CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Foundation announced an $8 million donation on Tuesday for the proposed re-do of Public Square in downtown Cleveland that could propel the project toward a construction start late this year and completion in 2016.

The gift -- the first major cash infusion for the project -- comes in two pieces. One is a $7 million cash grant. The second is an additional $1 million that will become available if the city's Group Plan Commission can raise an additional $7 million by Oct. 31 from non-governmental sources.

This means that the Cleveland Foundation could ultimately leverage $15 million for Public Square, or half of the $30 million needed for the project.

Jeremy Paris, executive director of the Group Plan Commission, the nonprofit civic body formed by Mayor Frank Jackson in 2010 to support the makeover of public spaces downtown, called the foundation's gift "catalytic."

"It's a significant statement by the foundation that they believe in what we're doing," he said. "They believe in this plan for Public Square."

Paris also said the Group Plan Commission feels it is "in a strong position" to meet the foundation's funding challenge, based on conversations with other potential funders.

The foundation formally announced the gift at 10 a.m. in the southwest quadrant of Public Square, closest to the Terminal Tower and a bronze statue of Moses Cleaveland, the city's founder, who laid out the downtown plan with Public Square at its center in 1796.

Speakers included Cleveland Foundation President and CEO Ronn Richard, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, Anthony Coyne, chairman of the Group Plan Commission, and Dan Walsh, president of Huntington Bank's Greater Cleveland Region.

Richard emphasized the foundation's desire to strengthen Cleveland as the core city of Northeast Ohio by strengthening the big public space at the city's center.

"Public Square will get a heart transplant," he said. "This place will pulse with life again."

Richard also stressed the foundation's long involvement in what he called "place-based philanthropy" through community efforts such as the revitalization of the Playhouse Square theater district and University Circle.

He said he envisioned strengthening Euclid Avenue as the four-mile spine of Cleveland from Public Square to University Circle, and then focusing on what he called the city's "ribs," the neighborhoods of Hough, Fairfax and Glenville.

Designed by New York landscape architect James Corner and his firm, Field Operations, the vision for Public Square is aimed at making the space greener, more lively and more beautiful.

The plan's biggest move is that of closing the two north-south blocks of Ontario Street that bisect the 10-acre space. Superior Avenue, running east-west across the square, would remain open to buses, but could be closed for special events.

A large lawn would dominate the northern half of the reconfigured square. The central space on the south side of the square would be named Cleveland Foundation Centennial Plaza in honor of its donation.

James Ratner, an executive vice president of Forest City, the Cleveland-based real estate firm, who also spoke at the Tuesday event, called the Field Operations plan "one of the best pieces of urban design I've ever seen."

It's a significant statement by the foundation that they believe in what we're doing. - Jeremy Paris

FitzGerald said the plan would increase usable public space in the square by 20 percent, and green space by 40 percent -- and would support $3 billion in recent downtown investments.

The vision for the square is an expression of a rising awareness among civic and business leaders that Cleveland's wide, gray streets and drab public spaces do a poor job of connecting attractions such as Playhouse Square, the Horseshoe Casino, the Global Center for Health Innovation and the city's new convention center.

A study, released last week by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, calls for a stronger public realm with better pedestrian and bike connections among the area's districts and attractions.

The square, last renovated in the 1980s, consists of four smallish quadrants whose greenery is well tended by city workers, but whose masonry is crumbling.

Today, bus stops dominate the square. In Corner's vision, the square would become a place for picnics, concerts, an outdoor cafe, a summer splash zone and winter skating.

The 1894 Soldiers and Sailors monument to Cuyahoga County veterans of the Civil War would be enhanced with fresh paving, landscaping and lighting.

The Group Plan Commission intends to establish a schedule of outdoor events in the square, and has said that it would also raise money to help maintain the space.

Paris said the goal is to complete the revamp of Public Square by the spring of 2016, well in time for the Republican National Convention scheduled for the summer. 

He said the spadework on the foundation's grant was well underway before the Republican Party announced last week that it had chosen Cleveland over Dallas as the location for the 2016 convention.

"The sense of excitement in the city is clearly beneficial to people really wanting to find ways to make it happen," Paris said.
 
Additional funding for Public Square could come from tax increment financing based on the non-school portion of value added to the Higbee Building through the addition of the Horseshoe Casino, Paris said.

He said discussions about the financing are underway among the city, the county and Rock Gaming LLC, the building's owner.
Revenue from the tax increment could be used to finance bonds to help pay for the Public Square project. 

Paris said the Group Plan Commission is also seeking money from other charitable foundations and from corporations and corporate foundations.

The foundation's gift will be managed by the non-profit Cleveland organization LAND Studio, which is acting both as fiscal agent for the Public Square project and as staff to the Group Plan Commission.

In addition to the makeover of Public Square, the Group Plan Commission aims to add landscaping enhancements to the Mall, the 12.5-acre green roof of the city's new convention center, plus a pedestrian walkway from the northeast corner of the Mall to attractions at North Coast Harbor.

Paris said that $25 million has been raised to date for the pedestrian bridge, including $10 million from the city, $10 million from the county, and $5 million from the state of Ohio.

He said the process to seek a designer for the bridge could begin soon.
 

Original Article