Artist Nicolette Capuano has spent the past year painstakingly restoring the ornate plaster trim and low relief sculptures in the Tudor Arms building.

Yet she's doing more than simply recreating the past; she has worked closely with building owner Rick Maron and designer Cindy Rae Cohen to create her own masterpieces -- original, hand-painted murals -- that will grace the landmark structure.

"We wanted to highlight the beauty of this historic building while adding a more contemporary touch," says Capuano, who started her company, Beyond the Wall Mural Design, after graduating from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2005.

"Blending the historic and contemporary is definitely a trend in interior design these days," Capuano adds. "We wanted to create something that felt somewhat timeless."

In April, MRN Ltd. will complete a $22 million restoration of the Tudor Arms building, converting it to a new 154-room Double Tree Hotel. The vestibule that Capuano restored will be the hotel's main entrance, while the rejuvenated ballrooms will be used for special events. (See comprehensive Tudor Arms feature in next week's Fresh Water.)

In addition to the mural restoration, Capuano also helped repair the building's one-of-a-kind plaster work where it was damaged or missing pieces. This labor-intensive process required making custom molds, recreating each piece by hand, and patching it in.

When she couldn't find the color she wanted for the trim, Capuano created one from scratch.

"The Tudor umber that we used to glaze the plaster work was hand-mixed," says Capuano. "I went through all of the Sherwin-Williams colors, but I couldn't find exactly what we wanted. I'm a perfectionist, so I kept mixing colors until I got it right."



Source: Nicolette Capuano
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) will soon break ground on SmartHome Cleveland, a passively-heated home that does not require a furnace and is designed to challenge the way that people think about the issue of climate change.

The 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom home will be presented in conjunction with the traveling exhibit, Climate Change, from June to September 2011.

"The SmartHome will show that it's possible to use dramatically less energy in our buildings -- and they can be wonderful places to live," says David Beach, Executive Director of Green City Blue Lake (GCBL), a center for regional sustainability located at the museum.

The SmartHome, which was designed by Doty and Miller Architects and will be the first of its kind in Cleveland, incorporates Passive House Methodology. This approach includes high levels of insulation, featuring wall thicknesses of up to 18 inches, a carefully sealed building envelope that combines minimal air leakage with efficient heat-recovery ventilation, and triple-pane windows.

Heated by a small, supplementary heater, the SmartHome's energy efficient design along with the solar panels on a detached garage will make it a net-zero energy consumer.

Beach describes bringing the SmartHome to University Circle as "something of a barn raising." While planning the project, GCBL worked with neighboring institutions and community groups to identify how the home could best fit into the community.

Ultimately, they decided that a home this smart couldn't remain a museum showpiece for long. This fall, the home will be transported to a vacant lot on nearby Wade Park Avenue in Glenville, where it will be offered for sale to a buyer. The home, which will cost about $525,000 to build, will be priced between $300,000 and $400,000.

Beach is already honing his sales pitch for winter-weary Northeast Ohioans. Tired of paying high heating bills? "You could heat this house with a hairdryer," he jokes.


Source: David Beach
Writer: Lee Chilcote

At a public meeting held last week at Market Avenue Wine Bar, planners showed off designs for the future Market Square Park, an Ohio City park slated to receive a $1.5 million makeover this year from the city.

"We hope the new Market Square Park will become the de facto outdoor dining room for the West Side Market," says Ben Trimble, Program Manager with the Ohio City Near West Development Corporation (OCNW). Trimble says the park, located at the corner of Lorain and West 25th, will complement the redevelopment taking place elsewhere in the area.

Plans for revamping the park, which was completed in 1979, date back to at least 2004. OCNW selected it as a candidate for overhaul because of its dated design, lack of connection to the commercial district, and a perception that the park is unsafe.

The park, which was the original site for the West Side Market before the current building was constructed in 1912, has been a focus area for OCNW. The nonprofit helps to coordinate Open Air in Market Square, an outdoor bazaar that takes place on Saturdays throughout the summer, as well as other park programs.

