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Downtown Cleveland, Inc., the center city booster formerly known as DCA, will be the new managers of Public Square, an announcement confirmed last week.
All trash cleanup, landscaping, graffiti erasure, bathroom sanitization, public art scheduling, concerts and Splash Pad and ice rink maintenance will no longer rest in the hands of Public Square Cleveland, the nonprofit born from the Group Plan Commission before it.
The square takeover comes at a colorful time for the nonprofit. DCI employees are all just about moved into their new space in the 668 Building—their first street-level offices. (With new sign logo.) And hundreds of thousands dollars have been secured, about $100,000 by DCI itself, to help grow Public Square as the pedestrian enclave it was meant to be.
"This is a natural extension of the work we’ve been doing and our mission to create a vibrant, inclusive and connected downtown," DCI president Michael Deemer wrote in a press release. “We are thrilled to begin immediately activating and infusing new life into Public Square.”
Activation and life that will, of course, not be without its list of challenges.
Last November, after Cleveland's annual tree-lighting ceremony, Public Square's safety was publicly questioned when two teenagers opened gunfire at others in front of a Healthline bus stop. (Two were later indicted.) And the filming of Superman downtown, which teased Clevelanders with its filled storefronts and big-city greenery, seemed to set a high bar for Public Square's continual struggle for year-round foot traffic.
Which has had its nice plot points, as well. Last December, the Washington Post lauded Public Square as one of "the best examples of turning around a dying downtown," in reference to how a $50 million investment led to, as the Group Plan Commission claims, $1.2 billion in renovations around it—75 Public Square, the Hotel Cleveland, and a half dozen other development projects. The office space turned living space boom was headquartered in Cleveland.
And in March, the long-hated Jersey barriers that suffocated the crossway over Superior Avenue were removed. Three months later, with the help of $1 million, dozens of bollards and a raised crosswalk were put in.
In a statement released last Thursday, DCI slotted "high-quality" maintenance and programming, an easier permitting process and overall safety as its top goals in taking the reigns. Just recently, a game station filled with toys—frisbees and chess boards—popped up, free to use for all. Kickboxing classes and yoga mornings kicked in.
The takeover, DCI claims, will help fulfill some of the goals of their Downtown Retail Strategy, which hits on the white whale of Cleveland's city center: There aren't too many reasons for shoppers to be here.
DCI responded by hosting a maker's market, and vows to develop a plan "for improved mobility and connectivity to and through" the Square, though any further details weren't specified.
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All trash cleanup, landscaping, graffiti erasure, bathroom sanitization, public art scheduling, concerts and Splash Pad and ice rink maintenance will no longer rest in the hands of Public Square Cleveland, the nonprofit born from the Group Plan Commission before it.
The square takeover comes at a colorful time for the nonprofit. DCI employees are all just about moved into their new space in the 668 Building—their first street-level offices. (With new sign logo.) And hundreds of thousands dollars have been secured, about $100,000 by DCI itself, to help grow Public Square as the pedestrian enclave it was meant to be.
"This is a natural extension of the work we’ve been doing and our mission to create a vibrant, inclusive and connected downtown," DCI president Michael Deemer wrote in a press release. “We are thrilled to begin immediately activating and infusing new life into Public Square.”
Activation and life that will, of course, not be without its list of challenges.
Last November, after Cleveland's annual tree-lighting ceremony, Public Square's safety was publicly questioned when two teenagers opened gunfire at others in front of a Healthline bus stop. (Two were later indicted.) And the filming of Superman downtown, which teased Clevelanders with its filled storefronts and big-city greenery, seemed to set a high bar for Public Square's continual struggle for year-round foot traffic.
Which has had its nice plot points, as well. Last December, the Washington Post lauded Public Square as one of "the best examples of turning around a dying downtown," in reference to how a $50 million investment led to, as the Group Plan Commission claims, $1.2 billion in renovations around it—75 Public Square, the Hotel Cleveland, and a half dozen other development projects. The office space turned living space boom was headquartered in Cleveland.
And in March, the long-hated Jersey barriers that suffocated the crossway over Superior Avenue were removed. Three months later, with the help of $1 million, dozens of bollards and a raised crosswalk were put in.
In a statement released last Thursday, DCI slotted "high-quality" maintenance and programming, an easier permitting process and overall safety as its top goals in taking the reigns. Just recently, a game station filled with toys—frisbees and chess boards—popped up, free to use for all. Kickboxing classes and yoga mornings kicked in.
The takeover, DCI claims, will help fulfill some of the goals of their Downtown Retail Strategy, which hits on the white whale of Cleveland's city center: There aren't too many reasons for shoppers to be here.
DCI responded by hosting a maker's market, and vows to develop a plan "for improved mobility and connectivity to and through" the Square, though any further details weren't specified.
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
