Downtown Cleveland
Encyclopedia
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years. While much of the city's population decamped to surrounding suburbs in the second half of the 20th century, downtown Cleveland gained population in the first decade of the 21st century, growing from 7,261 in 1990 to 9,599 as of the 2000 Census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. In 2005, the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
called it one of America's "Emerging Downtowns" because of its 32.2% growth over the period. As of the 2010 Census
United States Census, 2010
The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...
the population of Downtown Cleveland was 11,693 making it the biggest downtown district in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Public Square
Public Square
Public Square is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and the Terminal Tower, face the square...
was laid out by city founder Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland was a lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Western Reserve in 1796.-Early life:...
in 1796 and has remained largely unchanged. It consists of a large open space, cut into quadrants by Ontario Street and Superior Avenue. Public Square is the symbolic heart of the city, and has hosted presidents, vast congregations of people, and a free annual 4th of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
concert by the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
. At one time, Public Square was fenced off and inaccessible to vehicles. In 1860, the Perry Monument, a memorial to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry
United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...
's victory in the Battle of Lake Erie
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy...
in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, was dedicated in the center of Public Square. In 1892, it was moved out of the square, which by then had the fences removed after lobbying by commercial interests. Public Square is also home to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Cleveland)
The Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a monument to Civil War soldiers and sailors from Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Located in the southeast quadrant of Public Square in downtown Cleveland, it was designed by architect Levi Scofield , who also created the monument's sculptures and...
, which commemorates residents of Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Cuyahoga County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. It is the most populous county in Ohio; as of the 2010 census, the population was 1,280,122. Its county seat is Cleveland. Cuyahoga County is part of Greater Cleveland, a metropolitan area, and Northeast Ohio, a...
who served in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Public Square also features a statue of Cleaveland; a statue of Tom L. Johnson
Tom L. Johnson
Thomas Loftin Johnson , better known as Tom L. Johnson, was an American politician of the Democratic Party from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He headed relief efforts after the Johnstown, Pennsylvania floods of 1889, was a U.S. Representative from 1891–1895 and the 35th mayor of...
, the city's most famous mayor; a large amount of shrubbery and other landscaping; and a large public fountain. The Consulate-General of Slovenia in Cleveland
Diplomatic missions of Slovenia
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Slovenia, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Tirana ** Vienna ** Klagenfurt ** Brussels ** Sarajevo ** Zagreb ** Prague...
is in the 55 Public Square building.
Notable buildings on Public Square include the Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower
The Terminal Tower is a landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the second-tallest building in the world when it was completed. The Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America...
, home to Tower City Center
Tower City Center
Tower City Center is a large mixed-use facility located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The facility is composed of a number of interconnected office buildings, including the landmark Terminal Tower, a shopping mall, two hotels, and the main hub of Cleveland's three rapid transit lines...
, 200 Public Square - the former BP Building (renamed in 2005), as well as Key Tower
Key Tower
Key Tower is a skyscraper on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio designed by architect César Pelli. It is the tallest building in both the city of Cleveland and the state of Ohio, the 18th tallest building in the United States, and the 70th tallest building in the world...
, the tallest building in Ohio and one of the tallest in the United States. Public Square is also home to the historic Old Stone Church, completed in 1855. The west side of Public Square was to become the headquarters of the Cleveland Trust Company, then called Ameritrust, but the project was cancelled after Ameritrust was purchased and merged into Key Bank
Key Bank
KeyBank is a regional bank headquartered in Key Tower within Cleveland, Ohio's Public Square. , it is the 19th largest bank in the United States based on total deposits...
, leaving that side of the square open to this day, with only a surface parking lot on the site. The region is currently debating the best use of Public Square, and several residents and organizations have called for the square to be closed to traffic during non-peak hours of the weekday. Plans floated for a square redesign include an ice skating rink, amphitheater, farmer's market, restaurant with outdoor seating, and other ideas, all of which are designed to draw people to the square as a gathering place.
Historic Warehouse District
Cleveland's first neighborhood, the Warehouse DistrictThe Warehouse District
The Warehouse District is a nationally recognized historic district located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It is roughly bound by Front Avenue, Superior Avenue, West 3rd Street, and West 10th Street....