When construction wraps up this fall, Trimble says the park will have "harvest tables" with bench seating, rows of new trees, public artwork with an "orchard ladder" theme defining the park's entranceway, attractive brick pavers, and an elevated stage that will be used for live music, outdoor movies, and other public performances.

Attractive new bus shelters will also be installed outside of Market Square Park. Parkworks and Cleveland Public Art, two nonprofit groups that worked on the park's redesign, say the bus shelters will be well-used. The Lorain and West 25th intersection has the second highest use of any transit waiting area in the city, second only to Public Square.


Source: Ben Trimble
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Valerie Mayen may have left Season 8 of Project Runway prematurely, but she won't be leaving Cleveland anytime soon. In addition to headquartering her burgeoning fashion label Yellowcake here, the Corpus Christie native will soon launch an innovative sewing co-op for budding designers. And that is just the beginning.

Verb Ballets, a national repertory dance company based in Cleveland Heights, is planning to expand this year to a larger space in a Shaker Heights church.

The city of Shaker Heights will provide a $10,000 job creation grant to the dance company to facilitate their move to the basement of Christ Episcopal Church on Warrensville Center road. Shaker Heights has recently gained attention for its proactive efforts to recruit new commercial tenants to the city, which has historically had a largely residential tax base.

The grant will be used to defray moving expenses and purchase equipment. Verb Ballets has negotiated a five-year lease with Christ Episcopal Church, where the basement will serve as an office, studio and future black box theatre.

Phase I of the project will include construction of the studio and offices. Verb Ballets anticipates being able to generate additional income from tuitions and rentals to independent artists.

Phase II of the project calls for theatrical lighting equipment, sound board, stage and seating area. This black box space will then be used for Verb Ballets performances, and also leased to other artists for performance use. Verb Ballets expects Phase I to be completed this year. There is no timeline yet for Phase II.

Income tax revenues from Verb Ballets' new Shaker Heights location are expected to repay the $10,000 job creation grant in a little over two years, according to the city of Shaker Heights.

This season, Verb Ballets will perform at Cleveland Public Theatre and St. Ignatius High School. The dance company has also performed at Cain Park.


Source: The City of Shaker Heights
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Shaker Heights is much older than the Van Sweringens, the brothers who developed the suburb (and the Terminal Tower) in the 1900s. The town's original settlers include the North Union Shakers, the tightly-knit religious order for which the suburb was named, and early farmers who migrated here from New England.

Asa and Chloe Carter Upson were among Shaker's earliest farming families. They migrated from Barkhamstead, Connecticut and built a farmhouse in 1836 in an area that was then rural. Their house, one of only 400 such properties still standing in Cuyahoga County, is located at 19027 Chagrin Boulevard.

Thanks to the nonprofit Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS), this rare piece of history has been preserved. David and Kristine Saudek, the house's most recent owners, donated it to CRS in September. The Society spent several months bringing the home up to date by painting the exterior, repairing a cupola on the garage, and addressing minor carpentry and electrical issues.

The Upson house, priced at $97,500, is being offered for sale to "an individual who appreciates its significance and will honor its heritage," according to the home's sales materials. The home, which has been well cared for, has central air, first floor master bedroom, and a large living room with a wood-burning fireplace. The home will be conveyed with a restrictive covenant that protects its historic features.

Although it was remodeled in 1940 in the Colonial Revival style, the home has several features dating back to 1836, including some of the windows and doors, the gabled portion of the house, and wide-plank flooring in the upstairs bedrooms.


Source: Cleveland Restoration Society
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Viktor Schreckengost, a nationally-heralded designer that put Cleveland on the map for industrial design, will soon have his own museum at the Tower Press Building, just east of downtown Cleveland. The museum is scheduled to open in April or May.

The nonprofit Viktor Schreckengost Foundation recently signed a lease on a 2,450-square-foot space on the first floor of Tower Press, a former factory at 1900 Superior Avenue that was turned into loft apartments, artist studios and offices a decade ago.

