Domokur Architects, based in Akron since 1979, has expanded into Cleveland via a merger with Tremont-based Michael Augoustidis.

"We like the neighborhood," says Linsey Domokur, who handles business development, "and we like having a Cleveland presence." The new office, at Starkweather and Professor, will house three new hires, including a specialist in the healthcare industry.

The firm's healthcare portfolio includes the Geneva Medical Center addition at University Hospitals, Akron City Hospital's Palliative Care Pavillion and Chardon Surgery Center. The firm has also designed several buildings for the J.M. Smucker Company in Orrville , the Cleveland Metroparks' Canal Way Visitors' Center and the Conneaut Public Library.

Domokur also opened a Chicago office in September.




Source: Domokur
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

City governments often get a bad rap. Cleveland's government is especially vulnerable to dismissal, what with that lingering "mistake on the lake" thing. But some informed government watchers — at Harvard, no less — like what they see, at least in terms of the city's willingness to cooperate with communities in building a better future.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, recently recognized the Strategic Investment Initiative (SSI) — a partnership between the non-profit Neighborhood Progress Inc. and the City of Cleveland — as a "Bright Idea." The newly created Bright Ideas program "is designed to recognize and share creative government initiatives around the country with interested public sector, nonprofit, and academic communities."

"My understanding is that this [honor] is fairly unusual," says Walter Wright, Neighborhood Progress's senior program officer. SSI involves the city, but grew out of Neighborhood Progress's work with community development corporations. Today it includes the CDCs in Buckeye, Detroit Shoreway, Ohio City, Slavic Village and five other communities. Neighborhood Progress describes SSI as "a market-driven approach that incorporates a deeper investment in neighborhood planning, a concentration of resources on larger-scale project investments and the introduction of more comprehensive strategies to improving quality of life through green spaces, public art, and neighborhood stabilization strategies."

The Bright Idea designation is "basically an honorific," Wright says. But he welcomes the opportunity to discuss the SSI model with like-minded folks from around the country who will learn of it thanks to the nod from Harvard.



Source: Neighborhood Progress Inc.
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

"Restoring Properties, Rebuilding Communities," a new report from the Center for Community Progress, cites a Cleveland-based grassroots program as an example for other cities also struggling with widespread property vacancy.

The report, released at the start of last week's national Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference in Cleveland, outlines the longstanding problem, exacerbated in recent years by foreclosures and the recession: Across the country, from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt, homeowner, rental, commercial and industrial vacancy rates are at their highest levels in decades, and still rising. In some places years of progress is coming undone.

But the report also examines some promising approaches, including Cleveland's "neighborhood stabilization team." Representatives from Neighborhood Progress Inc., Case Western Reserve University and ESOP (Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People) meet regularly with counterparts from 14 community development corporations to share information and coordinate plans.

Neighborhood Progress brings 20 years of experience in community investment and land reuse. ESOP's foreclosure prevention assistance program has become a national model. Case's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development maintains the NEO CANDO data base, which stores a wide range of data on neighborhoods throughout Northeast Ohio. Combined they provide an invaluable array of resources for the CDCs on the front lines.

"The effort is a comprehensive approach," the report explains, "aimed at both ends of the stabilization challenge – preventing abandonment … and converting abandoned properties for productive use."

"Many cities now recognize that they will not return to their one-time peak populations, nor to their history as manufacturing centers," the report states. "This admission has fundamentally changed how they think about themselves and their future; it has unleashed … a host of creative initiatives that challenge the traditional ideas of city planning and open the door to a new way of thinking about these cities."



Source: Center for Community Progress   
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Danielle DeBoe does not object to the descriptor "retail pioneer," but notes that her business decisions are guided less by simple dollars and cents than by a desire to help Cleveland realize its potential. That's why she's preparing to relocate her jewelry/art/accessories/lifestyle shop Room Service from West 65th and Detroit, in the popular Gordon Square Arts District, to the up-and-coming Ohio City Market District, around West 25th and Lorain.

"I'm motivated by a challenge," says DeBoe, an Ohio City resident who set up shop in Gordon Square "before anyone knew what it was."

"It isn't just the retail end that drives me," she adds. "I like feeling that I'm helping to move along progress in Cleveland in general."

Few approach that effort as imaginatively as DeBoe does. Her side projects include the Made in the 216 shopping event and Dinner with Strangers, which is like networking only cooler.