, was originally a residential area, then became a warehousing and shipping neighborhood, and has morphed into an entertainment, dining, and residential hub. The Warehouse District is the largest downtown neighborhood by population, and continues to grow with an assortment of shops, clubs, bars, and loft condos/apartments. In 2005, local developer Robert L. Stark, of Stark Enterprises, planned a $1 billion redevelopment of parking lots, adding retail, office, housing, and structured parking in a series of buildings from the lakefront to Public Square, see "Stark Project" below.
Historic Gateway District
Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex
The Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex is a multipurpose campus located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It comprises two sports facilities, a transitional space known as Gateway Plaza, and two parking garages...
, which includes Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena
Quicken Loans Arena
Quicken Loans Arena , is a multi-purpose arena, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States....
, the homes of the MLB
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
, NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
, AFL Cleveland Gladiators, and AHL
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
Lake Erie Monsters
Lake Erie Monsters
The Lake Erie Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They began play in the 2007–08 AHL season at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio...
. The Gateway complex was built on parking lots on the site of a former produce market. The baseball stadium and basketball arena are connected to Tower City Center, and RTA
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, providing over 44 million trips to residents and visitors of the Cleveland area in 2010...
's rail transit system
RTA Rapid Transit
RTA Rapid Transit is a rapid transit and light rail system in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County owned by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority...
, via an enclosed walkway. The neighborhood includes retail, housing, and a large variety of restaurants. East 4th Street, an emerging downtown neighborhood, is home to Cleveland's House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
, Iron Chef
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
Michael Symon
Michael Symon
Michael D. Symon is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as Iron Chef America, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate, as well as Cook Like an Iron Chef on the Cooking Channel...
's Lola Bistro, comedy club/restaurant Pickwick and Frolic, as well as other dining and entertainment options, retail, loft condominiums, and apartments. The Gateway District also houses the Cleveland Arcade
Cleveland Arcade
The Arcade in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is a Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, joined by a five-story arcade with a glass skylight spanning over 300 feet , along the four balconies....
, the first indoor shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in the United States.
Civic Center
as is the Justice Center Complex
Justice Center Complex
The Justice Center Complex is a building complex located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio that opened in 1976. It consists of the Cleveland Police Headquarters Building, the Cuyahoga County and Cleveland Municipal Courts Tower, and the Correction Center. It occupies a city block bounded by Lakeside...
, home of the City Police Headquarters,
Cuyahoga County and Cleveland Municipal Courts Tower, and the Correction Center. The Cuyahoga County Court House is here, as is the Cleveland Convention Center
Public Auditorium
Public Auditorium is located in the central business district of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Since it was opened in 1922, it has served as a concert hall, sports arena and convention center. Although it was planned and funded prior to World War I, construction did not begin until 1920. Designed by...
with its underground exhibit facility. Other buildings in the district include the Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland Public Library
The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
main building, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is the Cleveland-based headquarters of the U.S. Federal Reserve System's Fourth District. The district is composed of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. It has branch offices in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh....
, the Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse, and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District administration building. The Public Malls
The Mall (Cleveland)
The Cleveland Mall is a long public park in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was conceived as part of the 1903 Group Plan by Daniel Burnham, John Carrère, and Arnold Brunner as a vast public space flanked by the city's major civic and governmental buildings, all built in the neoclassical style...
, Malls A, B, and C, also known as the Burnham Malls, hold public green space and gardens fronting the lake. , one of the two plans for a new Cleveland convention center includes adding an additional mall that extends north towards the lake, the other being a new center built at Tower City.