The museum's goal is to celebrate Schrekengost's career as an industrial designer, as well as Cleveland's history as a center for industrial design. Schreckengost, who died in 2008 at age 101, designed a vast array of consumer goods, from trucks and bicycles to chairs, printing presses and gas stations.

Schreckengost also founded the industrial design department at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA). He taught thousands of students there during his lifetime, many of whom became influential designers and artists in their own right.

Karen Perkowski, co-owner of Tower Press, has followed and collected Schreckengost's work for years before landing the museum in her building. She first developed a friendship with Schreckengost after he stopped in one day at the Artefino Café, a coffee and sandwich shop located in her building.

"I asked if we could name a sandwich after him and he agreed," says Perkowski. The Schreckengost is a ham-and-Swiss sandwich with horseradish.

The museum will display a collection of Schreckengost's designs that are now in storage at Cleveland State University (CSU). Admission will be free. The Schreckengost Foundation has said that part of the museum's purpose is to spur interest from manufacturers in creating products based on the artist's original designs.

While the museum will celebrate a piece of Cleveland's past, its creators also hope to connect it to the city's future. They want to tie it to an initiative by CIA and CSU to create a district of design on Euclid Avenue that will promote Cleveland as a hub for furniture manufacturers and other design companies.


Source: Karen Perkowski
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In the so-called Internet Age, the public library has taken on a broader role. More than a place to grab a novel, photocopy a letter, or scour a thick resource book, the library has also become a hub for computer use, digital resources, and social and professional gatherings.

With this in mind, the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) is getting a 21st-century facelift. Among the enhancements will include a centralized location for computers and technology, a first-floor display for popular and rare collections, room for community events, and a new indoor garden.

The Downtown Destination Campaign, as the $12 million redevelopment plan is being called, seeks to make the main library a center of activity and learning and to connect the library with the surrounding downtown area. The first phase involves creating Tech Central.

According to Thomas Corrigan, president of the CPL board of trustees, public-access computers are currently dispersed throughout the library. Tech Central will create a one-stop source for computers and technology, with trained staff on hand. Phase One will cost an estimated $1.2 million.

Centers for family and children's discovery, sports research and career connections will be established in the main library to encourage patrons to take full advantage of the library's offerings.

Cosmetic enhancements to the exterior and interior will also be part of the campaign, with the intent of connecting the historic library with the immediate neighborhood.

CPL was ranked one of the top five libraries in the country last year by the Library Journal.


SOURCE: CPL
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Damon Taseff's job is scouring Northeast Ohio's commercial real estate market to find the best deals for his clients. So it's no surprise that as he began looking for a new headquarters for his own company, Allegro Realty Advisors, he knew exactly what he wanted.

He rattles off the list with ease: "A downtown building that is unique, close to highways, with parking, in a place you could get in and out of easily and within walking distance to other downtown areas."

The desired criteria made for a short list. Literally. "We were looking for a unique work environment for our employees and to recruit talent. There were only a handful of options," says Taseff, a principal at Allegro, the largest exclusive tenant representation company based in Ohio.

That's when Taseff and his team discovered the former Morse Graphic Arts building at 1938 Euclid Avenue, which is located on the Euclid Corridor and in Cleveland State University's "collegetown" block (Euclid Ave. between E. 18th and the Innerbelt). The two-story, 15,000-square-foot building had what Allegro wanted: convenience in a vibrant, walkable, urban neighborhood.

In October, Allegro moved its headquarters from Independence to downtown Cleveland. Allegro's offices are located in a modern, 5,000-square-foot space on the second floor of the building, while the first floor houses three new storefronts. In total, 28 new full-time employees now call the building "home."

The structure had been vacant for several years and was "unusable" when Allegro purchased it, Taseff says. Allegro restored the terra cotta facade, replaced the windows, and developed a new western facade that includes a second-floor balcony. The firm also gutted the interior of the building, renovating it to modern standards.

