The beginnings of a great web site on Tremont History
Category: NE Ohio Neighborhoods and Their History
Ludlow Community Association
From CSU Digital Humanities
Cultural diversity paints Tremont’s colorful history
Brief history of Tremont written by Chris Marcinko
Cultural diversity paints Tremont’s colorful history
by Chris Marcinko
Civil War Camps to Condos
From Civil War Camps to condominiums, from arsonists to artists, from steel mills to social workers, Tremont and its immigrants have painted a colorful and diverse history.
In a way, this small neighborhood is a microcosm of Cleveland and the forces that have shaped the country. Settling of the land, the rise of industry, a tidal wave of immigration, conflicting religions, and rising social problems are all reflected in Tremont, which is almost as old as Cleveland itself.
Tremont’s borders are the Cuyahoga River on the east and north, and Clark Avenue, or the Harvard Denison Bridge on the south, depending on who you ask. The western border is not universally agreed upon either, I-71 or Scranton Road.
Tremont initially was part of Brooklyn Township and Ohio City from 1836 – 1854, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. It was officially incorporated into Cleveland in 1867.
Although the name Tremont has been used in advertisements since 1837, the neighborhood was known as University Heights and Lincoln Heights. It received its official name in 1910 with the building of Tremont Elementary School.
In 1850 Cleveland University was founded in the area by a group that included the Reverend Asa Mahan, former president of Oberlin College. William Case, a former mayor of Cleveland , and Samuel Starkweather, then the current mayor. The University only lasted five years but for a time the neighborhood was known as University Heights, and some streets are still named Starkweather, Literary, Professor, and University.
During the Civil War the U.S. General Hospital, a military hospital, was located at W. 5th Street and Franklin in the area. In service from 1862 to 1865, the hospital treated more than 3,000 wounded enlisted and non-commissioned officers of the Union and two confederated prisoners.
Immigrant churches
Lamson Sessions Company was established in 1867 on Scranton Road and was the first of many industrial companies to provide jobs for local immigrants.
Immigrants who settled Tremont included the Irish and Germans in the 1860s, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainians in the 1890s, Greeks in the 1900s, more Ukrainians in the 1950s, and Hispanics in the 1960s.
John Grabowski, of the Western Reserve Historical Society, said in a recent interview that ôthe most important and defining changes for the neighborhood were the increase and decline in industry and the diverse immigration flow.ö Grabowski called the neighborhood ô the most ethnically diverse in the county.ö
The diverse ethnic mix is reflected in the area’s 25 churches, which include Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Augustine, Pilgrim Congregational, St. Michael, and Sts. Peter and Paul.
Initially, each church usually served one nationality ù St. John Cantius – the Polish, Our Lady of Mercy – Slovaks, St. Michael – Germans and Slovaks. Today some churches in the area still have their masses read not only in English but also in Spanish, Korean, or Polish to serve their congregation.
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church served German immigrants. Located at 2928 Scranton, the church was built in 1880. Its highest membership was 1420 in 1910, but the church today still has 500 parishioners.
While Immanuel Evangelical was a place of worship and community for German immigrants, St. Augustine served the same purpose for Irish Catholic immigrants. St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 2486 W. 14th St., was built in 1894, but was originally Pilgrim Congregational Church. The parish of St. Augustine was formed initially in 1865, but at a different location. St. Augustine parish bought the church in 1896 and is celebrating its centennial at that location.
For a Protestant church to be purchased by a Catholic parish at the time was unheard of,ö said Father Joseph McNulty, pastor of the Church since 1977. ôSince then, both churches have had a close relationship and continue to work well together.
While the parish was Irish, its first pastor was a Frenchman, Father Pierre Gerard-Mogen. At the time pastors were usually the same ethnicity as their congregations, one more example of Tremont’s diversity and tolerance. Father Mogen died of small pox at the turn of the century.
The parish has a history as a center for the Irish and the diocese. During the last century most local Irish immigrants worked on the Cuyahoga River, on the railroad, and at steel mills. In the 1890s about 400 families, predominantly Irish, belonged to St. Augustine.