Her relocation is part of an ongoing development push led by Ohio City Near West CDC and private developer MRN Ltd. The goal is to build on and expand the growth that's occurred on West 25th north of Lorain Avenue.

"Businesses are meant to serve the community in some way," DeBoe says. "If Room Service can help encourage people to cross over Lorain and shop, I'm willing to give it a go.




Source: Danielle DeBoe
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Last summer, planners in the Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown areas spent two intense months assembling a consortium of 21 public- and private-sector entities and applying for a new type of grant available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Now the real work begins.

Last week HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan visited the Cleveland-based offices of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) to announce that the consortium had been awarded $4.25 million dollars available through the Sustainable Communities Initiative. The initiative is part of the Obama administration's Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which seeks to coordinate the efforts of HUD, the EPA and the U.S. Department of Transportation in helping cities rebuild. The Northeast Ohio Consortium for a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development, as the 21-member group is called, was one of 45 chosen for a grant.

The money will allow the consortium to set up and oversee a private nonprofit that will explore ways in which the 12 counties — and nearly 500 municipalities — of the Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown regions can work together, according to Sara Maier, senior planner for NOACA. The three-year study "will give us a tool box of what we can do as a region moving forward," Maier explains. Issues like housing, sustainability, transportation and economic competitiveness, she adds, "don't stop at county lines."

As for the longterm goal, the application stated it thusly: "We envision a "Green City on a Blue Lake.' Over the last decade many factors have converged to make now the optimal time for the 12 counties, four [metropolitan planning organizations] and more than 480 governments in Northeast Ohio to unite for the purpose of planning for sustainable development. It is over the last decade that we have come to accept the reality that our economy is truly regional."

Participants hailing from Cleveland include officials from NOACA, Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland, Cleveland State University's Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and the Fund for Our Economic Future (which organized the application effort).

Consortium members have also pledged more than $2 million in matching grants, exceeding the HUD requirement.




Source: NOACA
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Among the many services provided by the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities (CCBDD) is job training and placement for adults. As local manufacturing jobs have dwindled, the board has had to look elsewhere. One solution that seems promising is local farming.

"We're trying to be more entrepreneurial," says spokeswoman Lula Holt Robertson.

The effort began last year with a single farm at East 55th and Stanard. The site, formerly a school, was donated by the city in 2009. Work began in June, with assistance from The Ohio State University Extension. Today 10 CCBDD clients are employed there, plus a manager and employment specialist.

The program has been so successful that the board hopes to establish nine more gardens over the next five years, and develop relationships with local restaurants, as well as farmers' markets.

The next site will be downtown. Cleveland City Council recently approved gardening on City Hall property, near the Free Stamp, thanks to legislation introduced by Councilman Joe Cimperman. Holt Robertson says that to her knowledge the CCBDD is the first entity of its type in the nation to launch an urban farming program.



Source: Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Neither the departure of LeBron James nor the specter of another losing Browns season has dampened enthusiasm among restaurateurs to join the downtown sports-bar scene. The newest member is City Tap, which opens Friday at 748 Prospect, on the grave of the former Boneyard and Forti's.

Owner Eric Pelham grew up near Norwalk but frequently visited Cleveland for games, and continued to after graduating from Bowling Green State University. His like-named bar in Bowling Green celebrated its first birthday in September, and he plans to replicate that formula here: a sports-bar feel (17 televisions) with restaurant-quality food  (fresh-cut fries, handmade burgers, plus the usual wraps, salads and appetizers) and 40 beers.

Located away from "the hubbub of West Sixth," City Tap is the kind of pre-game stop "where you could bring your wife or girlfriend," Pelham explains. The two-and-a-half-month renovation included restoring the original floor and recreating the back-lit bottle display found behind the bar at his first location, but with three times as many bottles.

City Tap will also be open for lunch seven days week.


Source: Eric Pelham
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

So how deeply has the sustainability movement taken hold in Northeast Ohio? Three organizations that already have a lot on their plates recently collaborated to save some grass.

Mind you, this wasn't just any grass. This was native prairie grass that until recently was part of an art installation on Mall B. But the installation must make way for the Medical Mart, for which ground will be broken later this month. So last spring, Cleveland Public Art contacted Slavic Village Development to see if it could find a new home for the Big-Blue Stem, Side-Oats Grama, Awlsledge and other oddly named varieties of grass that might otherwise now be decaying in a mulch heap.

