one of the Kamm's Corners streetscape project continues, community leaders are meeting to discuss its second phase. Phase one remains on schedule for completion in November, and phase two should be finished by November 2008.

Despite objections from preservationists and neighbors, Our Lady of Angels Church will raze the historic Mueller Estate on Rocky River Drive in West Park.

In multipurpose trail news:

• Cleveland Councilman Brian Cummins says the construction of the Treadway Greenway Connector trail could be completed as soon as the end of fall.
• At a meeting last week, consultants presented plans for a trail through the West Creek Greenway that would link Brooklyn Heights, Independence, Parma and Seven Hills with the West Creek Reservation and the Towpath Trail. A pair of public meetings will be held early next month.
• In Shaker Heights, City Council is scheduled to vote on the planned Shaker Boulevard median trail on Monday.

The planned redesigns of the Cleveland Innerbelt and West Shoreway are on indefinite hold while leaders attempt to reach consensus on some of the more contentious elements in the plans. Steven Litt presents the details and offers commentary in his new weblog.

The City of Cleveland is trying to recover a $700,000 loan from financially troubled Ameri-Con Homes. The company defaulted on the loan after a fire destroyed a part of the Ashbury Towers development. The Stockyard Redevelopment Organization is trying to find another developer to complete the redevelopment of the former Joseph & Feiss factory site.

This week's Scene takes a look at Cleveland's West Park neighborhood and what may happen to it if the City's residency requirement law is struck down by the courts.

Construction of the green cottages in the Cleveland EcoVillage will begin in August. The houses were designed by architects in the Cleveland Green Building Coalition's Emerging Green Designers Symposium and funded by the city and the state.

Recent Plain Dealer editorials say that "Greater Cleveland would benefit tremendously" from an expansion of the Continental Airlines hub at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, that the new Presidents' Council report on regionalism and equity is a "reminder that one of the most important goals of regional cooperation should be to improve the lives of as many people as possible," and that the planned Chagrin Falls arts district should make the Village "even more irresistible."

After being used for search and rescue training, the former Memphis School in Old Brooklyn is being demolished. The City of Cleveland will maintain the 2.4 acre site as greenspace while officials consider plans for its redevelopment.

Construction of the new West 117th Street rapid station is nearing completion, and the main entrance and parking lot reopened earlier this week. The new station will be called Highland Square at West 117th Street, and a reopening ceremony is scheduled for mid-September.

The State of Ohio offered a $16 million financial incentive package to Continental Airlines to attract a potential $50 million expansion of their Cleveland Hopkins hub.

Steven Litt of the Plain Dealer describes several catalytic redevelopment efforts underway in Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. "After decades of urban husbandry in housing and retail, the district is about to gain critical mass."

PCB contamination was discovered at the former Trinity Building site on Detroit Avenue, a brownfield property that is now in the City of Cleveland's industrial land bank. The situation may force City officials to change their plans for redeveloping the site.

Three of the 13 trustees of the Clark-Metro Development Corporation resigned over a dispute about the date of the organization's annual meeting, and at the meeting, five people were named to the board in an uncontested election.

Cottage Living magazine named Ohio City as one of their Top 10 Cottage Communities for 2007, calling it a "comeback community".

Hannah Teicher and Nick Sully, the winners of the Cleveland Design Competition, talk about their design for the Irishtown Bend area.

The 50 unit Detroit-Superior Lofts condominium project proposed for the southwest corner of Detroit Avenue and West 28th Street in Ohio City has been enlarged to become a seven story building. The nonprofit A Place For Us is no longer a partner in the development.

(Update: The Plain Dealer offers more information on the withdrawal of A Place for Us from the project.)

The Clark Metro Development Corporation on Cleveland's west side continues to be the focal point of a power struggle between Ward 14 Councilman Joe Santiago and his predecessor, Nelson Cintron Jr.

Organizers of the Cleveland Design Competition announced their winners last evening. The competition attracted 70 entries from nine countries, all offering design proposals for the Irishtown Bend area on the Cuyahoga River's west bank. First place went to a team led by Nicholas Sully of Vancouver for a proposal that called for creating terraced gardens and walkways. The entries will be exhibited at the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative from June 21 to July 30.