Financial District
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
firms: the Eaton Corporation
Eaton Corporation
Eaton Corporation is a global diversified power management company with 2010 sales of $13.7 billion. The company is a leading provider of electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment;...
and National City Bank. "Big Four"
Big Four auditors
The Big Four are the four largest international professional services networks in accountancy and professional services, which handle the vast majority of audits for publicly traded companies as well as many private companies, creating an oligopoly in auditing large companies...
accounting firm Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
was founded in Cleveland (as Ernst & Ernst), and still occupies its original offices in the Huntington Building. Additionally, the headquarters of global and national law firms, including Jones Day
Jones Day
Jones Day is an international law firm founded in Cleveland, Ohio on March 1, 1893, by Judge Edwin J. Blandin and William Lowe Rice. Jones Day is the eighth largest law firm in the world by revenue, and the fourth highest grossing firm in the US with annual revenues of US$1.4 billion...
and Baker Hostetler
Baker Hostetler
Baker Hostetler is an American law firm based in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1916. One of the firm's founders, Newton D. Baker, was U.S. Secretary of War during World War I and former Mayor of Cleveland....
, are headquartered in the financial district. The forty-story Erieview Tower
Erieview Tower
The Erieview Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The building has 40 stories, rises to a height of 529 ft , and has of office space...
, part of the largely unbuilt Erieview Urban Renewal Project of the 1960s, is also located in the district with its attached mall, The Galleria
The Galleria at Erieview
The Galleria at Erieview is a two floor shopping mall that opened in 1987 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, on the east side of the city's downtown. It is adjacent to the Erieview Tower, a 40-story office building. The Galleria is a few blocks away from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.- History :The concept...
, which was added to the Tower in the 1980s. Another landmark skyscraper, the "silver chisel" One Cleveland Center
One Cleveland Center
One Cleveland Center is the fifth largest skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, following Erieview Tower. The building has 31 stories, rises to a height of 450 ft , and is located at 1375 East 9th Street. It has about of office space. The Tower was built at cost of $52,100,000...
is located in this district as well. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's major daily newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, is headquartered here, and WKYC, the local NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
, built a new digital broadcast center on Lakeside Avenue on the northern end of the district. Other stations headquartered here include WOIO
WOIO
WOIO, virtual channel 19 , is the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio. It is licensed to the nearby suburb of Shaker Heights. WOIO is owned by Raycom Media and its sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WUAB . The two stations share a studio facility in Cleveland and WOIO's transmitter is located in...
, the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate, and WUAB
WUAB
WUAB, identified on-air as "My43 The Block, WUAB", is the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio. The station is licensed to the suburb of Lorain, and it shares a studio in downtown Cleveland with sister station WOIO, Cleveland's CBS affiliate. Its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio...
, the MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate, both owned by Raycom Media and housed in Reserve Square
Reserve Square
Reserve Square is a two-building skyscraper complex in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Both buildings have 25 floors and are 266 feet high. Embassy Suites Tower houses a hotel and was built in 1969, and East Tower is a residential skyscraper completed in 1973....
on East 12th Street. There is a large cluster of high-rise downtown housing in this area, largely concentrated in the East 12th Street area, with an addition, "The Avenue District" (see below), set to begin construction in 2006. The Financial District also serves as home to Cleveland's Catholic Cathedral, St. John Cathedral
St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland
In the 1830s, Catholics started to arrive in the Western Reserve region of Ohio, United States, so the Archdiocese of Cincinnati sent priests up to the Northeast Ohio area to serve. The first parish in Cleveland was St. Mary's of the Flats. In 1847, Pope Pius IX established the Catholic Diocese of...
, the seat of its Catholic Diocese
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is a Roman Catholic diocese in Ohio. It was erected on April 23, 1847 by Pope Pius IX. The diocese lost territory in 1910 when the Diocese of Toledo was erected by Pope Pius X, and in 1943 when the Diocese of Youngstown was erected by Pope Pius XII...
. A notable building in this area that currently sits vacant is the former Cleveland Trust Rotunda and Ameritrust Tower
AT Tower
The Ameritrust Tower is a brutalist skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The building is 29 stories and rises to a height of 383 ft . It was designed by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton Smith and completed in 1971...
, which served as headquarters of The Cleveland Trust Company and its successor, Ameritrust, until its acquisition by Key Bank
Key Bank
KeyBank is a regional bank headquartered in Key Tower within Cleveland, Ohio's Public Square. , it is the 19th largest bank in the United States based on total deposits...