For more than 30 years, St. Augustine has been a magnet center for the diocese’s less fortunate. In 1964 the church was selected as the diocesan church for the deaf, in 1972 for the blind, and in 1992 for the handicapped and mentally ill.
Community continues to change
McNulty said one of the biggest changes in Tremont was the building of the inter-belt in the 1970s. McNulty, having been with the parish since 1972, said that ômany beautiful houses were destroyed.
While change is a constant, not everyone is willing to accept it, he said. However, most residents of Tremont are very ôopen to new ideas and people.
A small but significant problem is the gangs which gravitate towards W. 6th,ö he said. ôThese kids probably join gangs because older members of their families were in them.
McNulty also said that other problems include ôthe lack of high school diplomas and the abundance of single parents and poverty. Many people face the struggle of moving up and often suffer from despair.
Perhaps the parish’s greatest contribution to this problem and the community is the Hunger Center. Started approximately 30 years ago, the center initially fed 450 to 600 a day. That figure today is closer to a 1,000 served a day towards the end of the month, McNulty said. He added that there is greater demand at the end of the month because government assistance is usually given at the beginning of every month.
Pilgrim Congregational Church, 2592 West 14th St., also is a home for many community activities. It is the location for Arts Renaissance Tremont, which sponsors Sunday concerts that feature music varying from religious and classical to chamber and jazz.
The church also sponsors Theater Labyrinth, a group that produces socially challenging plays,ö according to Reverend Craig Schaub, associate pastor.
After-school programs for children, including scouting, are sponsored by the church. The congregation boasts Cleveland’s oldest Boy Scout Troop. Besides assisting in St. Augustine’s hunger program, the church has classes for parenting, women’s issues, nursing, and also is active in Habitat for humanity. The church also hosts the Tremont Community Forum, which focuses on safety and residential cooperation with the police.
We want to remain a church of and for the community, actively involved in issues, giving voice to those whose voices are on the margins, Schaub said. he went on to say that those marginalized include the poor, the elderly, children, and renters.
Small town atmosphere
Schaub said the Tremont neighborhood was structurally organized to keep residents in touch with downtown and each other. Although right nest door to downtown, Tremont has a small town atmosphere.
The architecture of the churches, Lincoln Park itself and the passion of the people make Tremont a unique, fascinating place, Schaub said, adding that the arrival of artists is a gift to the community.
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, located at 3114 Scranton Rd., was originally German but is now predominantly Puerto Rican.
When the church was built in 1892, it was specifically designated as a German only church by the dioceses, according to the pastor, Father Dennis O’Grady. This status remained until 1948.
Father O’Grady himself has a long family involvement with Tremont. having been with the church for 30 years and Pastor since 1980, O’Grady, 63, had a grandmother who was a mid-wife that lived and worked in Tremont.
Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, located at 2280 West 7th St., and built in 1910, was the first Ukrainian church in the Cleveland area. With a preserved liturgical tradition dating back 1,000 years, the church at its height had a membership of a thousand families. With many moving to such suburbs as Lakewood, Parma and Strongsville, church membership has shrunk to 140 families.
According to Father Stephen Zirichny, pastor since 1990, the parish assists the St. Augustine Hunger Center every year, as well as, sending funds for food and medicine back to the Ukraine itself.
This is an older ethnic neighborhood, Zirichny said, but there are new businesses, cafes, and housing and an improving standard of living.
Safety is a concern, but I wouldn’t say it’s a dangerous neighborhood to live in, he said.
Community Organizations
The oldest social welfare institution has a vital connection with religion. Merrick House originated from the Cleveland Catholic charities and the Christ Child Society in 1919.
Currently, Merrick House offers English and citizenship classes, GED tutoring and classes, community development, a meals program, day care, & recreation for juveniles.
The most satisfying part of my job is watching the neighborhood solve its problems and people taking control of their lives, said Gail Long, executive director of Merrick House since 1988.
Merrick House’s budget is more than half financed by the federal and state government but we have already lost much in the way of funding, explained Long, who has been with Merrick House since 1972. Many more contributors were private individuals or organizations such as United Way.