"I said sure, we'd find a place to replant them," says Marlane Weslian, development officer at Slavic Village. She rented a Toro Dingo and rounded up volunteers to dig 500 holes along the Morgana Run Trail, between Aetna Road and Marble Avenue.

Meanwhile, contractors removed and transported the grass, thanks to a grant from ParkWorks. "It's a lot of work," Weslian says, but the transplant was a success. The grass has already gone dormant, she notes, but should grow strong and green again come spring.

Next week, another contractor -- again paid with grant money obtained through ParkWorks -- will relocate oak trees, already six inches around, from Mall C to a planned "savannah" behind a new Slavic Village housing development adjacent to the trail. Some of these trees are already 25 feet tall, Weslian says, and she's excited to see them make the kind of impact that usually takes decades to achieve.

"And talk about sustainable reuse!" says adds.



Source: Slavic Village Development
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Once upon a time, automobiles were built inside the 65,000-square-foot former factory at 6555 Carnegie Avenue. Or so current owner Giancarlo Calicchia surmises from elevators large enough to move finished cars from the upper levels to the parking lot outside.

Today Calicchia, an accomplished sculptor, sees a new use for the long-dormant building — a center for artists' workspaces and offices. He and architect Paul Beegan are busy designing that future, while preserving the towering columns, tall windows and "great views of Cleveland" left over form the building's industrial past.

"We're also looking for new companies that may be related to art or design and want to be closer to downtown," Calicchia adds. He's already talked with a book publisher and a film company, as well as many artists, and hopes to have at least portions of the building ready for use by next summer. He can be reached at 216-402-2009.

Calicchia's works can be found around the city and state, from the Cleveland Museum of Art and The Avenue at Tower City to Miami University. His Athleta & The Witnesses sculpture garden was installed at Kent State University in July.


Source: Giancarlo Calicchia
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Someday the Medical Mart may make Cleveland an essential destination for healthcare professions. But the city has already achieved such status among those who study blight, which is why Cleveland is hosting the third national Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference, which continues through Friday at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel on Public Square.

"This is by far the biggest," says Jennifer Leonard of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Community Progress, which organized the conference with Cleveland's own Neighborhood Progress, Inc. "Today, there are more places that are being challenged by vacant properties."

Cleveland, of course, would be at or near the top of any such list. But that's not the only reason CCP selected the city for this gathering, which occurs every 18 months. Cleveland also boasts an impressive array of dedicated advocates and innovative approaches to the problem, such as the Cuyahoga Land Bank and Judge Raymond Pianka's Housing Court.

Various parts of the city will serve as backdrops for discussions. "Mobile Workshops" will take participants to Euclid Avenue, as an example of using transit to spur development; a vineyard in Hough and other sites that have been reclaimed for farming or greenspace; Slavic Village, where the foreclosure crisis is combated with a "resident-driven approach to finding a new identity," and the hip and booming Detroit Shoreway community.

"It's actually kind of hard," notes Leonard, "to make sure the conference isn't too focused on Cleveland."

The conference is sold out, but more information is available at the web site.



Source: Center for Community Progress
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Remember the on-again, off-again Cleveland-Ontario ferry proposal? It's back — the idea, at least. Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority CEO William Friedman, who took the helm in June, has commissioned a fresh assessment.

"There is very substantial trade that already exists between Ontario and the United States," Friedman said in the Port's newsletter. "Cleveland has the potential to become a gateway for shipping and passenger travel to and from Canada."

Proponents have long argued that a lake crossing between Cleveland and Ontario would save hours of driving time for commercial transport. The value of trade between Ohio and the Canadian province is estimated at $88 million per day, according to The Free Press of London, Ontario.

One longstanding obstacle to a ferry plan was the lack of a partner on the north side of the lake. The logical choice was Port Stanley, but its owner, the Canadian government, wouldn't hear of it. But in September, the surrounding municipality, Central Elgin, acquired the Port Stanley Harbour lands. In a news release, Mayor Tom Marks explained on reason why — tourism: "We have a magnificent opportunity to develop the harbour properties in a way that guides economic development both in the community and in the municipality as a whole."