. The rotunda has a large stained-glass window on its ceiling, and was purchased by Cuyahoga County, which, , planned to reuse it as the centerpiece of the county's new administration center. The County plans to tear the building down and build a new tower that connects with the rotunda.
, Cuyahoga County Commissioners have decided to abate the asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
and sell the Ameritrust Tower to a possible developer. The County has valued the site at $35,000,000.
North Coast District
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, Great Lakes Science Center
Great Lakes Science Center
The Great Lakes Science Center is a museum and educational facility in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States.The center's exhibits focus on helping visitors to understand science, technology, and their interdependence with the environment. Many of the exhibits document the features of the natural...
, Cleveland Browns Stadium
Cleveland Browns Stadium
-See also:* List of current National Football League stadiums* Chronology of home stadiums for current National Football League teams* List of American football stadiums by capacity* List of U.S. stadiums by capacity* List of North American stadiums by capacity...
, Steamship William G. Mather Maritime Museum
Steamship William G. Mather Maritime Museum
The Steamship William G. Mather is a retired Great Lakes bulk freighter now restored as a museum ship in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four in the Great Lakes region...
and the USS Cod, North Coast Harbor
North Coast Harbor
North Coast Harbor is a district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio on the shore of Lake Erie. It includes the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Steamship William G...
is the tourist district of downtown Cleveland. The North Coast District is home to the city's port, although there are long-term plans to move the port west of the river and open up the area for housing and lakefront development. North Coast is also the former home of Cleveland Stadium
Cleveland Stadium
Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football...
, known to some as the "Mistake on the Lake". Cleveland Stadium was torn down after the former Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
franchise left the city in 1995, and was replaced with Cleveland Browns Stadium, which serves as the home of the reborn NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
football franchise. Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport is located east of the Rock Hall, and serves as a commuter and business airport that reduces small aircraft traffic at the larger Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, located southwest of downtown. The district fronts Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
on the north and also includes Voinovich Park and a fishing pier. Plans for the city's lakefront include adding thousands of housing units, retail shops, a marina, and other amenities to North Coast Harbor, see "Lakefront Plan" below.
Theater District
Home to the second-largest performing arts complex in the U.S., Playhouse Square CenterPlayhouse Square Center
The Playhouse Square Center, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is the second-largest theater complex in the United States . Constructed in a span of nineteen months in the early 1920s, the theaters were subsequently closed down, but were revived through a grass-roots effort...
is downtown's cultural heart. The State
State Theater (Cleveland)
The State Theatre is a theater on Euclid Avenue, Cleveland in downtown Cleveland, Ohio that is part of Playhouse Square. It was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb to be the flagship of Marcus Loew's Loew's Ohio Theatres company....
, Ohio
Ohio Theater (Cleveland)
The Ohio Theatre is a theater on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, part of Playhouse Square. The theater was built by Marcus Loew's Loew's Ohio Theatres company. It was designed by Thomas W. Lamb in the Italian Renaissance style, and was intended to present legitimate plays. The...
, Allen
Allen Theater
The Allen Theatre is a theater, on Euclid Avenue, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, part of Playhouse Square. The largest of the four primary theaters in the Playhouse Square complex, it primarily hosts touring musicals and other larger productions....
, Hanna, and Palace
Palace Theater, Cleveland
The Palace Theatre is a theater on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, part of Playhouse Square. The theater was originally named Keith’s Palace Theater after B. F. Keith, founder of the Keith-Albee chain of vaudeville and movie theaters...
theaters are all located in a cluster near the intersection of Euclid Avenue and E. 14th Street. WVIZ
WVIZ
WVIZ is a public television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was the 100th public television station to sign on in America. Its founder was Betty Cope, a former producer at Cleveland's ABC affiliate, WEWS, who recognized the value of non-commercial educational television for the schools...
/WCPN
WCPN
WCPN — branded 90.3 WCPN — is a public radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and serving the serving Greater Cleveland area....
, Cleveland's public television and radio stations (incorporated as "ideastream") teamed up with Playhouse Square to renovate the former Playhouse Square Building, an empty office building, transforming it into One Playhouse Square, a downtown broadcast headquarters. The building, which had its official opening in the fall of 2005, is now known as the Idea Center, and includes high definition television studios, control rooms, radio studios, and performance space fronting Euclid Avenue, as well as a variety of high-tech business startups and other tenants located on the building's upper floors.
