University Circle activists advocate for a Balanced Circle while institutions rethink : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

Residents of University Circle made their voices heard by University Circle Incorporated at three meetings in 2004 concerning the "College Town" proposal. And perhaps even Case Western Reserve University has listened to neighbors a little bit concerning the proposed 20,000 square foot Mandel Center for Non-profit Organizations proposed for the popular "Harmony Park" and the Hessler Community Garden at the corner of Bellflower Rd. and Hessler Court.

University Circle Inc. has placed the College Town proposal for the Euclid-Ford intersection on hold. Case Western Reserve University has informed the Hessler neighbors that it will be June before the University wants to talk in detail about the future of this University-owned property which neighbors call "Harmony Park." No zoning amendments have been requested for either the College Town proposal and Mandel Center proposal.

An informal group calling themselves Friends of Hessler is staging the Balanced Circle Campaign. The group's Web site, posted in January is http://www.BalancedCircle.info. It offers what it calls "A Citizens' Comprehensive Planning Overview." This is a set of planning concepts given from the viewpoint of residents living in what the site describes as "Central University Circle." The BalancedCircle.info Web site states: "A Citizens' Comprehensive Planning Overview advocates for a broad based planning process for the people who are often overlooked in big city planning: the neighbors of the project, people who have to live with the results of a plan."

The site continues: "In the view of Hessler neighbors, the year 2004 saw UCI and Case stepping back from involving neighbors and citizens in the planning process for major projects that will affect the residents."

On November 16, Peter B. Lewis, the local insurance tycoon who built Progressive Insurance into a major automobile insurer, spoke to what were called "315 movers and shakers," in the Plain Dealer. He was not impressed with plans presented by University Circle Inc. and Case for the Euclid-Ford property, affectionately known as "The Beach." It runs along Euclid Ave. from Ford Dr. to E. 115th Street. The University and UCI, which is the neighborhood's Community Development Corporation, had employed Mr. Lewis' favorite architect Frank Geary who worked up a new plan for The Beach. The neighbors never saw this plan. Mr. Geary designed the world famous Peter B. Lewis Weatherhead School of Management Building at the southwest corner of Ford Dr. and Bellflower Rd. as well as other prominent buildings in the U.S. and abroad.

Somehow Lewis was less than pleased with the Geary design and went on to talk about how interesting the University Circle neighborhood and nearby Doan's Corners (Euclid-E 105th St. intersection) were when he lived in the Circle as a youth about 60 years ago.

The Plain Dealer account of the Lewis speech by reporter Tom Breckenridge quotes Lewis to say, "The university and institutions have failed 'to generate activity and street life somewhere near the university,' places where students, residents and visitors to the area can socialize."

In December 2004 the political geography of the Central Circle started shifting when Case Western Reserve University purchased the land under Triangle buildings at the southeast corner of Euclid Ave. and Mayfield Road. The Triangle commercial building, which has a large abstract white elephant sculpture in front of it, drew harsh critique from Steven Litt, architecture critic for the Plain Dealer. In a Jan. 9, 2005 article he wrote "As an urban complex, the Triangle falls so far short of the potential of its location that it truly deserves to be demolished. It's a problem of both form and content." Case is said to complete the purchase of the four buildings and one parking garage from Associated Estates by Spring 2005.

The March 2, 2005 Bruce Blog, which focuses on planning issues in Greater Cleveland, published an update about the College Town proposal. In part this story states: "Bruce blog has obtained information that explains the deafening silence of late surrounding the proposed $35 million retail-residential development at the corner of Ford and Euclid. For starters, Heritage Development Co., the developer, has not acquired the rezoning and variances from the city. The process has stalled in large part because the university is now insisting that the developer conduct a market analysis for the proposed supermarket tenant, a traffic analysis, and an analysis of residential rents."

This is something the Hessler neighbors started calling for in January 2004 when University Circle Inc. and Heritage unveiled their College Town proposal! You can read the rest of the article in Bruce Blog by going to http://www.BalancedCircle.info and clicking on "Updates" and "media." And the Feb. 23 Cool Cleveland called the BalancedCircle.info Web site an, "admirable grass-roots effort."

"Harmony Park" will be available for the 2005 Hessler Street Fair on Saturday May 21 and Sunday May 22. It is still unknown if the Hessler Community Garden can be planted here again this year. Find more about the Hessler Street Fair at http://www.hessler.org.