(Update: a gallery of the winning submissions is now online.)

Construction of the first phase of the Kamm's Corners streetscape improvement project will start on June 18. The work is scheduled to conclude in November, with phase two beginning next spring.

In anticipation of the National Solar Energy Conference that will be held in Cleveland next month, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District will install a small wind turbine at its Westerly Wastewater Treatment Plant near Edgewater Park.

The Cleveland Green Building Coalition received $450,000 from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and $150,000 from the Cleveland Housing Trust Fund to build five houses designed by architects in their Emerging Green Designers program. The two and three-bedroom houses will be built in the Cleveland EcoVillage, and will be priced from $105,000 to $135,000.

The City of Cleveland has exhausted the $36 million budgeted for phase one of the Home Acquisition Program for the planned expansion of Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The Brook Park houses in zones one through four were purchased, but zones five and six were shifted to phase two.

Continental Airlines also announced that they may expand one of their three U.S. hubs. The Ohio House earmarked $1.5 million for a $45 million Hopkins expansion, and the state awarded the airline a $900,000 grant to help pay for new equipment and machinery. Continental would cover most of the remaining expenses.

The City of Brooklyn will apply for a $75,000 TLCI grant to conduct an alignment study for a proposed trail linking the Cleveland Metroparks Big Creek and Brookside Reservations.

Aviation experts support the decision of Cleveland Hopkins officials to not lengthen a runway for nonstop flights to Asia. "Cleveland itself is not going to be an Asian gateway. You just don't have the horsepower. If you don't need it, don't spend it."

Plans to extend a runway at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to accommodate service to the Pacific Rim have been indefinitely delayed. Instead of extending the runway to 11,250 feet, it will be lengthened to 10,000 feet and an intersection with a smaller runway will be eliminated.

On weekends in May, members of the Midwest Railway Preservation Society will lead tours of the damaged historic B&O Roundhouse on West 3rd Street in Cleveland.

The remaining portions of the Fulton Road Bridge were successfully imploded yesterday. Cleveland.com has video and photographs of the demolition, and Channel 3 offers additional footage.

Demolition teams were only able to implode two of the six arches of the Fulton Road Bridge on Saturday. It took three attempts to implode the sections of the 75 year old Cleveland bridge. Workers blamed a faulty charge line, and ODOT is working to schedule a time when the implosion can be completed. Cleveland.com presents video, a time-lapse animation, and a photo gallery. Channel 3 and Channel 5 also covered the event.

(Update: the incomplete implosion will not cost taxpayers additional money. Crews will attempt to bring down the rest of the bridge at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday)

The partially demolished Fulton Road Bridge in Cleveland will be imploded on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Spectators can watch the blast from Cleveland Metroparks Brookside Reservation football field. The $46.4 million replacement bridge is scheduled to be completed in late 2009.

Adam Harvey posted images of a booklet that was published by the Cleveland Landmarks Commission in 1977 on the architecture of East Tremont.

(via Tremonter)

A Plain Dealer editorial backs the Cleveland City Planning Commission's decision on the plans for the western end of the West Shoreway redesign. "The planning commission - which is supposed to consider what is right for the entire city, not a sliver of it - was right to endorse the original vision."

Supporters of the two options for redesigning the western end of the West Shoreway in Cleveland continue to disagree about the plans. Councilman Jay Westbrook described the situation as a standoff, and ODOT does not intend to reconvene its Lakefront West Subcommittee until City officials obtain consensus.

Cleveland Ward 14 Councilman Joe Santiago recently pledged $60,000 from his ward allocation to the Clark Metro Development Corporation. Without the funds, the organization would have run out of money in June.

Of the two alternatives for the western end of the West Shoreway redesign, the Cleveland City Planning Commission endorsed the plan that was not the preferred option of neighborhood stakeholders. The alternative adopted by the Planning Commission includes fewer ramps and provides more greenspace for enlarging Edgewater Park.