Once we had 90 percent funding from United Way, but this has decreased to 30 percent, said Long.
And this Welfare Reform Bill signed by Clinton is only going to create more problems around here, she said. The lack of welfare benefits, she said, would increase the number of people looking for help at Merrick House, which already is in a position where ôwe are always needing to raise money.
Everyone has the impression that people who need help are lazy and shiftless, she said. That is simply not the case. Many who receive services have jobs, but low paying ones without benefits, she said.
Despite all of this, Long hopes that Merrick House remains an important part of the community.
On the positive side, Long said that Tremont is economically diverse, more integrated, and clearly a place where people want to live. She cited new housing development as examples.
A key part in this revitalization of Tremont has been the Tremont West Development Corporation. Tremont West, originally affiliated with Merrick house, became an independent entity in the early 1970s in the wake of a growing number of arsons committed by landowners seeking insurance money.
The purpose of Tremont West is to improve and maintain the culture and business of Tremont through programs and partnerships with businesses and banks, said Emily Lipovan, executive director of Tremont West since 1993.
Tremont West hosts the annual Tremont Art Walk and has been involved with the Tremont Ridge development and the conversion of Lincoln Park’s bathhouse into condominiums.
Tremont is a mosaic, said Lipovan, who has been with Tremont West since 1991. It has a little bit of everything – churches, ethnic and economic diversity. This is not a sterile environment.
She said that community activism is reflected in the work of 10 block clubs.
Community activism is what the Tremont Opportunity Center is all about. Founded in 1964 as part of the Council For Economic Opportunity, the center received its current name in 1968.
We provide direct social services, said Donna Peters, director since 1989. These include food distribution, assisting people with furniture purchases, youth programs such as science and math clubs, 4-H, and field trips for kids in the summer to such places as the art, health, and natural history museums, Adventure Place, Geauga Lake and others.
The center also has programs for adults, such as computer classes, helping people find jobs, and emergency housing and energy funds.
Altogether the center assists about 250 to 300 families a month. Six work at the center full time, including Peters.
Peters, who has lived or worked in the neighborhood for more than 25 years, said helping someone getting a job or feeding childrenö is the most satisfying aspect of her job.
This summer we had a troubled teen in some of our youth programs, he was anti-social. When the summer programs ended, he was a nice young man. This is a rewarding experience.
Most of their funding comes from Community Services Block Grants from the state and federal government.
For years we have received the exact same amount of funding, which, when inflation is factored in, is actually less and less every year. This new welfare bill means we will have more work ahead of us and not have the funds to match, Peters said.
There is so much propaganda about welfare. Many of the people we help have low-paying benefit-less jobs.
Despite problems, Peters said, the neighborhood itself, is like a small town. I love it here. It feels like home.
Concern about crime
It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood, said Jim Noga, owner of Noga Floral, at 2668 West 14th St.. Noga, 59, business owner for 34 years and a life-long resident of Tremont, has seen many changes in the neighborhood. Residents, old and new are the real strengths of this neighborhood, Noga said. He lives in a century-old building.
He said crime is a problem but I think things have improved in the last few years. Noga said that his business has been broken into a few times and ôsome people might be afraid to go out around here at night, but I’m not, probably because I’ve lived here so long.
He too added grimly that the welfare reform bill just passed might cause trouble because ômore people might resort to crime if they’re hungry.
The crime issue also concerns Councilman Gary Paulenske, who represents most of Tremont in Ward 13. With the housing projects so close to the freeway the result is drive-through take-out drug shops.
More police enforcement would be nice, but the Second Police District has done a tremendous job with what it has, Paulenske said. He added that education was needed in addition to enforcement because even if we had 1,700 police in the area, we would still have a drug problem.
On the positive side, Paulenske said that Tremont is unique, a melting pot, independent, unlike any neighborhood because every kind of ethnicity and economic level is represented, as well as stunning architecture.
People here are outspoken, he said. They are willing to organize, petition, rally, or show up at council meetings or courts on any subject that affects them, from noxious fumes, and unruly neighbors, to crime. This can be a double-edge sword for a politician. You love to see people involved, but invariably, you, as the elected official, get blamed for everything.