The project, which was granted a Vacant Properties Initiative loan from the City of Cleveland, also benefited from Cleveland State University's purchase of the building to the west. CSU tore the structure down and created a park that is an oasis of green space, complete with walkway that threads together the disparate, urban campus.

Taseff says Allegro moved their headquarters downtown because it's more convenient for their employees and clients, and the firm wants to be part of the city's redevelopment. "We work on many projects for downtown clients and occasionally also work for the city," he says. "We felt that having our presence downtown would speak to our commitment to the city core and the things happening here."


Source: Damon Taseff
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Just a few short years ago, Cleveland State University students who wanted a meal before a grueling, four-hour evening class had limited options, meaning if Rascal House pizza wasn't your thing, you were limited to starving.

That was before CSU's master plan, a $300 million initiative to transform its urban campus into a friendlier, more vibrant environment with new student housing, classrooms and retail.

Recently, Jimmy John's opened a sandwich shop at 1938 Euclid Avenue in the "collegetown" block of campus (Euclid between E. 18th and the Innerbelt). And Moe's Southwest Grill is banging out a new franchise in the storefront next door.

"Due to the building's location in the heart of CSU's campus, with a growing student body, tenants expressed a lot of interest in leasing storefronts despite the slow economy," said Damon Taseff, a principal at Allegro Realty Advisors, the firm that purchased and renovated the property. "They viewed it as a no-brainer because of CSU's investment in the area."

He adds that CSU, like other urban universities, is wisely using its clout to redevelop the area. CSU's investment is one of the reasons why Allegro Realty Advisors decided last year to move their headquarters to the second floor of 1938 Euclid, Taseff says.

"Five years ago, we probably would not have bought the building," Taseff says. "The investment along the Euclid Corridor by the City, RTA and Cleveland State University has fundamentally changed the area."


Source: Damon Taseff
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Skinny houses wedged onto small lots. Church steeples dotting the skyline. Factories and blue-collar taverns. Eastern-European accents heard on the street.

These phrases might call to mind multi-ethnic Cleveland neighborhoods like Tremont, St. Clair-Superior, Collinwood and Slavic Village, but Lakewood?

Ah, but you don't know Birdtown. Lakewood's only "company town" was carved out in the 1890s for employees of the National Carbon Company (now GrafTech). Located off Madison Avenue -- just west of Lakewood's border -- it was named for streets like Robin, Lark and Plover.

Yet in recent years, Lakewood's only historic district has begun looking ragged -- plagued by foreclosed homes, shabby retail, worn-out streets, and a lingering perception the area is unsafe. Two years ago, city planners and residents launched an effort to improve the area, citing its natural assets as a dense, walkable neighborhood just a stone's throw from parks, shopping and highways.

Now the planning effort is bearing fruit. Lakewood will complete the Madison East Birdtown Strategic Plan this month, and is applying for funding to implement improvements, including neighborhood identity signs, street lighting, pedestrian and bicycle safety enhancements, public art and park improvements.

The plan -- which builds upon investments like the new Harrison Elementary School and artist lofts in the Lake Erie Screw Factory building -- coalesced in 2010 when Lakewood was awarded a $62,500 planning grant from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA). The city hired Dimit Architects of Lakewood to complete the plan.

"We'd like to resurface Madison Avenue in 2012 or 2013, and that project will include other streetscape enhancements such as decorative signal poles similar to those installed on Detroit Avenue," says Dru Siley, Assistant Planning Director for the city of Lakewood.

With Dimit applying the final touches to the plan, there's no word yet on whether one creative idea that emerged from the planning will be carried out -- putting birdhouses on streetcorners to function as public art, signage, and yes, feeding stations for actual birds.


Source: Dru Siley
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Key Bank will open a new branch in October at Steelyard Commons, adding another retailer to the pioneering Tremont shopping center that debuted in 2007.

