The newsletter of the Cleveland Restoration Society, NEO's voice for historic preservation. We believe in the future of our built heritage, from our neighborhoods to our monumental landmarks. 
NOVEMBER 2021 PRESERVATION NEWS & EVENTS
Tickets are going fast for our 2021 Community Luncheon!


Keynote Speaker Brent Leggs
Executive Director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund
The Community Luncheon provides support for our year-round programs from the Heritage Home Program to our work in Cleveland's diverse neighborhoods. The luncheon is the perfect opportunity to entertain and educate clients about historic preservation. As a sponsor, your company will receive exposure to developers, architects, planners, city representatives and nonprofits that advance Cleveland neighborhoods.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required for all guests. CRS accepts a smartphone photo of a vaccine card or its physical presentation as proof of vaccination.
For any questions regarding the event, please call Stephanie Phelps at 216-426-3106 or e-mail sphelps@clevelandrestoration.org.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Make history by preserving history.
Donate online at clevelandrestoration.org/donate or mail a check to:
Cleveland Restoration Society, 3751 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115
Heritage Home Program Spotlight
Although homes only need to be 50 years old to meet our eligibility requirements, usually when the general public thinks about the Heritage Home Program or “historic” homes, they primarily think of pre-1900s or early 20th century properties. Even with the large numbers of mid-century ranches and split-levels spread throughout Cuyahoga County, oftentimes, homeowners do not consider their own mid-century homes as historic or even realize how they fit within our program. Recently, Heritage Home Program homeowners completed a stunning rehabilitation of one of these mid-century properties. This is the second property that they have worked with the Heritage Home Program to rehab. The property is located in the East Cleveland section of the historic Forest Hills neighborhood, which was created within the former Rockefeller Summer Estate. Built in 1959, it is a wonderful example of a mid-century ranch.

The homeowners purchased the property from the Cuyahoga County Land Bank in 2019 after it sat empty and vacated for about a decade. Located on a large corner lot at the intersection of Forest Hills Boulevard and Walden Road, the property was a community eyesore and a source of vexation for the Forest Hills neighborhood. The homeowners used the Heritage Home Loan Program to completely rehabilitate the property from replacing a collapsed roof to new waterproofing. As evidenced by the before photos below, they had a large project on their hands!
Another aspect of the Heritage Home Loan Program that many people are not aware of is that it can be used for non-owner occupied or investment properties. Since the homeowners already reside at their own home in the Forest Hills neighborhood, they used our loan program’s non-owner occupied terms to help fund the property’s rehabilitation efforts.

The homeowners’ work on the Forest Hills property is a perfect example of the role that localized historic preservation work can have on nearby homes and communities. They wanted to take a “community eyesore” and make it a viable property for their neighbors. Not only did they create a beautiful home for a new homeowner or family to move into, but their investment in the former vacant Land Bank property will help raise the property values of the neighboring homes and add a newly renovated “statement home” on the highly visible corner lot location. Their work is truly stunning, and now that the property is for sale the Heritage Home Program is excited to see the new life this home will have!
Watch our Historic Districts 101 video
Historic districts are great ways to preserve neighborhoods and historic buildings. This video looks at how to find historic districts, the guidelines that historic districts use, and examples of historic districts in our area.
Check out our Heritage Home Program events
Our Heritage Home Program is offering a variety of virtual and in-person regional events. These events are free and open to the public!

Join us at the Oberlin Public Library for our Historic Preservation 101 presentation! We will be meeting in Community Room at 6:00 pm. Click here to learn more.
Register with the links below for our upcoming virtual presentations.


Registration is required for all Heritage Home Program virtual events.
Community development groups propose purchase of
historic Shaker Square
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) and its real estate subsidiary New Village Corporation (NVC), along with Burten Bell Carr Development (BBC) are spearheading the proposal and have assembled necessary financing to purchase the Shaker Square shopping center, which is in foreclosure and facing sheriff’s sale. The proposal, if approved, will keep the property under local ownership, quickly address maintenance concerns and launch an effort to determine the long-term direction and eventual ownership of the property. The agencies also announced that they have hired Terri Hamilton Brown, a well-regarded community development veteran, as a project consultant to assist in oversight of Shaker Square.

“Business overall at Shaker Square is strong but, like many retail and town centers, is undergoing a recovery period from the pandemic. We have a robust and vital tenant mix, and we believe this is the right path to stabilizing and invigorating The Square,” said Joy Johnson, executive director of BBC. “To do that, the center needs a tremendous amount of attention and nurturing, but we are confident that this agreement, if approved, will help The Square achieve its full potential.”

The Square’s current owner purchased the property in 2004, but experienced financial issues due both to the 2008 Great Recession and the recent pandemic. A motion for a decree of foreclosure was recently filed, presumably to then initiate the process of a public sheriff’s sale where the property would have been sold to the highest bidder.