New arrivals
The most recent and most rapidly-growing group of residents in Tremont is the artistic community. This includes painters, sculptors, graphic and interior designers, jewelers, poets, musicians and dancers. The artists total about 100, according to Christine Uveges, co-owner of Contrapposto Art Gallery and Econo Studios.
This influx of artists did not occur overnight though. Uveges said that the artists first settled in Tremont about 10 to 12 years ago, and have steadily increased ever since. They mostly hailed from the Flats and Coventry.
Why Tremont? Because of the close proximity to the Flats and downtown. Tremont has an artistic atmosphere, a creative buzz in the air. We’re getting a reputation as a good, creative place to be. This has a snow ball effect. Property values at the time were also inexpensive, Uveges said.
Uveges, who predominantly renovates the interiors of churches, said that Tremont reminds her of the Buckeye neighborhood she grew up in.
Everyone knows everyone here, and everybody watches out for everybody, she said.
The Future
I’m very hopeful about the future, said Father Joseph McNulty. If people continue to work together, we can overcome the twin problems of poverty and crime.
Right now the neighborhood is in flux, said Donna Peters of the Tremont Opportunity Center. New housing is being developed, and middle to high income residents have moved in, but we still have poor people in the neighborhood. She predicts that the neighborhood will eventually become mostly middle class.
It’ll probably take 50 years for them to reach their development goal, said Jim Noga. More broadly though, Noga believes that Tremont’s future could go one way or the other. If the building owners, old and new, fix up the homes and not become slum-lords we could have a real renaissance. If it goes the other way, the situation could go down further.
Within 20 years the development projects could be very promising, but we have a long way to go, said Councilman Paulenske. “What we need in the next five years is more stores and renovation for streets like W. 14th Street and Professor Avenue. This area needs more businesses, small ones such as laundromats and bakeries and larger ones like grocery stores,” he said.
“We should have the ambition to become Cleveland’s Greenwich Village,” Paulenske said. “There is no reason why Tremont cannot become a Mecca for the eclectic.”
Reverend Schaub, of Pilgrim Congregational Church, also is optimistic about the future. “My hope is for a balance, a respect for diversity, and a collaboration for the community from businesses and residents.”
Tremont has a long glorious history of diversity and community involvement. If its future is anything like its past, Tremont will continue to be a diverse, interesting place to live.
Diversity and perseverance mark history of Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood
Brief history of Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood written by Chuck Hoven and Blane Wattene
Diversity and perseverance mark history
of Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood
by Chuck Hoven and Blane Warrene
Apple orchards once marked the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, and the building that would eventually become central to the community’s existence, the Gordon Square Arcade.
W. J. Gordon, a noted landowner and “city father” in the late 1800’s, had established his personal gardens surrounding West 65th Street, then known quite parochially as Gordon Street. Just to the west of Gordon’s property, the area had become populous enough to establish the Village of West Cleveland, in 1871. However, the growth of what became Detroit Shoreway did not happen overnight.
From the first visitors to today’s community, the neighborhood that reaches from West 45th to West 85th, and from Lake Erie to I-90 has been one of transition, rediscovery and rebirth.
Surveyors first set foot in the area in 1806. By 1820, a couple hundred families were residing west of the Cuyahoga River in an area called Brooklyn Township . In fact, during the 1820Æs, old accounts say a brave soul ventured out to what is now the area of West 65th and Detroit, “far out into the woods.”
Growth came to town as the development of transportation established Cleveland as a major port and pathway from the East Coast to points west, including Detroit. From the opening of the Ohio Canal in 1827, to the railroad in 1851, commerce and industry exploded in the city leading to shipyards (Globe Shipbuilding Company) and main rail connections throughout Detroit Shoreway. This created jobs, helpful in drawing residents to the community. Trolley service, established during and after the Civil War, added to the convenience of living in Detroit Shoreway, making a ride downtown convenient.