The bank will open five new branches and create 30 new jobs in Northeast Ohio during the next 15 months. Key Bank, which is headquartered in downtown Cleveland, cites available real estate, lower costs of construction, and "market disruption" -- the void left by banks that close or reduce services -- as factors driving its expansion. The other four new branches will be in Concord, Lyndhurst, Eastlake and Middleburg Heights.

The new Steelyard branch, scheduled to open in October, has been announced at a time when many competitors have cut branch operations and encouraged customers to bank online. A handful of banks, including Huntington and Key, have bucked the industry trend by expanding hours or opening new branches.

The new branch will be built on one of the last parcels in Steelyard Commons Phase I, says Chris Goodrich, Vice President of Asset Management with First Interstate Properties, the company that owns Steelyard.

"Our retailers are very happy with sales [at Steelyard]," says Goodrich. "While the national retail climate has slowed in the last few years, the environment is changing again as things pick up -- now I'm getting more calls from national retailers."

The key to Steelyard's success has been tapping into Cleveland's underserved market, Goodrich says. He cites the fact that Steelyard required two to three years to reach four million vehicle trips per year, whereas Legacy Village took five years to get to the same level.

The new Key branch will be a stand-alone building whose design incorporates elements of Steelyard's industrial heritage theme. The mall was built on the site of a former steel mill.

First Interstate hopes to start Phase II of Steelyard Commons, which will include an additional 200-250,000 square feet of retail, within the next few years.


Source: Chris Goodrich
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Downtown Cleveland is ripe for new retail development. That's the message being conveyed by two local entrepreneurs who will open Dredgers Union, a 4,500 square foot apparel and home-goods store on East 4th Street in June of this year.

One part mall alternative, one part purveyor of urban chic, Dredgers Union will sell private-label men's and women's clothing, made-to-measure suits and dress shirts, kitchen and home items, and clothing brands that are new to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. It will be located in a former department store building at 2043 East 4th Street.

The store is being founded by two local entrepreneurs, Danielle DeBoe and Sean Bilovecky. DeBoe is the creator of Room Service, a popular boutique that originally opened in the Gordon Square Arts District in 2007. Seizing growth opportunities even in a down market, DeBoe moved her shop this past fall to a larger storefront on West 25th Street in Ohio City. DeBoe also created "Made in the 216," a popular event that showcases local artists and designers.

Bilovecky is a clothing designer who created Wrath Arcane, a mens-wear label that gained a devoted following and distribution deals before it folded. Faced with a dwindling number of buyers due to the recession, Bilovecky shut down the label in October. He plans to create a new private label clothing line for Dredgers Union.

Downtown department stores may be a thing of the past, yet DeBoe believes her store will offer an edgy alternative to bland big box stores that will lure shoppers to downtown again. "Retail today is so homogenized," she says. "At the same time, people are increasingly cognizant of local, independent stores because we offer something different."

She hopes Dredgers Union will start a trend that revives downtown retail. "People are not trained to come downtown for retail," she says. "We have to reeducate them."


Source: Danielle DeBoe
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When it comes to retail, how much is too much? That's the question being raised by residents who live near the former Oakwood Country Club, a 154-acre parcel where First Interstate Properties proposes to build a shopping mall that would rival nearby Legacy Village in size.

"There are moribund, vacant retail areas all over the Heights, so why do we need another mall?" asks Fran Mentch, president of the Severance Neighborhood Organization (SNO), a Cleveland Heights-based neighborhood group. "It would be one thing if the project added value, but this would only hurt existing stores."

Oakwood Commons, as the proposal is called, is a mixed-use lifestyle center on Warrensville Center Road. The retail portion of the development would be 63 acres and include a mixture of large big-box stores, smaller shops and restaurants. The developer also wants to preserve nearly half of the property by giving it to Cleveland Heights and South Euclid to create a park.

"This densely populated area is underserved by national retailers," counters First Interstate president Mitchell Schneider, "and there is more demand than can be accommodated by University Square, Severance and Cedar Center." His development would include stores that are new to the area. And because "investment begets investment," he explains, it would also lead to improvements in older retail areas.

