• All storefronts in Greenline Buildings at Memphis and Pearl are empty

    HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN MUSEUM AND MARIA THE BARBERETTE WERE EVICTED LAST MONTH  by Lynette Filips(Plain Press December 2025) In the article about the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation’s (OBCDC’s) Memphis Pearl project in the April 2025, issue of the Plain Press, I wrote some commentary about Ward 13 Councilman Kris Harsh’s visit to…


  • Councilman Kris Harsh urged to honor promise to delay demolition of Pearl and Memphis corner until funding for proposed project is secured

    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…


  • Effort to preserve Old Brooklyn’s history continues

    by Lynette Fillips    (Plain Press September 2025) Over a year and a half ago when I started writing these articles for the Plain Press, I visited the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn’s (HSOB’s) museum, 3430 Memphis Ave., to check some historical information in their files. While there I met a thirty-something year old man…


  • Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits granted to two buildings in Old Brooklyn Historic District

    IMAGE COURTESY OF STEPHANIE RYBERG-WEBSTER Stephanie Ryberg-Webster, associate professor in the Department of Urban Studies at Cleveland State University’s Levin School of Urban Affairs, is the author of Preserving the Vanishing City:  Historic Preservation Amid Urban Decline In Cleveland, Ohio.  She was one of three persons speaking about the topic of Preservation Advocacy at a…


  • Fact checking corrects misinformation about history of Pearl & Memphis corner

    PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN German United Evangelical Church of Brighton, Ohio, built in 1853 and replaced in 1904.  This little frame church faced Columbus Rd. (today’s Pearl Rd.) at the northwest corner of Mill St. (today’s Memphis Ave.) PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN St. Luke’s Evangelical…


  • More information comes to light this past month concerning the Pearl Memphis project

    PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN One of the most prominent structures in the “South Brooklyn Commercial District” is the Pearl Broadview Building on the southeast corner of Pearl Rd. and Broadview Rd.  After it was built in 1928, Hagedorn’s Drug was in the storefront at the corner, a jewelry store was…


  • A variety of concerns drive opposition to proposed development at Pearl & Memphis

    PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building at 3409 “Short” Broadview Rd. was built in 1913 and owned by the Odd Fellows until 1958. Since then, ownership has passed to several different entrepreneurs.  At the time that the South Brooklyn Commercial District was established with the…


  • Demolition of Pearl-Memphis historic buildings on hold until parking and financing confirmed for proposed development

    PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN In 2005 when the application for establishing the South Brooklyn Commercial District with the National Register of Historic Places was submitted, this iconic structure at the northeast corner of Pearl Rd. and Broadview Rd. was a branch office of US Bank. But when it was built…


  • Transit riders demand dedicated bus lane for proposed West 25th Street Bus Rapid Transit Project

    To the Editor:      (Plain Press February 2025) Transit riders and advocates have sent nearly 1000 letters to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) Chief Executive Officer/General Manager, Board of Trustees, and Cleveland City Councilor Kerry McCormack demanding that dedicated bus lanes be included on West 25th Street from Detroit Road to Lorain Avenue as…


  • MRN shares plans for former Voss Aerospace complex with area residents

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Saturday, January 18, 2025; the former Voss Aerospace site, 2138 W. 25th Street: The South of Lorain Block Club received an update on plans for the four-acre site at their January meeting.      (Plain Press February 2025) Members of the South of Lorain Block Club received an update on plans for…