Quite contrary to many urban areas through the country, Detroit Shoreway today continues to reflect the rich ethnic heritage of its past, both in its people and architecturally throughout the community. According to many in the neighborhood, this has been a key element to the survival and restoration of the area – fostering an atmosphere of preservation and a sense of history being alive in the neighborhood.
Key to the many physical developments were the waves of immigrants bringing European knowledge and master trades skills.
The German community was building homes in southern Detroit Shoreway in the 1830’s . They built St. Stephen’s on W. 54th South of Lorain in 1873 as a symbol of the strength. The church has many hand carved wood features and statues – a reminder of the skill of German craftsmen in working with wood.
The Irish, after establishing St. Malachi’s, moved westward from the angle establishing St. Patrick’s at W. 38th and Bridge in 1853. The growth of St. Patrick’s caused the need for a second church. St. Colman’s was started in 1880. A school was built in 1885. In 1901, Fr. Eugine O’Callahan moved from St. Patrick’s to St. Colman’s. Local architectural historian, Tim Barrett, says Fr. Callahan was a financial wizard. He had the new church completely paid for and contracted by 1914. The church was completed in 1918. Under the direction of newly appointed Cleveland Bishop O’Leary, Barrett says the church was built in the fashion of the time – classical architecture like Cleveland City Hall and use of modern engineering techniques (there are no columns in the church). Barrett says O’Leary, who wanted to show the world “that the Irish were as good as anyone,” instructed that the interior marble fixtures be carve by Irishcraftsmen. The interior is amber with jewels set in it to create a jewel box for God, said Barrett.
According to Rose Zitiello, a member of a family of descendants of the original Italian immigrants to the neighborhood in the 1890s, the area north of Detroit Avenue between W. 65th and W. 70th Streets, overlooking Lake Erie shores closely resembled the Bay of Naples, a nostalgic sight to these first Neapolitan settlers. A large number of families hailed from Petrulo, Italy near Casserta in the Province of Campagna. The Italians quickly helped in the commercial growth of Detroit Shoreway, opening a bank, bakeries, grocery stores and specialty stores.
The strength of this Italian community led to the construction of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (West) Church (est. 1926) and School. This parish has played a key part in early growth as well as revitalization in recent years, including assisting in the rescue of the Gordon Square Arcade from demolition in 1978, and in housing rehabilitation and construction.
Equally active throughout the community, Romanians moved into Detroit Shoreway rapidly at the turn of the century, and within years became the largest enclave of Romanians in the United States. This colorful ethnic group brought the excitement of dance and the theater, as well as, the nation’s first Romanian semi-professional baseball team.
Adding to the architectural richness of the neighborhood, the Romanians erected St. Helena’s Byzantine Catholic Church on West 65th north of Detroit, followed by St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Church on Detroit Avenue. These two buildings share the unique treasure of being the first Romanian churches built in the United States, within days of each other in 1905. In the 1920s the Romanian Daily News began operating in the building that sits at W. 57th and Detroit. When circulation was discontinued in the 1970s, Romanian art replaced the printing presses and the building served as a museum. The museum is now gone and in its place is office space.
There have been several nationalities living in Detroit Shoreway throughout the 20th century, too numerous to mention here. Their respect for their common heritages and the importance of a spiritual ethic in their lives seems to be the strand that has kept these groups living in peace in the area.
Asian Americans moved into the community beginning in the 1920s. In the aftermath of the Vietnam war in the 1970s the area became home to immigrants from Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Cleveland has a temple at 5305 Franklin Avenue which serves as a religious and cultural center. The Laotian community has a community center at 80th and Detroit. The Detroit Shoreway neighborhood also is home to several restaurants and grocery stores run by entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia.
Like so many other urban areas, Detroit Shoreway felt the aftershock of World War II and America’s newly discovered prosperity. This affluence resulted in both residential and commercial migration to new suburbs. This period of growth also opened the door for a new wave of immigration, much like at the turn of the century, this time attracting migration from Mexico, Asia and poor, rural areas of the United States, specifically, from along the Appalachian Mountains running through Pennsylvania and West Virginia. These new settlers shared the same goals of those who came earlier; a desire for better jobs and a more satisfying life.