Campus District
The Campus District is a 500 acres (2 km²) downtown Cleveland neighborhood just east of the central business district. The district is bordered by Lakeside Avenue to the north, Broadway Avenue to the south, East 18th Street to the west and East 30th Street to the east. Members of the Campus District include Cleveland State University, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, Cuyahoga Community College and more.Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...
has in past years been derided as an open enrollment commuter school, but has moved to dispel that belief. The university is progressing through a master plan to raise standards, enrollment, and rebuild its fortress-like campus. CSU plans to build a college town adjacent to downtown, including new retail, restaurants and housing to serve an increase of resident students planned to be in the thousands. The university's desire to attract more traditional college students and begin to raise its stature as a research university figure into these plans a great deal, and CSU opened its second residence hall, a complete retrofit of Fenn Tower, in the fall of 2006. Over the past decade, CSU has partnered with the city and other area stakeholders to transfer technology research into startup companies and enterprises, improving the economy of the area and stimulating downtown life in the Quadrangle. As part of CSU, the Wolstein Center
Wolstein Center
The Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Convocation Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It replaced the Woodling Gym...
, formerly the CSU Convocation Center, is located in the Campus District, and serves as the home of CSU Men's Basketball and various concerts and special events throughout the year.
Flats district
The Flats
The Flats is a mixed-use industrial, entertainment, and increasingly residential area of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The name reflects its low-lying topography on the banks of the Cuyahoga River.-History:...
have fallen on hard times. Though there is no one reason for the decay, a series of incidents have garnered a reputation for unruly behavior. The Flats crowd migrated east to the Warehouse and the Gateway Districts as trendy and more upscale venues have emerged. The west bank of the flats, home to numerous restaurants, bars, and new housing continues to thrive, and is the site of a large urban apartment/condo complex known as Stonebridge. A local developer, Scott Wolstein of Developers Diversified Realty is demolishing the structures on the east bank and replacing them with a new mixed-use neighborhood, and the flats will be reborn once again as a residential neighborhood. The Flats were the place Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland was a lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Western Reserve in 1796.-Early life:...
first landed when he founded the city, and thus the area is reclaiming its past heritage as a residential area. In addition to the East Bank development, there have been plans floated for the Irishtown Bend
Irishtown Bend
Irishtown Bend is an area of Cleveland, Ohio, USA located along the Cuyahoga River in the Flats. It encompassed roughly the area from West 25th Street east to the river north of Detroit Road. The swampy area was developed during the 1830s by immigrant Irish who came to the area as laborers for the...
area, in addition to more housing on the west bank in the area near the Powerhouse entertainment complex, currently a large surface parking lot.
Euclid Corridor
The Euclid Corridor Transportation Project connected downtown, Midtown, and University CircleUniversity Circle
University Circle, is a neighborhood located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for its world-class cultural, educational and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lakeview Cemetery, and University...
by introducing bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
(BRT) to the city in the form of the HealthLine
HealthLine
The HealthLine is a bus rapid transit line run by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The line runs along Euclid Avenue from Public Square in downtown Cleveland to the Louis Stokes Station at Windermere in East Cleveland...
. The project involved a total reconstruction of Euclid Avenue from Public Square to beyond University Circle (located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) east of downtown), and included bus-only lanes with center-median station boarding, priority signaling, and fast commute times. In addition to transit and road improvements, the transportation project also invested heavily in the Euclid Avenue streetscape, rebuilding the street from storefront to storefront, removing old vaults and streetcar tracks, and building new sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping.
The project included a large public arts component, with different areas of the Euclid Corridor route being addressed by local and national artists. The project is expected to spur investments in residential, retail, office, and mixed-use redevelopments, including over 4,000 residential units along the corridor. In addition to the BRT line, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance funded a study on retail feasibility on the avenue, focusing on the area between CSU and Public Square.
