Beyond all convention (center) - or - I wish I knew now what I knew back then

Back in 1903 or so Cleveland underwent a rather amazing thorough urban public works plan commonly referred to as "the Burnham Plan". This great plan resulted in public square, the malls and the orientation of downtown north to south reaching to the lake.

Over the years many facets of the plan were ignored or changed, the relocation of transit centers from the North side of Mall C (see the location of the Amtrak station to Tower City), portions of public space "readjusted" to become building sites. Somewhere around 1929 a convention center was built under Mall B. It is the replacement of this convention center, in conjunction with the proposed Medical Mart complex that was the purpose of a public forum tonight at the Centers for Families and Children.

Of the three county commissioners only Peter Lawson Jones was able to attend. Estimates of about 70 - 80 of the general public attended. There were various government officials (of which I probably couldn't spell their names correctly so I apologize in advance).

The forum opened with Lawson Jones giving a brief presentation on the program of the convention/medical mart complex and a brief history of how the system has operated to date. Then two of the many suggestions for possible sites were further explained.

First up was Will Vogle of Forest City Enterprises who was a proponent for the site adjacent to Tower City. Dubbed "the Riverview Site @ Tower City" the proposal had the same fault shared with other developments with such bucolic names by falling sort of the conjured mental image relative to such a lofty title. It also had the mission statement of creating "an indoor and outdoor, front door" which I think means that when you enter from the street you know where you are, but when you enter from the interior, you also know where you are. It wasn't that it was confusing, just unnecessary. While Forest City would be offering commercial space to leverage the Medical Mart the strengths were also what I considered the main weaknesses. In a nutshell it created a completely self contained community of connected hotels and transit that would make it not only possible but extremely convenient to come into town for a convention and never leave the building. While that might bode extremely well for the business plan, for the city and the region is seems counter productive to the city as a whole. The project as a whole created a 7 story structure (4 levels of parking) directly on the banks of the Cuyahoga, creating a sheer canyon wall (with 4 levels of party) as the new Western image of the city.

While I don't want to beat on Will too much he did mention how the project would be designed via a "competition" (probably to the chagrin of HNTB who worked on the proposal with Forest City) that would strive to create an "architectural iconic building" that would "green" and whatever other buzzword could be tossed out to the hungry attention starved masses.

The second presentation was by Gene Baxendale of Osborne Engineering who presented a proposal done by LMN, Madison International and Bostwick Design Partnership which consisted of redesigning the existing convention center to handle modern exhibitions, refurbish the auditorium complex to the east and open up the site south of the current administration building for the Medical Mart which would put it right on Public Square. The Mall B&C proposal offered the most elegant solutions which seemed to offer the best opportunity to invigorate street life along a typically empty urban area while still allowing the Mall to retain it's usage as a public space. It also made allowances for connecting to the Lake via a pedestrian bridge that would cross the train tracks and highway and allow easy access to the Science Center and Rock Hall while creating back of house access that would allow trucks to utilize loading areas without having to traverse downtown streets from the highway.

After both presentations the public was allowed to speak. Most of the general public voiced the opinion that the Mall B plan was favored to the Tower City Plan. I would have to agree due to the statements above and also because...

• It would allow for a connection to be made to the Amtrak Station increasing the value of passenger rail travel.
• It would create an easy access to Browns stadium, the Rock Hall and the Science Center which unfortunately are currently cut off from the rest of the city.
• It allows for design statements to be subtle and controlled instead of an overindulging complex that would possibly overwhelm the context of the Burnham Plan and create an uncomfortable exterior space.
• The Mall B plan is more centrally located to parking, hotels, restaurants than the Tower City plan which is bordered by the Cuyahoga and therefore loses an entire side to ease of access.
• It would be similar distance to the Red Line as the Tower City Sight and both sites are directly on the Health Line around Public Square.

The important thing is that the people of the city are able to be involved in the planning and site selection for what could be the most important project with the greatest potential to change the fate of the city for the near future. It will a project that requires not only our scrutiny but also our diligence and care in order to make sure that it measures up to our necessary standards.