[This letter we received back in October, 2011, is especially resonant today. The Missouri-based Drury Southwest hotel chain purchased the historic CMSD headquarters for $4.8 million at auction. They plan to re-purpose the building as 170-180 hotel rooms.
The Cleveland school board will review (and likely approve) the bid at their March 12th meeting. School officials say it’s too early to speculate what they’ll do with the nearly $5 million.]
Once in awhile a letter from a reader merits its own spot here at Scene, a spotlight from our cigarette lighter if you will. Here’s such a case:
Dear Editor,
The Plain Dealer refused to print this letter concerning the sale of the Cleveland Schools administration building.
By researching the PD archives at the library, I found the following information. In 1929, with the threat of hard times, the workers of this city voted for a $2 million bond issue to build the school district’s E 6th St. headquarters. At great expense, the building was constructed in French royal style in the shape of an “E” to serve as an enduring monument that a quality education for the workers’ children was the cornerstone for progress in a democratic society and that its cost would be the cost of doing business in this city. It was also built to remind us of the sacrifices they made and to urge us to action if public education was ever threatened.
Public education is currently under attack by the same powers who wish to turn this monument into a hotel. To do so would be a betrayal not only to our ancestors but also to the citizens of Cleveland and future generations to come.
It should also be noted that the artwork in the building was done in 1930 by School of the Arts teachers and the Lincoln statue was paid for with pennies donated by school children.
— Gene Tracy
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2013.
That is all fine and dandy, but we can’t hold on to it just for sentimental value. The building is functionally obsolete as an administration building and it is up to the board to do what is best for the children in the district now and those that will be in the future. If that means selling, so be it.
Put the administration in a school building currently shut fown. There are quite a few around town. Oh and Gene Tracy, this is not 1929. Back then the Cleveland area was growing, not shrinking. In the last 20 years the not-so-greater Cleveland area (Cuyahoga County) has lost around 9.6% of its total population. That percentage is greater than the government statistics for national unemployment…and you can see how upset the voters are about the unemployment rate.
There is plenty of unused office space in the downtown area. A new building does not need to be built. If the old building is sold, then that money should go to hiring teachers and supplies for the students.
clveland dosen’t need another school administration building! they don’t use the one thay have now..its all dead weight!
Hey Gene, if it is so important to you, and you are willing to work hard enough at it, start collecting donations and outbid the developers for the property. Your money will be just as good as the developers. How’s that for equal opportunity? If you don’t fully succeed, you should still be able to at least collect enough money to save the artwork and monuments you feel are important.
If we want this city to grow, we can’t afford to live in the past when the past isn’t working for us now. When we can still remember (or be reminded of) how and why this building was built and the circumstances involved, those pieces of the city’s history will certainly remain important and of interest, but the emphasis is ‘history’. I love this building, and hope that it’s integrity can be preserved if sold. Personally, I always appreciate when old, historic buildings can be revitalized instead of bulldozed into parking lots. Certainly, another hotel downtown might allow for another option for visitors who wish to stay overnight, or for more events to be held in the city that requires more hotel rooms, etc., meaning one ingredient in growth opportunity and appeal. And if selling this building actually allows for that money to be spent in better ways to educate our children, then we would not be betraying our city’s future.
At least the hotel chain will renovate the building, who knows whats wrong with it…
I’m sure the $5 million will be wisely spent by the school officials (aka they will piss it away on stupid crap)