These residents brought the traditions and culture of their homeland with them, adding to the rich diversity of Detroit Shoreway. ClevelandÆs West Side did not experience the massive exodus to the suburbs that happened on the East Side. Due in part to strong ethnic parishes, many residents remained in their neighborhoods for several generations.
Local historian, Tim Barrett says pastors of the Irish and German Catholic parishes on the West Side preached the importance of staying in the neighborhood and ethnic unity, while on the East side Catholics were more influenced by an early bishop of Cleveland who preached assimilation into the broader culture.
In the 1960s and early 1970s many residents of the southern portion of Detroit Shoreway were forced to move whether they wanted to or not. Despite protests by residents and Cleveland City Council members, the federal government built I-90 through the city of Cleveland. St. Colman’s parish in particular lost much of its population. Evidence of the effect of the freeway was the closing of St. Colman’s Grade School in 1974. The school had been in operation since 1886. The efforts to stop freeway construction were not totally futile, Zone recreation center and the land it sits on is evidence of that. State Route 3, a proposed interchange linking I-90 to the shoreway was stopped due to protests of residents. The canceled interchange resulted in the land which residents later lobbied to get a recreation center built on. Fittingly the Recreation Center was named after Councilman Michael Zone who headed the city council committee appointed by Council President Turk to meet with the Ohio Department of Transportation in 1973 to find an alternative solution to the building of State Route 3. After futile efforts by residents and Councilpersons Oakar and Zone to get the Perk administration to support a recreation center, the Near West Side Youth Coalition secured a promise from Dennis Kucinich shortly before the mayoral election in 1977, Kucinich said ôIf I am elected mayor, the Near West Side will have its recreation center.ö Shortly after the election Kucinich followed through on his promise.
In the 1980s and 1990s Cleveland’s Puerto Rican Community increased its presence in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. In the 1990 census, 2,724 people in the neighborhood claimed Puerto Rican heritage. Other Hispanics in the neighborhood, including the long established Mexican community brought the Hispanic population of Detroit Shoreway in 1990 to 3, 279 of the neighborhood’s 18,744 total residents. With the movement of the Puerto Rican Community westward from the Near West Side, the cultural and religious institutions were soon to follow. The Hispanic Senior Center recently moved to 78th and Detroit, in the former St. Augustine Manor Nursing Home. St. Augustine moved across the street to occupy the former St. John Hospital. East of the former hospital is the new site of Sagrada Familia Roman Catholic Church. The church, a combined effort of parishioners of San Juan Bautista and Cristo Rey will open in 1998. San Juan Bautista pastor, Fr. David Fallon, says he hopes the new church will be ready for Easter. He says the church will be officially dedicated by the bishop at the annual festival next summer.
The 1990 census also showed the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood to be home to 1,322 African Americans, 618 Asian Americans and 74 Native Americans. The relatively peaceful racial integration of the neighborhood fits with the neighborhood’s history of welcoming diverse ethnic groups.
Another change in the neighborhood has been the shift of industry. As early as the mid-1950s, large businesses, such as Westinghouse and Eveready Battery, set up their factories in the community. Now, the sounds of machinery in these plants has become muffled.
Westinghouse’s operations have slowed down since the early part of this decade, but still have minimal activity in their plant. Eveready’s plant, however, was completely shut down, and now has been replaced by several smaller companies.
Despite the departure of the two largest companies, industry still holds an importance to Detroit Shoreway. The Gordon Arcade houses the offices of the Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network (WIRE-net) which seeks to help local industry remain in west side neighborhoods and helps to match local residents looking for work with local industry.
Despite the efforts of WIRE-Net the loss of manufacturing jobs in Cuyahoga County remains a significant obstacle to the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood and its many working class residents. According to a report by the Council of Economic Opportunities of Greater Cleveland, the poverty rate in the neighborhood grew from 28.7% in 1980 to 51.1% in 1995. The report attributes the growth in poverty largely to the loss of manufacturing jobs in Cuyahoga County. The report says the number of people living below the poverty line in the neighborhood increased from 5,895 people in 1980 to 9,233 people in 1995. Median household incomes in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood decreased by 31.4% from $18,487 in 1979 to $12,676 in 1989.
