Covered by Documenters Christina Easter and Collin Cunningham
What happened: The commission signed off on legislation for the new Cleveland police headquarters in the ArtCraft Building on Superior Avenue. The city plans for building renovations to be completed early in 2025. The city has been renting police HQ space from Cuyahoga County in the Justice Center since the fall of 2018. The headquarters was set to be built on the Opportunity Corridor, but Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration pulled the plug on those plans last year, citing increased costs for construction and better uses for land along the corridor.
School demo: The commission approved the demolition of Cleveland’s former John F. Kennedy High School on Harvard Avenue with the condition that an artist who created a mural on the building can document their work before it is torn down. The building was nearly 60 years old.
Zoning change: The commission signed off on a proposed zoning change along East 66th Street in Ward 7 to allow for new housing. City Council would also have to approve the change. City Planner Xavier Bay said the change would allow University Hospitals Partnership to develop Allen Estates as part of the East 66th Neighborhood Plan. The existing districts are zoned multifamily and two-family, but the changes would allow retail.
Read the live-tweet thread from Documenter Christina Easter:
Signal Cleveland’s Olivera Perkins talked to Cleveland artists being displaced from the ArtCraft Building to make way for the Cleveland Police headquarters.