Residents urged to contact Planning Commission to prevent demolition of Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church

To the editor:

Plain Press, May 2022             The full Planning Commission meeting where the MetroHealth (MH) demolitions and temporary 3-acre park concept plan may be voted on has been moved to May 6th @ 9am. 

     I’ve been talking with some of you about the importance of planning for the whole 12 acres before fast-tracking the demos for a temporary 3 acres that will likely need to be modified later anyway. 

     Waiting another year or so will enable a comprehensive plan for the whole park that includes not only exploring potential uses for all three buildings, but also an opportunity to integrate planning with a comprehensive traffic study needed at this early stage. 

     Since MH plans include the removal of South Point Drive, a traffic study could explore how the removing of South Point could enable moving the traffic signal from Marvin and/or Woodbridge to Daisy Ave, where a signal is in much more of a need due to the volume (from/to Daisy, Library, and Poe) exiting and entering Daisy, and the danger of making turns in and out of there due to SB traffic racing to enter I-71 South. 

     MetroHealth’s Greg Zucca told me after the April 6th community meeting that they closed the W. 25th entrance to the parking lot near Daisy due to conflicts with traffic. And that difficulty with access to parking there is part of why they want to demolish the Farnsworth House and St. Nicholas. Moving the Marvin and/or Woodbridge traffic signal to Daisy and lining up that parking lot entrance/exit with the signal would resolve that and the Daisy Ave access issues. 

     These are some of the reasons for delaying the demolitions, the parking lot removal and temporary greening for only a year or so. We can discuss separately if anyone wants to speak about these issues at the full Planning Commission meeting, write any letters, sign a petition, discuss with officials, etc.

Bob Gardin