According to a 2007 study completed by professor James Kastelic of Cleveland State University's Levin College of Urban Affairs, Northeast Ohio has a retail surplus of just over 22 million square feet. Between 2000 and 2007, the study shows, Cuyahoga County's population declined by 6% while its retail space grew by 5%.

According to Kastelic, a Senior Park Planner with the Cleveland Metroparks, new retail could only be successful by luring customers from existing areas. Because the region is not growing, he stresses, "It would cut the pie into more pieces" rather than add value.

Schneider takes issue with Kastelic's study. "Much of that retail is functionally obsolescent," he says. "When it comes to national retailers, Northeast Ohio is not over-retailed. We have fewer square feet per capita than many other metro areas."


Source: Fran Mentch; James Kastelic
Writer: Lee Chilcote

If South Euclid's Green Neighborhoods Initiative were a reality TV show, it would be called "Extreme Bungalow Makeover." The suburb has now completed renovations on two previously bank-owned bungalows. In December, the city hosted an open house to showcase the dwellings to buyers looking for a low-maintenance lifestyle.

"The city realized it has aging housing stock that doesn't make sense in today's marketplace, and wanted to do something," says Joe Del Re, New Business Development Manager for Home Again Homes, the company that rehabbed the properties.

Historically a quiet, tucked-away suburb known for its ubiquitous bungalows, South Euclid has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis and is saddled with 600 vacant homes. The Green Neighborhoods Initiative, launched in 2010, targets two areas pocked by empty properties. South Euclid plans to rehab 10 foreclosures by the end of 2011.

To make the project possible, the city applied for and was awarded a grant of almost $1 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program and the Vacant Residential Property Fund of the First Suburbs Development Council. "The city put more into the rehab than the homes sell for," explains Del Re. "Grant funding helps cover the gap."

The city hopes the bungalows, priced at $129,900, will prove attractive to condo buyers and empty nesters. Features include first floor bedrooms, modern floor plans, high-efficiency furnaces, whole house insulation and Energy Star appliances. To qualify, buyers must meet income guidelines of 120% of Average Median Income -- about $70,000 for a family of four. South Euclid is also offering $10,000 down payment assistance.

Despite the hooks, the houses haven't sold. "It's a tough market and we haven't seen traction so far," says Del Re. "I expect things to get a little better in 2011."


Source: Joe Del Re
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Technically, Ohio Knitting Mills' first retail store in Cleveland is temporary. "But the reception has been tremendous," says owner Steve Tatar, "and it's encouraging for staying the long term."

Tatar's Ohio Knitting Mills sells sweaters and other apparel manufactured long ago -- between 1947 and 1974 -- by a large Cleveland-based company of the same name. "Beginning after World War II, the Mill plucked samples of each style they produced and put them into storage," the website explains. "We've opened this time capsule, and offer to you our collection of perfectly preserved American fashion and industrial craftsmanship."

In addition to selling online, Tatar ran a retail shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., for a couple years before returning to Cleveland in 2008. The new "pop-up shop", at 6505 Detroit Rd. in the Gordon Square Arts District (the former home of Room Service), has been well received, even by those who know nothing of the company's intriguing story.

"At first people were coming in and were like, 'This is cool -- what am I looking at? Who are you, what are you doing here?'" Tatar explains. So the store has become something of a gallery or museum, reviving interest in Cleveland's extensive but unheralded history as a garment-manufacturing center.

The store is also helping Tatar meet more Clevelanders who are creating things, like clothing and furniture, and slowly creating national buzz in their respective industries. Ohio in general, and Cleveland in particular, are reclaiming their reputations for high-quality manufacturing. As Tatar put its, "We still have the souls of makers."


Source: Steve Tatar
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Digiknow and Downtown Cleveland Alliance have partnered up in a new mobile marketing plan that uses QR codes to provide information to on-the-go residents. The QR codes will connect residents and customers to online profiles of downtown stakeholders such as bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, hotels, and commercial and residential properties.