A photo of demolition work at Irishtown Bend.
Demolition work at Irishtown Bend. Credit: Nick Castele / Signal Cleveland

Covered by Documenters Kellie Morris (notes) and Marvetta Rutherford (live-tweet thread)

Irish demolition

The Cleveland Landmarks Commission approved the demolition of a building at the corner of West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue. The building was at the center of a legal fight that cost taxpayers more than $1.6 million. It could be razed as early as this week, which will allow the Port of Cleveland and its partners to move forward with stabilizing the hillside that ends at the Cuyahoga River. 

Dig it

There’s a salvage plan for the historic building, including reusing some of the fixtures, and Cleveland State University is going to assist with an archeological dig on part of the hillside. The commission requested that it get a copy of the report. 

Farm building

The board issued a certificate of appropriateness for a new market building at Ohio City Farm, which is run by Refugee Response. The building will include offices, storage, an international market, and food preparation space. It will also allow more public use of the farm space for tours and presentations, said Magdalina Young of Young Design Studio. 

Read more from Documenter Kellie Morris:

Cleveland Landmarks Commission – Landmarks Commission 08_24_2023Download

Read the live-tweet thread from Documenter Marvetta Rutherford:

Signal background

Community and Special Projects Editor (she/her)
Rachel leads our special projects work on topics that demand deeper coverage, and works with Cleveland Documenters and Signal staff to report those stories for wider understanding and accountability. She is our liaison with the Marshall Project in Cleveland where she focuses on including residents' voices in criminal justice reporting. Rachel has reported in Cleveland for more than two decades on stories that have changed laws, policies, hearts and minds. She was part of the team that helped launch Cleveland Documenters in 2020, and she was a John S. Knight Community Impact Fellow in 2021. Dissell is a two-time winner of the Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma for narrative stories about teen dating violence and systemic failures with rape investigations.

Cleveland Documenters pays and trains people to cover public meetings where government officials discuss important issues and decide how to spend taxpayer money.