by Lynette Filips
(Plain Press November 2026) When last month’s article about the historic northwest corner of Memphis Ave. and Pearl Rd. in downtown Old Brooklyn was headed to the printer, construction equipment was seriously engaged in the process of demolishing St. Luke’s former School of Religion at 4216 Pearl Rd. The approximately 100-year-old addition to the church sanctuary is totally gone now, and in preparation for writing this article I decided to walk by to see what the once-thriving center of the neighborhood looks like these days. (Trying to catch a glimpse while driving through the intersection is nearly impossible as well as too dangerous.)
I was able to feel happy about one thing — that in 2022, a small, grassroots group of us contacted appropriate officials at our State Capitol in Columbus and managed to save the 1903 church building from a similar bad fate. It’s currently getting a new roof, which is a good sign that someone truly is committed to saving it. And there’s lots of new wood on the side where the attached building was removed.
I imagine that the remaining flock at Pearl Road United Methodist Church (PRUMC) at 4200 Pearl Rd. are happy, too. Nothing has been shaved — or hacked — off their church/former Sunday School building yet because the reconstruction plans for the corner are again being reconsidered. Plus PRUMC’s name on the side of the building which faces Pearl Road is much more visible now that about half of St. Luke’s has been demolished.
Nothing has changed about the ownership of the property. In my September article I reported that after the roughly $8 million dollars in public money which the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) received — to specifically tear down and environmentally remediate the corner — was used up, OBCDC would transfer ownership of the seven real estate parcels involved in this project. Then the developer, Ozanne, and potentially other investors, would become the owners of the property and seemingly the entire project. I consulted Cuyahoga County’s online property tool, “My Places”, just a couple of days before this November issue would be going to the printer and OBCDC is still listed as the owner of all of them. The individual parcels are: (1) the former Greenline building(s); (2) the former St. Luke’s United Church of Christ; (3) Pearl Road United Methodist Church; (4) the former pre-Civil War house in the back of the property; (5) the grassy area in front of PRUMC where their church which burned down was located; (6) property southwest of PRUMC, most recently part of the parking lot but formerly a Victorian era house; and (7) a lot — which previously had a house — on “Short” Broadview Rd. which the Cuyahoga County Land Bank sold to OBCDC in 2022 for $10, having acquired it at a Sheriff’s Sale 5 years prior to that.
The My Place property tool is very easy to use and contains a wealth of information. Anyone can research a property by entering either the address, the permanent parcel number or the owner’s name.
Continuing on my walk down Pearl Rd., nothing appeared to have changed on the southwest corner of Memphis Ave. and Pearl Rd.; the large “For Sale” sign still stands in front of the empty, modern CVS building and the parking lot which accompanies it.
In the eyes of a preservationist/adaptive reuse advocate like me, the streetscape on the east side of Pearl Rd. is much more upbeat, even though there’re dirt and mud everywhere. Work continues there inside and out — converting the interiors of the former Broadview Savings/Citizens Bank buildings at 4221 and 4209 Pearl Rd. into residential space while maintaining the historic exteriors of the buildings.
An even larger renovation has begun in the Pearl Broadview Building at 4179 Pearl Rd. As the name implies, the Pearl Broadview Building sits on the (southeast) corner of those two main streets. Built in 1928, it is another one of the buildings included in the “South Brooklyn Commercial District” on the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story, Classical Revival limestone structure has retail space on the first floor and office space on the second floor. Traditionally those offices were occupied by doctors and dentists.
Shaped somewhat like the letter L, the Pearl Broadview Building has six storefronts on Broadview Rd. and four storefronts on Pearl Rd. By far the most recognizable storefront is the one on the very corner which is angled. It’s a Boostmobile cell phone store now, but it was a drug store named Haggedorn’s back in the day, and was a jewelry store owned by State Representative Barbara Pringle in more recent decades. There looks to be hubcaps in the storefront’s windows in a 2004 photo submitted when advocates for Old Brooklyn requested that the downtown area be included in the National Register.
Another very cool space in the Pearl Broadview Building is the one which United Hearts Life Mission Center leases. The charity’s mailing address and main entrance are 3339 Broadview Rd., but the space wraps around in such a way that it has more prominent display windows at 4183 Pearl Rd. Two of them are single size and one is double size. There are also two additional doors but with the current tenant, neither one provides access to the space. When United Hearts moved in a couple of decades ago, one of the volunteers there related this story to me — the founder felt that the Virgin Mary told her to establish a ministry in that space. If it’s true, that would be pretty amazing stuff going on there! Twenty-two years ago, Cleveland Collectibles was in the storefronts.
Ownership of the Pearl Broadview Building changed hands earlier this year when John Zinno and Paul Smetona of Upbuild Ohio purchased it. The real estate development firm likes to buy older, distressed buildings and bring them back into useful service again. (They are also the new owners responsible for the changes in the painted white brick buildings on W. Schaaf Rd. near Broadview Rd. — Foxy Fur Grooming Salon at 2032; HFB Ceramics at 2030; Profiles Creative Hair Center at 2028; and Kindred Kava at 2024.)
Upbuild Ohio chose the Maverick Building Company for Phase 1 of the Pearl Broadview Building makeover which is currently taking place on the second floor. According to online posts, at this point in time potential tenants can custom design their offices. From the exterior, the only change I detected on my walk down Pearl Rd. was that the retail space at 4181 (formerly rented by an airbrush painter) appears to be empty.
The Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation conducted its annual meeting on Tuesday, October 27th, at the Foundry Concert Club on Pearl Rd. There was socializing and tasty food. There were all the usual kinds of annual meeting updates, elections, introductions and farewells, and an annual report. And there was an announcement which to me was the high point of the evening — that a time capsule from 1924 was retrieved from the cornerstone of the St. Luke’s addition which had just been demolished. OBCDC Executive Director David Robinson offered to show me the contents of the capsule at a future date. Of course I accepted. The construction of that building was such an important moment in Old Brooklyn’s history. I don’t understand why the people who had the power to save it couldn’t see that.
The Historical Society of Old Brooklyn will sponsor its annual potluck dinner and Show-and-Tell meeting on Friday, November 13th, at St. James Lutheran Church at 6 p.m. (I think that I heard about something tonight which would make the ultimate Show-and-Tell!) St. James is located on Broadview Rd., opposite Oakpark Ave.; it is handicapped accessible. Membership in the Society runs from September through August. Dues are $20.
What’s Next? Look for another update in the next issue of the Plain Press, in the meantime, if you want to read what I have been writing about this ongoing project or refer to any previous Plain Press articles about this historic Old Brooklyn corner, access them on the Plain Press’ website, https://plainpress.blog, or on the HSOB’s website, www.oldbrooklynhistory.org.
