Connelly Rice
Karin Connelly Rice

Stories by: Karin Connelly Rice

Karin Connelly Rice enjoys telling people's stories, whether it's a promising startup or a life's passion. Over the past 20 years she has reported on the local business community for publications such as Inside Business and Cleveland Magazine. She was editor of the Rocky River/Lakewood edition of In the Neighborhood and was a reporter and photographer for the Amherst News-Times. At Fresh Water she enjoys telling the stories of Clevelanders who are shaping and embracing the business and research climate in Cleveland.
St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church: A pillar of Civil Rights and community
Cleveland Masterworks: St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Central neighborhood is the oldest Black congregation in Cleveland. The 1908 church designed by Sydney Badgley's firm, the church is is known as a champion of community and Civil Rights.
Howling Heros: David Knott ensures retired K-9 first responders remain with their human partners
David Knott, founder of the Veterans and First Responders Foundation, is on a mission to give military and police dogs everything they need when they retire from duty—from staying with their handlers to healthcare—with his nonprofit Howling Heroes. The first five dogs were just honored last month.
Cleveland Terminal & Valley Railway Depot: A relic of 19th Century passenger rail travel
Cleveland Masterworks: In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, the railroad industry was booming, for both freight transport and passenger rail. The abandoned Cleveland Terminal & Valley Railway depot in the Flats is a living relic of those past times.
Making choices, making history: Facing History mural prompts a look inward, a look forward
Facing History & Ourselves, the organization that uses the lessons of the past to create a better future by helping navigate student conversations about race, equity, justice, and citizenship, worked with LAND studio and artist Isaiah Williams to send its message through a mural on the side on their building on the Urban Community School campus.
St. Casimir Church blazing new paths in green infrastructure on its 130-year-old property
St. Casimir Catholic Church in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood is currently working on the second phase of its green infrastructure plan—installing permeable pavers and other systems to divert rainwater from the storm sewers to help keep Lake Erie clean—thanks to green infrastructure grants from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
Flashback: Big Fun returns to original Coventry home as holiday pop-up shop
This holiday season Steve Presser's Big Fun—the nostalgic store selling vintage toys, gag gifts, old-time candy, and funky jewelry—is returning to Coventry Village as a pop-up shop in the store's original location.
Shaping the future: Union Miles Mt. Pleasant unite as one CDC, initiate renewal plans
Union Miles Development Corporation is adding the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood to its footprint—thanks in part to grants from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and St. Luke's Foundation. Union Miles CDC executive director Roshawn Samples has big goals for revitalizing Cleveland's southeast side and restoring the pride and investment in the neighborhood where she grew up.
The Weizer Building: A 1928 testament to Cleveland’s Hungarian population in Buckeye
Cleveland Masterworks: Hungarian-born architect Henry Hradilek came to Cleveland in the early 1900s and wasted no time designing industrial buildings, apartments, and homes, including the building that is today's Don’s Lighthouse. His remarkable Beaux Arts design of the Weizer Building in Buckeye will soon be Providence House's new east side location.
Discussing diversity: Engage! Cleveland hosts DEI Conference
Engage! Cleveland recently held its inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference at the Cleveland Museum of Art. A sold-out crowd participated in conversations about diversity and listened to speakers discuss how to foster inclusive workplaces, address systemic barriers, promote equitable opportunities, and create a more just and inclusive society.
End of an era: The demolition of TRW's Lyndhurst Headquarters
Cleveland Masterworks: TRW began in Cleveland as a small manufacturing company and evolved into a worldwide leader in the automotive, aviation, and aerospace industries. The 480,000-square-foot headquarters TRW built in 1985 on Frances Payne Bolton's estate in Lyndhurst is now being demolished.
Prix fixe: It’s time to chow down at local eateries during Cleveland Restaurant Week
Cleveland Restaurant Week is in full swing, brought to you by Cleveland Independents and running through Saturday, Nov. 18. Get out and enjoy special three-course, prix fixe dinners created by more than 30 locally-owned, independent restaurants. Mallorca Restaurant owner Laurie Torres gives FreshWater readers the scoop on what's on the menu.
It’s a date: Enjoy live music, French food at Museum of Art’s Degas exhibit
Cleveland Museum of Art's “Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism” exhibit depicts a darker side of life as a working woman in 1800s France. On Friday nights, enjoy Date Night with Degas at Provenance Restaurant—with a docent-led tour of the exhibit and live music and French dinner curated by Chef Doug Katz.
Brown Hoisting & Machinery Co.: From 19th Century industry to 21st Century creative community
Cleveland Masterworks: In the late 1800s, Alexander Brown used his civil engineering degree to develop the Brown Hoist—an automated crane system for unloading ships' cargo that reduced costs and turnaround times. His successful business was housed in the J. Milton Dyer-designed Brownhoist Building in MidTown. Today the building is a gathering space for creatives, small businesses, and collaborators who want to give back to the St. Clair-Superior and MidTown neighborhoods.
La vida hermosa: Omara Portuondo to perform tomorrow at Cleveland Museum of Art
Grammy award-nominated vocalist Omara Portuondo—most known for her lead vocals with the Buena Vista Social Club—will perform at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Wednesday during a stop on her Farewell World Tour VIDA 2023.
Pilgrim Church: An example of innovation by 19th Century architect Sidney Badgley
Cleveland Masterworks: The 1894 Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Tremont is just one of many churches, buildings, and homes designed by Cleveland architect Sidney Rose Badgley. Tremont History Project will give free tours of Pilgrim this weekend.
Ohio Bell Telephone Building: Once Cleveland’s tallest building and a hub for technology
Cleveland Masterworks: The 1927 Ohio Bell Telephone Building on Huron Road was briefly the tallest building in the city—until the Terminal Tower overshadowed it in 1928. Designed by Hubbell and Bennes, the building was the site for technological leaps in long-distance phone calls in the 1940s and 1970s.
Artistic interpretation: First two murals completed in Murals Across the City campaign
Two local artists—Kelle Schwab and Lisa Quine—just completed the first two murals in Murals Across the City Campaign sponsored by Destination Cleveland and partner Graffiti Heart. Four more murals are to come.
Tales of Terror: Tours of Cleveland to share spooky stories of horror and tragedy in October
Tours of Cleveland founder Scott O'Con wanted to cover something different than the usual haunted house tours and spiritual sightings in his October walking tour series. So, in Tales of Terror, he focuses on Cleveland's true tragedies, murders, and disasters spanning the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Spiritual beauty: Tremont History Project to host Historic Church Tour series
The Tremont History Project, a group of amateur historians and volunteers from the south side neighborhood who have been collecting and documenting Tremont history, is hosting tours of four historic Tremont churches over the next four weeks.
Let the Oppressed Go Free: Sculptor Timothy Schmalz returns to CLE with human trafficking sculpture
Last week, world-renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz's bronze 20-foot sculpture, "Let the Oppressed Go Free," was placed in Public Square by Community West Foundation and the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking to raise awareness of the ongoing plague happening around the world. Schmalz is also the artist behind the Matthew 25 sculpture series placed around Cleveland.