OB Photos: South Hills

As the saying goes, "There's gold in them thar hills!" Undeniably, Old Brooklyn's South Hills area is one of Cleveland's best treasures.

South Hills was originally established in the late 1800's as a place where vegetables were grown under glass. By the 1920's, it had become the greenhouse capital of the Midwest and one of the nation's largest suppliers of produce, with more than one hundred acres of land dedicated to raising various plants. Only a few greenhouses, including Old Brooklyn Greenhouse on West 11th Street, remain west of the Jennings Freeway.

Today, the neighborhood is a collection of beautiful architecturally-diverse homes having some of the highest and most stable home values in the city. Streets like South Hills Boulevard, Broadale Avenue, and West Schaaf Road are lined with brick colonials, bungalows, cape cods, and Tudor-style houses, with an abundance of large, mature trees. In recent years, areas around West 11th Street and north of Spring Road have given rise to newer-construction homes.

South Hills is also home to the Benjamin Franklin Community Garden, which was previously featured in OB Photos. For a historical view of the garden, please click here.

Perhaps what's most exciting about South Hills is its strong sense of community and residential fabric. Mann residents are actively engaged in the South Hills Association, a civic group that has organized block parties, yard sales, and other events and has pursued and received grant funds for improvement projects. A plethora of city employees and safety personnel reside in South Hills as well.

View photos Old Brooklyn Blogs' South Hills photos here, or check out the Cleveland Memory Project for historical photographs of the area. To see other areas and aspects of Old Brooklyn captured visually, please click here.

OB Photos: Loew Park & Oak Park Avenue

In Fall 2005, I spent my last semester of graduate school studying the area around Oak Park Avenue and Loew Park in the Ward 16 portion of Old Brooklyn. The objective of the project was for Master of Urban Planning, Design, and Development students to record observations on the aesthetics and physical aspects to garner a greater understanding of a unique part of Northeast Ohio, then offer recommendations with justification for improvements.

Located between State and Broadview Roads, Oak Park Avenue is lined with tall, mature oak trees growing from large tree lawns. These trees seem to reach for the sky with their branches opened proudly, forming a canopy above the street and creating a feeling of enclosure. Along Oak Park is a series of one-and-a-half and two-story bungalows, which were likely built during the 1920's. Longer setbacks from the street make homes appear more prestigious.

At Oak Park and West 32nd Street is the historic William Cullen Bryant Elementary School, an elaborately-designed brick building composed of organic-colored bricks and carved stone. Tall windows have been situated strategically in pairs to create a sense of visual harmony and repetition. Meandering paths approach the main entrance of the building, encouraging persons to visually explore its beautiful landscaping, which includes a wide array of trees, flowers, and other plants. Due to the work of neighbors and other community stakeholders, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District intends to renovate the existing William Cullen Bryant school, as opposed to razing and constructing a new building as previously planned.

Directly adjacent to and accessible from Oak Park Avenue is Loew Park, an expansive twenty-three-acre greenspace. Loew Park bears the name of Marcus Loew, who in 1920, established many of the theaters in Cleveland's Playhouse Square. Tall trees are scattered throughout the relatively flat space, with a well-kept green lawn.

Within Loew Park is an outdoor swimming pool that operates in the summer season. The City of Cleveland has budgeted for improvements, including the addition of a "sprayground," to be undertaken in 2009. The park also accommodates five baseball fields, which host games of several local leagues, picnic pavilions, tennis courts, and a playground.

(Editor's Note: My primary recommendations for Loew Park would be to establish an asphalt trail on the periphery of the greenspace to improve its accessibility to disabled persons, joggers, bicyclists, and dog-walkers, regardless of weather conditions or seasons. It could also serve as a safer, more direct route to school for children from the neighborhood, as well as connect focal points, like the playground, park entrances, baseball diamonds, and tennis courts. Benches can be situated along the trail for persons needing a break from exercise, looking to have lunch or read a book outdoors, or simply become engulfed in nature. Comfortable places to sit would convey to park patrons that they are welcome to stay a while. There currently is a deficient number of seats in Loew Park that are not associated with areas for active sports or the playground.)

To view a photo slideshow of Loew Park and Oak Park Avenue, please click here. The set also includes shots of Ralph Avenue, which borders Loew Park to the south.

OB Photos: Treadway Connector & Benjamin Franklin Community Garden

Last year, I decided to bicycle through and photograph two of Old Brooklyn's greatest assets, the Treadway Connector and Benjamin Franklin Community Garden.

The Treadway Connector is Cleveland first connection between a neighborhood and the Towpath Trail. This 2/3-mile trail meanders along the old Treadway Creek from Harmody Park at Broadale Road and Mayview Avenue to Jennings Road at Crestline Avenue. What's most amazing is the topography and the natural scenery along the way. To see a map of the Treadway Connector, please click here.

Last May, Councilman Brian Cummins was on Feagler & Friends on WVIZ to discuss the Treadway Connector. There, he mentioned that the cost of the Treadway Connector was slightly more than $1 million, with $750,000 coming from the State of Ohio's Clean Ohio Fund. Councilman Cummins contributed a portion of his Parks & Recreation allocation to the project as well. The project was a vision of former Ward 15 Councilwoman Merle Gordon, who was interested in exploring alternative uses of the neighborhood's underutilized valleys and ravines. He also stated that a Friends of Treadway Creek group, which consists of residents and other stakeholders, will be responsible for routine maintenance of the connector.

Located on Spring and Broadale Roads behind Benjamin Franklin School, Benjamin Franklin Community Garden allows Old Brooklyn families to adopt one of over two hundred plots of land to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. Thousands of pounds of produce from this 5 1/2-acre garden are donated to local food banks to held feed the hungry. The garden has been a focal point in the Cleveland Public Schools system's horticultural programs since 1924, and began serving as a community garden in the 1980s.

For more historical information about the Benjamin Franklin Community Garden, please visit the Cleveland Public Schools Horticulture page on the Cleveland Memory Project's website. For information about reserving a plot of land in the garden, please contact Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation at (216) 459-1000 or visit its website.

To view a photo slideshow of the Treadway Connector and Benjamin Franklin Community Garden, please click here.