Robyn Sandys will succeed Jay Gardner as executive director of the Brooklyn-Brighton Community Development Corporation. She was previously Director of Development and Marketing at Case's Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

Residents in Clark Metro want the Clark Metro Development Corporation to stay open. Last year, Cleveland Councilman Joe Santiago cut off City funding for the CDC. It is now down to two employees, and may be forced to close or merge with another CDC.

Stakeholders at a West Shoreway meeting (PDF) last week identified a preferred option for the layout of the ramp near West Boulevard, Lake Avenue, and Clifton Boulevard. The proposal, which would add 3.4 acres to Edgewater Park, will be presented to the Cleveland Planning Commission this week.

Preliminary work is currently underway on installing noise barriers along I-71 in Cleveland's west side. About five miles of noise abatement walls will be built. The $5.9 million project is now scheduled to be completed in October.

Construction of phase one of the long-delayed Kamm's Corners streetscape revitalization is scheduled to begin in April and end in September. The entire project should be completed by November 2008. The improvements will include burying power lines, new light poles and fixtures, replacing sidewalks and curbs, and new plantings.

Plans for 25-unit condominium development next to St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Cathedral at Warren Road and Montrose Avenue in West Park may have hit several snags.

The developers who purchased the Union Gospel Press building in Tremont in 2003 plan to convert the historic complex into 103 apartments. The City of Cleveland approved the restoration plans, and if the developers are able to obtain financing, the first tenants could move in 12 to 20 months after construction begins.

Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman introduced a plan on Monday that would rezone stretches along Detroit and Lorain Avenues in Ohio City to prevent used car lots from moving in, saving the land for housing development. Cimperman asserted that the area now has many abandoned buildings that are "ripe for redevelopment".

Vintage Development Corp. has begun renovating the powerhouse building at Battery Park near Edgewater Park. The first 10 of 300 housing units in the powerhouse building are currently under construction and Vintage plans to start building 18 "Gateway" townhouses near the powerhouse sometime next month. Other developments for the site may include a restaurant, community center, and park.

As part of the Fulton Road Bridge replacement project, the closed John Nagy Boulevard will be replaced by a $1.2 million multipurpose trail. The trail near near the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will connect to existing trails in Brookside Park and eventually to the Towpath Trail, once the Big Creek Connector is constructed.

Work on the multipurpose trail portion of the Treadway Creek Greenway Restoration Project is slated to begin this spring. It will eventually link Harmody Park to the Towpath Trail. Planning for a second trail linking the Zoo to the Towpath is being conducted as part of the Lower Big Creek Greenway Redevelopment and Restoration project.

Although the planned expansion of Cleveland Hopkins Airport has yet to begin, the Brook Park neighborhood on the site of the expansion area is mostly empty today. Cleveland officials pledge to continue the $36 million residential buyout program.

Cleveland residents at last night's West Shoreway meeting expressed a desire to maintain the five-way intersection at West Boulevard and Lake Avenue. An Ohio Department of Transportation advisory committee will review the ramp options and will make a recommendation.

At this evening's West Shoreway public meeting, Ohio Department of Transportation officials and west side Cleveland residents will discuss the disputed plans for the ramps at Lake Avenue and Clifton Boulevard.

The Ohio Department of Transportation will host a public meeting (PDF) where Cudell and Edgewater residents can discuss design options associated with the planned West Shoreway redesign. It will be held at St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church on January 25 starting at 5:00.

The Quad Building at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland is being razed. Demolition of the building built between 1914 and 1930 is expected to be completed in April. The 2.86 acre site will be used as landscaped open space.

Planned renovations to the Capitol Theatre, the construction of a new home for Near West Theatre, and the existing Cleveland Public Theatre will serve as anchors for the Gordon Square Cultural Arts District. Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone calls it Detroit Shoreway's "single most important economic development project" in nearly 90 years.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati awarded $1.2 million in grants to Emerald Development and Economic Network for affordable housing projects. $1 million will go towards the construction of South Point Commons, an $11.3 million supportive housing project planned for West 25th Street near MetroHealth Medical Center.