by Lynette Filips

   (Plain Press November 2025) Longtime Greater Clevelanders will no doubt remember the years shortly before and after 1970 when the lights were permanently off at Playhouse Square. The once-glorious theaters were slated for demolition because downtown Cleveland was not the entertainment epicenter of the region that it once had been. But then a young visionary named Ray Shepardson, who at that time was employed by the Cleveland Board of Education (and not yet working as a preservationist), decided that saving the theaters would be the key to revitalizing Downtown.  With the help of similarly minded individuals, he led the charge which founded the Playhouse Square Association in the hope of accomplishing that goal. 

   My understanding is that the demolition equipment to knock down the State and Ohio Theaters was already parked on the street when the preservation advocates were still trying to convince the powers-that-be to listen to what they were saying. Their persistence paid off, ultimately, they were granted a five-year reprieve in terms of delaying the destruction of the theaters. The rest is history. Because of the group’s unwillingness to let go of their convictions, Cleveland is the home of the second largest performing arts center in the country. 

   To me, it feels like a smaller version of their story is happening in downtown Old Brooklyn. The wrecking ball isn’t parked on Memphis Avenue yet, but the “orders to vacate” have been posted on the doors of the remaining tenants in the Greenline Building. The Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) is still working on putting together its “capital stack” for the project, but at his October Ward 13 meeting at Estabrook Recreation Center, Councilman Kris Harsh announced that the demolition of four buildings at the corner of Pearl Road and Memphis Avenue will commence in December. To not begin the demolition then, he said, would mean the loss of $8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds which he secured for the demolition and soil remediation parts of the project. 

   I can appreciate not wanting to lose the $8 million, but what about neighborhood preservationists not wanting to lose four of the buildings in the South Brooklyn Commercial District on the National Register of Historic Places? What about Councilman Kris Harsh’s promise at the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn’s (HSOB) meeting in March that no demolition would start until the capital stack was in place? What if OBCDC tears down the educational annex half of St. Luke’s, the Greenline and neighboring building, the Civil War era house behind St. Luke’s, and a large portion of Pearl Road United Methodist Church, and then doesn’t receive enough Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money to complete the project?

   OBCDC hopes to obtain the $13 to $15 million that they still need for their Memphis Pearl project from Cuyahoga County via TIF money. In a way it is imaginary money which comes from projected higher property values, and thus projected higher real estate taxes, because of the property which is being improved. Here’s an internet definition of it: TIF is “a public financing tool used to encourage economic development. It works by diverting the increased property tax revenue generated by a new development project to pay for the public improvements needed for that project, such as new roads, sidewalks or sewers. Essentially, the future tax increase from a property’s higher value is used to pay for the initial development costs, which stimulates new investment in an area.” 

   In a recent article in Crain’s, OBCDC stated that they expect to hear about their TIF money request in the first quarter of next year. They had previously stated that they expected to hear about it before this year ends. 

   In last month’s article in the Plain Press, I reported about OBCDC’s Director of Community Health/Interim Executive Director resigning from the organization. This month I will further report that OBCDC’s Neighborhood Development Director Charles Kennick has also left OBCDC. His last day was Friday, October 3rd; he now has a position with the City of Cleveland.

   But one vacant “Director” job on OBCDC’s staff has been filled since our last issue — that of Executive Director. The position had been empty since February, and the Board had been instructed by Ward 13 Councilman Kris Harsh to fill it. (See the minutes of the August OBCDC Board meeting at www.oldbrooklyn.com.) Rather than fill it with someone in-house or with someone who’d applied for it, the Board decided to find someone they wanted for the job but who hadn’t applied. That person is David Robinson; his first day as OBCDC’s latest executive director was Monday, October 20th. 

   David Robinson is an Old Brooklyn resident who, for the last year and a half, had been the Executive Director of Kamm’s West Park Neighborhood Development. Before that he was employed at University Circle, Inc. (UCI), but not in an executive position.

   During his tenure at UCI, Robinson served two three-year terms on the OBCDC Board of Directors.  Records indicate that he began serving on the Board of Directors of OBCDC toward the end of 2016 and concluded toward the end of 2022.  During that time, he also served as both the treasurer and the vice-president of the Board.  He was a fierce supporter of extreme plans for revitalizing the corner of Memphis Ave. and Pearl Rd., namely the original plan which would have torn down the existing structures, including the church proper portion of St. Luke’s, and built apartments for low-income housing in its place. That project fell to the wayside when it was not granted Low Income Housing Tax Credits to aid in the cost of its construction. Last month Crain’s Cleveland Business magazine ran a news feature about Robinson and his change of CDC affiliation. 

   Meanwhile, because the official relocation person who was supposed to find new spaces for Maria the Barberette and the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn (HSOB) didn’t come up with anything acceptable/appropriate, Maria and a team from the HSOB have been trying to find their own new places.

   The Historical Society has come up with a strong possibility near downtown Old Brooklyn which could work, with modifications, but at press time, no lease agreement had been drawn up or signed. If they do end up in that building, the HSOB would likely have to move its collection twice, the first time to storage somewhere during the inside construction stage, and the second time to the new space (for as long as they have money to be there).

   If you’ve never been to their current Museum at 3430 Memphis Ave., this might be your last chance to see it. But call first to be sure that someone is there. Their usual hours of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons have been reduced because of an extended illness.

   The November HSOB meeting, however, will still be as scheduled on Friday, November 14th, at Pearl Road United Methodist Church, 4200 Pearl Rd.  The meeting room is accessed via the back entrance off the parking lot on Memphis Ave. 

   Until next month, if you want to refer to any past articles in this series you can do so at the HSOB’s website, www.oldbrooklynhistory.org, and on the Plain Press’ website, https://plainpress.blog.