This massive loss of income in the neighborhood, makes commercial and housing redevelopment in the neighborhood especially difficult, yet strides are being made.
A turning point in the commercial redevelopment of Detroit Shoreway was born in tragedy in 1978. One May morning brought the eastern wall of the Gordon Square Arcade crashing down onto West 65th Street, surely marking the blighted structure for demolition. However, many in the community leadership saw past the rubble to an opportunity to begin a restoration, just what Detroit Shoreway needed – a gateway to rebirth.
With one of the first Urban Development Action Grants (UDAGS) given to a community group, the arcade was protected from the wrecking ball, and stands today as a central business/social hub in the neighborhood. During the past fifteen years, several structures throughout the neighborhood have been restored. This has encouraged much needed rehabilitation work throughout the residential areas of the neighborhood.
Through the efforts of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and Nolasco Housing new housing has been constructed north of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the bluffs overlooking Lake Erie. On W. 70th Street along with new housing stands the Villa Mercede Senior High Rise built in the late 1970s. More recently, the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization has been instrumental in constructing new housing on Franklin Avenue and initiating the Tillman Park Project ù condos behind Max Hayes.
The Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization is a partner in a $560,000 renovation of the Chateau Apartments at W. 80th and Detroit. Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister came to the Gordon Square Arcade in December of 1997 to deliver a $250,000 Ohio Department of Development grant for the project. With the aid of the grant the apartments in the building will be expanded and redone to better suite the needs of residents. Seventeen apartments will be made available to low income residents in the neighborhood when the project is completed.
Several other buildings on Detroit Avenue will get new tenants in the upcoming year. Progressive Urban Real Estate, a long-time Tremont Business, is moving into the NARI building, 4001 Detroit, at the end of January or early February 1998. The building is just east of Detroit Shoreway’s eastern boundary. The West Side Ecumenical Ministry hopes to open its new headquarters at 5209 Detroit Avenue by the end of May 1998.
On Lorain Avenue, through the efforts of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization the antique shops have been organized and now display banners to help shoppers identify the antique district.
As the physical appearance of Detroit Shoreway has transformed, so has the cultural, with Cleveland Public Theatre bringing professional and experimental theatre to the neighborhood. The theatre recently bought and is renovating the old Gordon Square Theatre east of Cleveland Public Theatre (which is in the old Irish American Club.)
It is fitting that the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, with all its diversity, has decided to celebrate this diversity with a mural in Herman Park (on Herman Avenue, north of Detroit.) The mural, the work of international artist Bernice Massey, lines the wall of the park, permanently etching the diversity many generations of families have brought to Detroit Shoreway. In the park stands a single tree. The tree, dubbed the “Tree of Life” stands as a symbol of peace and growth for the neighborhood.
Items “Tagged” Shaker Heights From Cleveland Historical CSU
Market District Tour
From CSU Cleveland Historical, a tour of the Market District of Downtown Cleveland:
“This tour was created in conjunction with the Downtown Cleveland Alliance for the Sparx City Hop on September 10, 2011. It is a loop tour that starts in front of the West Side Market on West 25th Street. It not only explores the history of the market but also visits a few sites nearby.”
Tour: “Campus District: Millionaires’ Row
From CSU Cleveland Historical:
Tour: “Campus District: Millionaires’ Row
City Tours from Cleveland Historical
A selection of Cleveland tours from CSU Cleveland Historical
Detroit-Shoreway Tour
From CSU Cleveland Historical, a tour of the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood
City Hop: Downtown
From CSU Cleveland Historical
This walking tour was created in conjunction with the Downtown Cleveland Alliance for the Sparx City Hop on September 10, 2011. It is a loop tour that begins at 200 Public Square (the BP Building). Skyscrapers, monuments, and civic buildings are among the points of interest on the tour, which offers a look at Downtown’s diverse architecture, its rich past, and its ever-evolving nature.