Summary
- The Syrian Cultural Garden and Korean Cultural Garden are being renovated.
- Market Garden Brewpub is constructing a roof deck.
- The State Vocational Planning Center at 9216 Superior Ave. is set for Cleveland landmark designation.
Follow-up questions
- For the Korean Cultural Garden project, there was mention about closing off part of the street for construction. Will this affect traffic?
- Rachel Pearce mentioned the Hough Uprising in her presentation on the Vocational Center. She focused the presentation on a broad historical context, but I’m curious about other landmarks related to the Civil Rights era in Cleveland.
Who attended
Commission attendees: Michele Andersen (virtual), Michael Sanbury, Chris Loeser, Julie Trott (chair), Mark Duluk, Director of City Planning Calley Mersmann, Regennia Williams, Cleveland City Council Member Deborah Gray, and Ray Tarasuck.
Commission Members Robert Strickland and Brook Sabin were absent.
Karl Brunjes, Cleveland Landmarks staff member, also attended.
New Lincoln Park Academy signage
The July 23 Cleveland Landmarks Commission meeting featured the commission hearing cases of projects seeking Certificates of Appropriateness, as stated on the agenda.
Case 26-044: Lincoln Park Academy, electronic messaging sign
The representative for this project was FastSigns designer Ken Dodge, who introduced the third version of an electronic messaging sign he is designing for Lincoln Park Academy on 3185 W. 41st St. The images below show the first two versions of the design, as well as the issues and fixes. [Editor’s note: The presentations that the images are from are in this folder.]
Dodge said the colors aren’t pleasing to everybody. However, they are the school colors, and decreasing the saturation will make it less intrusive, as will the sign being positioned to face businesses across the street rather than the neighborhood.
The “below images”proposed version 3” image shows the new proposed version, including the positioning relative to the street.
The commission commended Dodge for his perseverance in creating different versions of the sign, per community and commission requests. Commission Member Ray Tarasuck said, “It’s terrific that the applicant is willing to work so hard in such conjunction with the community.”
The commission approved the Certificate of Appropriateness for the design after recommending that the sign capstones change to match the color of the school building stones and lightening the base color to blend in with the school more.
They also said the project still needs to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Commission Chair Julie Trott said the operation agreement should be clear about hours of operation, the percentage of saturation, and the times that the sign does change. “You don’t have to respond for us right now, but all of this should be in the letter that provides the operations agreement.”
Except for Ward 3 Cleveland City Council Member Deborah Gray, who abstained from voting because she was late to the meeting, all members present voted yes.
Window replacement in a historic district
Case 26-045: Franklin-West Clinton Historic District, window replacement
No one was available to speak on this project. It was initially moved to the end of the agenda but was then moved to the next meeting, on Aug. 13.
Syrian Cultural Garden update
Case 26-046: Syrian Culture Garden, bust and fountain replacement
The representative for this project was Dr. Wael Khoury, head of cardiology at Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital.
The garden already has a bronze bust of the famous Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani. The location of a proposed new bust honoring Zenobia, an ancient Syrian queen, would mirror the location of the existing bust.
Khoury said the garden is proposing to replace the base of the existing bust with new material, saying, “We had problems in the past because of using sandstone, and the sandstone did not hold up in the weather in Cleveland. So that’s why we’re doing this major restoration.”
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The third proposal is to have a duplicate stand that lists new donors. Khoury said a lot of new donors helped the garden to meet the cost of restoration.
Lastly, Khoury said the garden plans replace the fountain veneer with granite.
The commission approved the project as presented. All members present voted yes. Commission Member Robert Duluk said, “Thank you for your exemplary stewardship of this garden. I think a lot of the gardens really do their best to take care and maintain their gardens because … they are a literal piece of Cleveland’s cultural landscape.”
Korean Cultural Garden update
Case 26-022A: Korean Cultural Garden, phase 1 pedestal
The representative of this project was Jim Harris. The proposal is to initiate the construction of a concrete base for a statue of King Sejong.
