Reimagining Cleveland Vacant Land ReUse Forum and Photo-Documentation Exhibition Opening

One thing Cleveland needs to learn to address is how to utilize the large swaths of land that are now vacant within the urban core, in order to strengthen the existing fabric. The vacant properties can be a drain on existing infrastructure and city services and if left appearing blighted can affect the perceived economic value of a community or neighborhood. The Reimagining Cleveland intiative utilizes funding grants to to create amenities or laboratories on these vacant landbanked properties for community benefit.

-borrowed (directly copied) from the CSU email newsletter

Reimagining Cleveland Vacant Land ReUse Forum and

Photo-Documentation Exhibition Opening

Thursday, February 17, 2011

4:00-7:30 p.m.

Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Glickman-Miller Hall, Roberta Steinbacher Atrium

Cleveland State University

1717 Euclid Avenue

Image by Walter Wright

www.reimaginingcleveland.org

You may have heard about the Reimagining Cleveland initiative to reuse vacant lots for community benefit but this Forum will answer the question "What's going on here?" Join us for a program of education and inspiration. Learn from project leaders who have actually created gardens, orchards, vineyards and farms from vacant land. Gather information for your own project from a wealth of resources. And, immediately following the Forum, join us in celebrating the opening of an exhibit in the Forum gallery showcasing the work of photographers and storytellers and illuminating the narratives of the reimagining projects.

Agenda

4:00-4:15 p.m. Welcome and Introductions

4:15-6:00 p.m. Program Including:

City perspective, Cleveland Department of Community Development; Voices from the Gardens, Orchards, Vineyards and Farms (Mansfield Frasier, Justin Husher, Darren & Johanna Hamm, Akanni Thomas, Marlane Weslian); Tracking, Tracing and Presenting Observations on the process of documentation in making productive urban space and restoring Cleveland's ecosystem (Mark Tebeau, Ph.D., Associate Professor, History Department, Cleveland State University and Helen Liggett, Ph.D., Urban Studies, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University); A look to the future of Reimagining Cleveland (Terry Schwartz, AICP, Director, Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative)

6:00-6:30 p.m. Question & Answer

6:30-7:30 p.m. Gallery Tour, Reception, Resource Tables, Networking

Resources available include: garden tips and inspiration, technical assistance, funding and human resource assistance, vacant land assessment, and many others.

Presented by the Levin College Forum, NPI, and the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative.

All forum events are free and open to the public, but please register by calling 216.523.7330 or register here.