Alan Glazen admits that opening a bar on Waterloo Road in North Collinwood might sound crazy. After all, others have tried and failed before him. He also admits that it doesn't make apparent business sense to recruit his own competition, something he's also trying to do.

Still, he insists he's not crazy. Here's why.

Glazen's ambitious Operation Light Switch project aims to simultaneously open a host of new bars and restaurants on Waterloo Road, building on the area's artsy, gritty authenticity while ensuring critical mass from the get-go.

It's a risky idea, but he's willing to try it. And while no formal announcements have yet been made, others too apparently are. (There's a rumor that Steve Schimoler of Crop and other chefs are close to inking deals.)

As he works to recruit other restauranteurs to join him, Glazen is acquiring, fixing up and repositioning properties on Waterloo, a street that already is home to the Beachland Ballroom and other indie shops. Glazen bought the old Fotina's Diner, offering six months free rent to a new hand-picked proprietor. A few weeks in, owner Mary Kean's Chloe's Kitchen Diner already is doing twice the business of the old place -- and still offering $2.99 breakfasts all day.

Befitting its old-school-meets-new-school reputation, Chloe's tagline is "Wi-Fi and pie."

Glazen also currently is renovating the shuttered Harbor Pub -- which needs a serious facelift -- into a rock-and-roll bar. He also just signed a lease for the bar and bocce courts at the Slovenian Workmen's Hall. "This is the real deal; it's absolutely authentic," he says of the courts, which apparently are lined with a surface of crushed oyster shells. "We're going to do what we do: polish it, rather than change it."

Translation: Glazen will remove the ugly, glass block windows on the outside of the building and replace them with glass, dig up the old, cracked tile floor and replace it, and make other needed repairs. Of the bocce, Glazen explains, "It'll be on the honor system. You'll put your 50 cents in a box, get your beer and go play."

Glazen ancipates opening the Slovenian Workmen's Home in April. He also is expecting that 2013 will be the year that all the lights come up on Waterloo. He's talking to other top name chefs in Cleveland about empty spots along the strip.

"This is way more of a give back than a take away; we're not going to make much money for a while," he says. "But my dad grew up in this neighborhood. We love our neighborhoods. This is the last best opportunity in Cleveland, in my view."

Source: Alan Glazen
Writer: Lee Chilcote