The Flats
The long-suffering entertainment district on the east bank of the Flats is planned to be reborn in a proposal put forth by Scott Wolstein of Developers Diversified Realty, Inc. Wolstein's plans include a complete demolition of the current east bank, realignment of Old River Road, and the construction of hundreds of apartments, townhouses, and retail over parking, connections to the RTA Waterfront Line, and a new office building that is being pitched as the new home for the local Defense Finance and Accounting ServiceDefense Finance and Accounting Service
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that provides finance and accounting services for the civil and military members of the Department. Headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, it was activated on Jan. 18, 1991...
office, scheduled to add over 500 jobs in Cleveland over the next two years. The development will also include a boardwalk and marina, and is part of a larger plan to develop the lakefront and river shores of downtown that has included a large number of apartments built on the west bank of the flats, in an area called Stonebridge. The east bank redevelopment plan was approved and the developer is currently demolishing properties on the riverfront. Current East Bank property owners were offered an appraised amount for their property, with the owners who refuse to sell subject to eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
proceedings by right of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.
, there are several holdout property owners currently fighting the Port and Wolstein on the prices offered for their properties. Wolstein has announced that former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar
Bernie Kosar
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Kosar, Jr. is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. Kosar played for the Cleveland Browns from 1985 to 1993 and then finished his career with the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins.-Early life and high school career:A Hungarian-American...
will be developing a steakhouse in his development, as well as a bookstore and movie theater. He also said he is close to getting a "gourmet" grocery. The latest East Bank plan also incorporates a formerly-separate project on land at West 10th Street, called "Lighthouse Landing". The former owner of this parcel, currently a surface parking lot, sold the property to Wolstein's group previously.
On May 22, 2007, Wolstein and Bob Corna, developer of the West Bank's Stonebridge neighborhood, announced a partnership to unite Wolstein's East Bank plan with Corna's Stonebridge Development, and debuted a new development plan for the neighborhood (pictured). There will be several large pedestrian bridges built over the Cuyahoga River, and the developers intend to market the area as "The Flats", without regard to east/west, as they have stated the rest of the country still knows the area by its full name. Home to condominium towers known as Stonebridge, the developers of this project wish to extend high-rise towers throughout the west bank area on current surface parking lots, eventually building out to several thousand housing units on the West Bank, in addition to the several hundred included in Wolstein's East Bank Proposal.
Avenue District
Cleveland has also added to its higher income downtown housing with the Avenue District. Located immediately east of Erieview TowerErieview Tower
The Erieview Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The building has 40 stories, rises to a height of 529 ft , and has of office space...
on the site of several parking lots on East 12th Street, the development includes over 400 condominiums, including lofts, townhomes, penthouses, street-level retail, garage parking, and pedestrian friendly sidewalks and streets. The developer is touting this as downtown's new upscale, quiet neighborhood with easy access to the attractions and amenities of downtown. The development is a project of Zaremba, Inc., and construction began in 2006. The Avenue District will be built in phases, with future surface lot development based on market demand.
East 4th Street
MRN Ltd has bought most of the buildings along East 4th Street and is currently installing street retail such as high-end clothing, restaurants and coffee shops with outdoor seating, hundreds of loft apartments in the upper levels, and an upscale martini bar/bowling alley/restaurant created by the founders of Gameworks, called the Corner Alley. MRN will be adding more apartments to the area in conjunction with the Corner Alley martini bar/bowling alley, with funding assistance from the City of Cleveland.East 4th Street is home to Pickwick and Frolic, the comedy club/restaurant Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, the House of Blues Cleveland (located in the former Woolworth's Building), the restaurant Lola Bistro (owned by chef Michael Symon
Michael Symon
Michael D. Symon is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as Iron Chef America, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate, as well as Cook Like an Iron Chef on the Cooking Channel...
, winner of the Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
competition), the East Coast-style "ultralounge" View Nightclub, Saigon Vietnamese Cuisine, and Zocalo Mexican Grill & Tequileria. The restaurant La Strada opened in October 2008. The Greenhouse Tavern and Erie Island Coffee Co. of Kelleys Island, Ohio
Kelleys Island, Ohio
Kelleys Island is both a village in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and the island which it fully occupies in Lake Erie. Originally known as Island Number 6 and later Cunningham Island, it was renamed in 1840 for brothers Datus and Irad Kelley, who were largely responsible for cultivatating the...
are set to open in 2008.
