Summary
- Cleveland Landmarks Commission members expressed concerns about demolitions of historic buildings and the lack of state funding for redevelopment.
- A demolition was approved for the property at 9840 Lorain Ave., but the demolition of Empire Junior High School was postponed.
- Projects to improve the Finnish Cultural Garden and Colombian Cultural Garden and to install signage for a business on West 25th Street were approved unanimously.
Scene at the Cleveland Landmarks Commission meeting
The Cleveland Landmarks Commission meeting was opened on time around 9:15 a.m., with Commission Chair Julie Trott reading the preamble. Secretary Daniel Musson then read the rules governing the meeting. The decorum was adhered to, making it a long meeting, but one without disruptions.
All commission members were present except Brook Sabin and Director of City Planning Calley Mersmann. Commission member and Ward 3 City Council Member Deborah Gray joined the meeting in progress. Commission Members Robert Strickland and Raymond Tarasuck Jr. attended online. [Editor’s note: Musson told Signal Cleveland that City Planner Dan Shinkle served on the commission in this meeting in place of the absent Mersmann.]
Others online included Ken Quiggle and Hank Penttila (Finnish Cultural Garden), Bill Gruber (Colombian Cultural Garden), Tom Turkaly (executive director of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens), Jessica Beam-Wymer (historic preservation planner with the City of Cleveland), Kristin Warzocha (president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank), Karl Brunjes (Landmarks staff member) and Kimberly Steigerwald (Cuyahoga Land Bank).
Find the definition of Certificates of Appropriateness here.
The future of historic Empire Junior High School
Tye Allison (a designer with Robert P. Madison International Inc.) and Hollie Dellisanti (Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s executive director of capital improvement and architectural services) presented.
Allison said the former school, at 9113 Parmelee Ave., is a safety hazard to the community, as the inside of the building has deteriorated. Their plan is to let the surrounding community know when the school will be demolished and then to make the area a park-like setting. They would like to maintain some trees and also salvage some of the bricks and allow former students and local residents to have one.
As for redevelopment offers, Allison said, there has been no success. Rehabilitation of the building would be very expensive, which caused one redevelopment proposal to fall through.
Beam-Wymer summarized the Greater Northeast Historic Design Review Advisory Committee’s stance. The committee noted the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The advisory committee agreed with the recommendation to turn the space into a park-like setting.
Musson said Landmarks staff has explored whether the building could be added to the commercial industrial land bank.
Why Empire Junior High School cannot be redeveloped
Commission Member Anderson said that what makes the project no longer viable is that the historic tax credits cannot be paired with affordable housing tax credits anymore. Anderson said she found it “unacceptable” that the state would rather demolish than save landmark properties.
She said that newly constructed properties are not as nice as landmark properties.
Other commission members agreed that the current tax credit policy is a “tragedy” for historic buildings.
Commission Member Mark Duluk said he felt that this school structure could still have time to be redeveloped. Commission Member Deborah Gray said that the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is fighting to convert other buildings into affordable housing for families and veterans.
Shinkle noted that schools like these were built to last and to be legacy items.
Dellisanti said that the state is offering two-thirds of demolition and abatement costs with CMSD covering the rest.
The motion to table the application for 30 days, giving time for all the parties to acquire additional information, was unanimously approved.
Find the presentation files here.
Demolition for Lorain Avenue building, next to new Food Bank building
Dennis Butler, the manager of the demolition bureau of the City of Cleveland, presented. The property, at 9840 Lorain Ave., has been vacant for at least 12 years with evidence of drug usage in the building and trash around the building. Citations were sent to the owner, Clint Parker, with no response.
A project representative presented the standards the Landmarks Commission uses to evaluate demolition applications. He reiterated that the owner not responding is making things challenging.
Kristin Warzocha, the president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, gave comments. She said that the facility they are building next door at 9030 Lorain Ave. will potentially serve over 50,000 residents in the area who meet the income requirements and could benefit from the food service.
Kimberly Steigerwald, the acquisition director for the Cuyahoga Land Bank, made remarks about how the Land Bank has been working with the Food Bank.
A resident of 9854 Lorain Ave., located next door, said there is debris around the property.
Landmarks staff member Jessica Beam-Wymer spoke about the Historic West Cleveland Design Review Advisory Committee’s stance, also noting that the commission received one public comment from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank prior to the meeting.
The history of 9840 Lorain Ave.
Landmarks staff member Karl Brunjes read the history of the property. Brunjes said that the current owner inherited the building from his mother.
The building housed a number of businesses.
In 1998, the surrounding area was designated as the Lorain Station Historic District.
In 2013, Edna Brown bought the property, and it passed to her children when she died in 2017. No work has been done on the property since 2015.
Commission Member Michele Anderson said it would be better for the commission to see properties like these early on to possibly avoid demolitions. Anderson also shared that residents are often not comfortable dealing with the city and how that needs to change.
Shinkle asked if the structure is a danger to the community. A representative said that bricks have been falling off the side adjacent to the parking lot, so the city has closed that parking lot for safety.
He also asked about responses in terms of boarding up windows and dealing with personal property. The representative said they boarded up windows multiple times, but even if a building is boarded up, folks will find a way to enter it. The city does not have the legal right to go into private property, but the items inside would be disposed of as part of demolition.
Commission Member Robert Strickland asked if any elements of the property that could be salvaged. Butler said he would look into that and explore the options.
The commission approved the demolition with eight yes votes. Loeser voted no, and Shinkle abstained.
Find the presentation files here.
There’s more: Read the full notes from this meeting by Documenter Gwendolyn Jarvis.They include details about updates to the Finnish and Colombian Cultural Gardens and new signage coming to Market Square.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