-Lee Batdorff of Friends of Hessler - March 4, 2005

(just a brief and unsystematic comment from "on the road".)
The whole "University Circle" idea was put together by mega-institutions (Case, The Cleveland Clinic) to facilitate their takeover/makeover of the W105/Euclid and the edge of Hough.
Create a "nice" white-ethos nexus right at the key transfer point betwen the major Black neighborhoods of the East Side. Kind of like Israel blocking the land route between the Arab states.
Its gone on for some years now but does that mean that Cleveland IMC should be endorsing the concept by calling this "University Circle" and trying to preserve the Hessler Street "enclave within an enclave" housing area? This housing wad and is part of the housing district to the Northwest, an overwhelmingly Black residential area. It is only separated/maintained as an enclave by the University Circle power structure.
Any decent plan for the "University Circle" area has to take into account the primacy of thesurrounding neighborhoods, restoring the W 105-Euclid intersection's vitality, and undoing trhe Land Grab.
Which is NOT what the Cleveland Indymedia story does. It endorses by ommission the "University Circle" concept and promotes the separation of the "cool" little Hessler Street housing area from the rest of the neighborhood housing stock.

The Hessler Neighborhood Association (HNA) was started in the 60's to raise funds for housing renovation and to promote activities enhancing the social and architectural value of Hessler Road. The Hessler Street Fair started as an annual block party and evolved in 1969 into a street festival. University Circle Inc. (UCI), an umbrella organization supporting the cultural and educational institutions in the area, wanted to bulldoze the Hessler Road houses to build student dormitories and parking lots. It was through the efforts of the Neighborhood Association, funded by the early Street Fairs, that Hessler Road was dedicated as a Landmark District in November of 1975 by the City of Cleveland. In 1976 Hessler residents participated in rent strikes to force UCI to make needed repairs on the homes it owned on the street. Subsequently, the Hessler Housing Cooperative was formed when UCI sold some of these properties. These events have helped to ensure the survival of Hessler Road as a residential neighborhood.

The area they settled became known as Doan's Corners, where Nathaniel built a log hotel and tavern that quickly became a routine stop for travelers between Buffalo and points west.Doan later built a store and baking soda factory and was soon joined by other merchants and small industries, as well as a church and post office. Doan's Corners grew rapidly and leading citizens of the day, recognizing the area's potential, laid the groundwork for a neighborhood that would distinguish Cleveland from all other cities.

Several events shaped the development of this area, which would only later come to be known as University Circle. In 1882, Jeptha H. Wade, founder of the Western Union Telegraph Company, donated 75 acres of land to the city of Cleveland for a public park and an art gallery. During that same year, a donation of $500,000 and 43 acres of land by railroad tycoon Amasa Stone allowed Western Reserve University to move from rural Hudson, Ohio. In 1885 the Case School of Applied Sciences relocated to Doan's Corners from downtown Cleveland, as did The Western Reserve Historical Society more than a decade later. A streetcar line was built to serve Euclid Avenue and destinations east of downtown. The circular trolley turnaround at East 107th Street became known as the University Circle stop - and so the bustling, collegiate neighborhood was given its name.

1900-1930s: Mansions, Music, and More
By 1900 the schools and beauty of the area attracted other institutions, and an educational and cultural district of note was in the works. The Circle soon became the preferred neighborhood for Cleveland's leading families, who lived in proximity to the institutions they supported. The Cleveland Music School Settlement was established in 1912. The Cleveland Museum of Art opened in 1916 on land donated by Jeptha Wade. The art museum overlooked an old pond where the Doan Children had once ice-skated. In 1921 this pond was rebuilt and renamed the Wade Lagoon. Loew's opened one of the most elegant theaters in the country at East 102nd Street and Euclid Avenue where it joined other movie houses to create a new theater district.

1950-1960s: A Master Plan for University Circle By 1950, 34 institutions had chosen University Circle as their home - but the Circle was facing some serious challenges. To meet these challenges, the 1957 University Circle Master Plan was issued after a rigorous 18-month study of the Circle. Perhaps the most important recommendation made was to "establish a central organization to administer the Plan and give it some real authority." And so with full institutional support, the University Circle Development Foundation, the predecessor of University Circle Incorporated, was formed by three charter members: University Hospitals, Western Reserve University and The Case Institute of Technology

"In the 50's, white flight to the suburbs transformed Hough from the quasi-affluent remnant of the once magnificent Millionaire's Row to a rat infested, poverty strickened, over crowded ghetto. The attitude of the CPD was to, " keep these people in their place." Brutality and intimidation were the preferred methods of operation. Although there were shopkeepers who were fair, compassionate and respectful, many were not. On the first of the month, shopkeepers raised prices considerably, to take advantage of wellfare and social security recipients. The majority of the households were rented. Absentee landlords would collect rent and immediately take off for the comfort of the suburbs. Little was done to improve conditions in the area. Improvements under the guise of urban renewal, was dubbed, "urban removal". High unemployment and overcrowding led to gangs and criminal activity. As a result, the CPD became even more aggressive in the neighborhood. The no care attitude at City Hall only compounded the situation. Conditions were ripe for civil unrest."

Cleveland Indy Media Center