Lakefront
In 2004, The Cleveland City Planning Commission completed plans for a lakefront revitalization to stimulate national interest in the City of Cleveland as an exciting place to live. These include thousands of housing units, retail shops, public parks, connections to the light railLight rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
waterfront line, an 18 hole golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course, office buildings, a boardwalk, and other amenities. Cleveland's current industrially-oriented lakefront is slated to become a thing of the past, and a new, public-minded and recreational lakefront will rise in its place. The chief roadblock to the implementation of this plan is the relocation of the Port of Cleveland to an area west of the river, as well as converting of Ohio Route 2, better known as the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway
The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway is a limited-access freeway in Cleveland, Ohio. It closely follows the shore of Lake Erie and connects the east and west sides of Cleveland via the Main Avenue Bridge. The Shoreway carries State Route 2 along its length, and also carries U.S. 6, U.S. 20 and I-90...
to a low-speed, at-grade boulevard. The Shoreway is currently an expressway that currently blocks downtown from the lakefront, separating lakefront developments and reducing pedestrian access. The boulevard will enable substantially more intersections with north-south streets stretching from Edgewater Park at the city's western border through downtown and east to Gordon Park.
Convention Center
Cleveland is working on a long term replacement for its outdated convention centerPublic Auditorium
Public Auditorium is located in the central business district of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Since it was opened in 1922, it has served as a concert hall, sports arena and convention center. Although it was planned and funded prior to World War I, construction did not begin until 1920. Designed by...
, currently located underground beneath Mall B
The Mall (Cleveland)
The Cleveland Mall is a long public park in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was conceived as part of the 1903 Group Plan by Daniel Burnham, John Carrère, and Arnold Brunner as a vast public space flanked by the city's major civic and governmental buildings, all built in the neoclassical style...
, a grassy open space stretching from North Coast Harbor through the Civic Center District. Plans vary from replacing the current center beneath the mall to construction of an addition to Forest City
Forest City Enterprises
Forest City Enterprises is a $9-billion diversified real estate management and development company based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Its portfolio includes interests in retail centers, apartment communities, office buildings and mixed-use projects in the U.S...
-owned Tower City Center
Tower City Center
Tower City Center is a large mixed-use facility located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The facility is composed of a number of interconnected office buildings, including the landmark Terminal Tower, a shopping mall, two hotels, and the main hub of Cleveland's three rapid transit lines...
. Cost projections have put the underground site at an estimated cost of over $500 million dollars, which is well over what the city and county wish to pay. Forest City, who had withdrawn its Tower City site from consideration, has proposed that the location be reconsidered. The site is considered a front runner as it would cost around $350 million to expand a convention center onto it, a figure closer to the city/county budget.
Others
In Public Square, a large surface parking lot will be the new site of a 21-story office tower being built by the Richard E. Jacobs Group. 515 Euclid Avenue, a parking garage, is slated to become a 28+ story condominium tower. Tower City Center continues to attract downtown shoppers, and Forest City Enterprises says they are waiting for the downtown housing market to mature before it plans housing developments on its Scranton Peninsula, across the Cuyahoga RiverCuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
from Tower City.
Additional developers have floated ideas for developing the peninsula and areas surrounding the Flats with housing as well; in particular, local developer John Ferchill has announced plans to build housing along the river's edge at Scranton. The project will represent Ferchill's first project in Cleveland in many years, as he refused to work with previous Mayor Michael R. White
Michael R. White
Michael Reed White is an American politician of the Democratic party and was the 55th and longest-serving mayor of Cleveland, Ohio encompassing three four-year terms, from 1990 to 2002...
. Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
, owned by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, has opened a large online loan center downtown near the arena, with hopes to employ over 600 people when fully staffed. New housing condo/apartment projects are frequently announced, and Cleveland is projected to increase its downtown population to over 20,000 by 2010.