Harris said their fundraising is over $400,000, and they have a fundraising event coming. “We are hoping to raise very close to the full cost of $600,000 for the entire garden.”
Harris said once the cement is dried on the base, they will do a veneer finish so “you’re not looking at just cement.” Everything else is remaining the same.
The commission was in support of this project starting with its initial construction. Harris asked if he would need to come back after the initial project, and the commission said yes. Landmarks staffer Karl Brunjes said it needs to come back for phase two as there are still a lot of questions about materials, tiles and drainage since the garden is in a flood zone. Brunjes said they can break it into as many phases as they want and recommended they talk to the Cleveland Department of Building and Housing.
The proposal, which includes the installation of bases on the main part, the pedestal and column, and the installation of the finish, was approved as presented.
Roof deck for Market Garden Brewpub
Case 26-043: Market Garden Brewpub, roof deck
The representatives of this project were Maggie Young, from Young Design Studio, and Sam McNulty, owner.
The proposal includes adding a restroom, stairs and string lights to the roof deck. The below images show the current progress of the project.
The commission expressed concern about the addition of planters along the parapet.
Trott said she’s concerned about the direct weight onto the wall and water mitigation related to it. She said she “would prefer it to be removed and pulled onto the interior side of the parapet.”
Brunjes also recommended that the dog house in the rear could be changed to blend in more with the background, not wanting the dog house to be visible from the right of way.
All commission members voted yes to approve the proposal with the above conditions.
Starbucks signage in Duck Island
Case 26-047: Starbucks at 2061 Gehring Ave., signage
The representatives of this proposal were Scott Hales and Zach Steele from Allsigns and Designs. The proposal includes a Siren sign and Starbucks lettering on both sides of the building, as well as a clearance board, order menus, and thank you/exit directional signs.
All present voted yes on the letters and menu board and drive-thru signage. The Siren and window signage will need to come back for separate approval.
Landmark building in Hough
Cleveland Landmark Nomination: State Vocational Planning Center
The representatives were Rachel Pearce, staff with the Landmarks Commission, and Corinne Kelly, Kismet Investments.
The nomination was made with the context that the building has housed many auto companies, such as Chrysler, during Cleveland’s industrial prime. The building also has a lot of connections to the Civil Rights movement and historic importance to the Hough neighborhood, Pearce explained.
By 1966, it was a state vocational planning center. “It was considered one of the first of its kind in the nation.” It was unique “because the state sought job seekers themselves,” Pearce added. The state was “actively looking at unemployment records and trying to find people jobs.”
Pearce said, “The day after the center was opened, it was fire bombed … and I believe it was likely targeted due to its operation as a state entity.” There was a lot of racial tension, and this happened right after the Hough Uprising, so it was a pivotal time in Cleveland. The center was quickly repaired after the fire bombings.
The commission was in support of this nomination, noting the below nomination criteria that it met. All present voted yes. [Editor’s note: Cleveland City Council has the final say over city landmark nominations.]
National Register of Historic Places nomination for Central building
National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company at 7000 Central Ave.
Brunjes said, “The company had an international reputation for engineering some of the largest material handling projects ever constructed.”
Commission Member Duluk said, “The fact that our industrial heritage is being preserved for industrial purposes to meet modern needs for housing makes it even better … the innovation brought people from all over the world” to Cleveland.
All present voted yes to this nomination. [Editor’s note: The National Park Service has final say over these nominations.]
Design Review Advisory Committee appointments
At the meeting, Sherece Brown-Gray was appointed to the Greater Downtown Historic Design Review Advisory Committee. Brown-Gray spoke for a few moments over Zoom, but it was hard to hear.
Administrative reports
Brunjes said, “Heritage Ohio is happening at the end of September/beginning of October in Cincinnati.” “Other than that, I’ve got nothing.”
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at cledocumenters@gmail.com with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at cledocumenters@gmail.com with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
These notes are by Documenter Pearl Chen.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