Shaker Square encompasses more than 168,000 square feet of retail, office and mixed-use space in four two-story buildings. 
Let Congress know you support the Historic Tax Credit!
As Congress continues to negotiate legislation that will support our nation’s physical and social infrastructure, add your voice to the thousands of historic tax credit supporters in Ohio who want to see improvements made to the credit so we can continue to revitalize Ohio's historic downtowns and create more good-paying jobs.

For more than three decades the federal historic tax credit has supported the preservation of our most important historic buildings, supported community redevelopment, promoted job creation, and offered climate change solutions through building reuse. Enhancing the historic tax credit, as envisioned by the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2294), will build on this success well into the future.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is currently collecting signatures to add to their letter to Congress, and we hope you will add you name! We need to let Congress know how important this is for Ohio!
Heritage Ohio seeks new Executive Director
Joyce Barrett has earned a well-deserved retirement, meaning Heritage Ohio is in search of its next leader.
Here's your opportunity to put your mark on downtown revitalization and historic preservation in Ohio!
Events calendar
Thursday, November 11th • 4:30-5:30 PM
Veterans Day Cemetery Tour
Warrensville West Cemetery
Shaker Historical Society, Shaker Heights Public Library & City of Shaker Heights

Did you know Warrensville West Cemetery is the final resting place of veterans from five wars? Join the Shaker Historical Society, Shaker Heights Public Library, and City of Shaker Heights on Thursday, November 11 at 4:30 pm for a cemetery tour to hear the stories of five veterans. You will also learn more about the Warrensville West Cemetery Historic Preservation Master Plan and how you can help preserve this piece of local history. The tour will be held at Warrensville West Cemetery, 3451 Lee Road, Shaker Heights.


Thursday, November 11th • 6:00 PM
Historic Real Estate: A New History of Historic Preservation
Online Event
The Filson Historical Society

Most histories of historic preservation in the United States start with the preservation of George Washington's Mount Vernon in 1860. But Americans undertook a wide array of preservation projects well before that date—including residents of the Ohio Valley. Dr. Whitney Martinko will discuss attempts to preserve Indigenous earthworks, colonial churches, battlefields, and family estates as historic sites in the decades after the American Revolution. Join us to learn how the architects of these plans tried to shape economic and social values of the new nation and how their lasting legacies continue to shape historic preservation today. This talk is drawn from Martinko’s new book, Historic Real Estate: Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation in the Early United States (Penn Press, 2020).


Thursday, November 11th • 6:00 PM
By the Book Author Series | Black Politics and Black Power in Ohio, 1837-1860
Cleveland History Center
WRHS Library

In the 1840s and 50s, a remarkable cadre of Black leaders built electoral and political influence within Ohio’s rapidly shifting partisan terrain. Taking advantage of state Supreme Court decisions recognizing as “Caucasian” any man claiming he was “preponderantly white,” thousands of African American men voted throughout the state by the 1850s. A fiercely contested 1856 congressional race between Lewis Campbell and Clement Vallandigham was one of many instances where Black voters were seen as crucial, and the Republican Salmon P. Chase was repeatedly derided as a “Negro Governor” whose election depended on their support. Finally, on Election Day 1860, the New York Herald, the country’s leading newspaper, proclaimed that Congress should invalidate Lincoln’s election because of Ohio’s “fourteen thousand negro voters.” Learn more about the power of the Black vote in Ohio in a panel discussion, led by Dr. Van Gosse, Professor of History at Franklin & Marshall College; Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Distinguished Scholar of African American History & Culture at WRHS; & Dr. John Grabowski, Krieger Mueller Chief Historian at WRHS.


Wednesday, November 17th 1:00-2:00 PM
Epic Experiences
Online Event
Heritage Ohio

The Ohio Travel Association has done its research on elevating experiences to a transformative level and is launching an Epic Group Experiences designation program for businesses throughout the Midwest. Learn more about this program to attract groups to your downtown.

Our Speaker: Melinda Huntley is the executive director of the Ohio Travel Association (OTA), a nonprofit organization that provides support for museums, attractions, visitor bureaus, retail shops, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses wanting to attract travelers. OTA advocates for smart policies that increase travel in Ohio and helps businesses. With career experience in public relations at Cedar Point, running a CVB along Lake Erie and helping communities develop heritage and outdoor experiences, she has a unique understanding of opportunities for businesses and communities of any size.


Tuesday, December 7th • 7:00-8:00 PM
Music of the Civil Rights Movement
Fairview Park Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library
Meeting Room (A & B) (80)

See and hear the songs that inspired a nation. Dr. Michael Strasser, Professor of Musicology at Baldwin Wallace University, will present a historical perspective of the Civil Rights Movement.

Project support is provided through grants from the African American Civil Rights grant program as administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, the Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government.