In an interview, Friedman sees similar potential benefits for Cleveland. "[Tourism has] always been part of the thinking," he says. "But the business model is such that you really can't get the tourism without the freight [component]. The freight is what makes it pencil out."

Friedman has hired shipping consultant Stuart Theis to reestablish the necessary contacts and take other steps toward updating previously completed feasibility studies. Many details must be worked out, Friedman notes.

"I am pretty bullish on the feasibility," he says, "but there's a lot more to it than that to get there."

Bad news first: The county's long-planned Medical Mart and convention center will cost more than promised — about $40 million more, and developer MMPI is only picking up a small portion of that. But the good news is that MMPI also has in hand letters of intent from companies and organizations that hope to use the facility when it's completed.

Attorney Jeff Applebaum, who negotiates for the county with MMPI, revealed these facts in a presentation to the county commissioners last week. According to Applebaum, as of Sept. 19, 37 medical companies had signed on to display their products to the doctors and healthcare professionals who are expected to visit the medmart. Assuming they follow through, companies combined would occupy 80,000 of the 90,000 square feet of showroom space. MMPI also has preliminary deals with the organizers of eight conferences and eight trade shows, Applebaum reported.

The new estimated price, $465 million, is $40 million higher than previously disclosed totals — despite the fact that the latest designs reflect a smaller facility. According to the Plain Dealer, the cost rose after a consultant advised improving the ballroom by raising the ceiling and removing sight-obstructing columns, and building a separate entrance for food service.

MMPI will kick in $8.5 million of the additional costs, according to the Plain Dealer, and the rest will be covered by a $50 million contingency fund — the existence of which was itself a surprise. The county will cobble together the rest from the existing .25-percent additional sales tax, a 1-percent hotel bed tax and, as County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones told WKSU, by "clawing back $1 million  from Positively Cleveland," the tourism marketing bureau.

Last week the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the plans. Groundbreaking is expected this fall.




Source: Cuyahoga County Planning Commission blog
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Through an initiative called Growing Communities, Charter One bank is supporting ongoing efforts to develop Ohio City's Market District, the neighborhood anchored by the venerable West Side Market on West 25th. Much of Charter One's $130,000 grant will be redirected by Ohio City Near West community development corporation to fledgling businesses in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

"One of the things we're looking at is, how do we enhance the [West Side] market's ability to serve as an incubator," says OCNW executive director Eric Wobser. By way of example he cites Maha Falafil's opening of a second location, near Metrohealth Medical Center, and Lance's Beef's growing wholesale business.

But the step from market stand — or garden or one's own kitchen — to independent store or restaurant can be daunting. To ease the transition, OCNW has obtained another grant, from Neighborhood Progress Inc., to study the feasibility of replicating an Athens, Ohio-based commercial kitchen incubator; entrepreneurs could rent facilities by the hour or day, to cook, package or whatever else they can't do at home. The plan is part of the Ohio City Fresh Food Collaborative, which also involves Great Lakes Brewing Co. and The Refugee Response.

St. Emeric's Church, which is slated to close, is one possible location for the kitchen, says Wobser (though parishioners have appealed the closure decision to the Diocese). OCNW has had preliminary discussions with the Cleveland Botanical Garden about producing its Ripe From Downtown Salsa at the kitchen. Currently the ingredients, grown by Cleveland teens, are shipped to Chicago for packaging.

According to a press release, "Charter One will add new programs and grants to support the neighborhood development projects and the 2012 Market Centennial celebration through the Charter One Growing Communities initiative." OCNW is currently surveying businesses in the area, but he estimates that the largest employers in the area — Lutheran Hospital, St. Ignatius High School, Great Lakes Brewing and the market — currently provide 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.




Source: Ohio City Near West CDC
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

Greg Bodnar knows wine bars. He owns the successful Market Avenue Wine Bar in Ohio City and Corks in Willoughby. But he also knows that even good ideas can stand some tweaking. So when his latest, Corks PlayhouseSquare, opens at 1415 Euclid Ave. in early November, fans of his other locations will notice a difference.

"This will be a little more on the contemporary side," Bodnar says, more sleek and polished than the traditional French bistro look of its older siblings. A local artist is providing paintings for the wall, and a Cleveland Institute of Art professor designed glass lights.

The menu will emphasize tapas and other simple dishes that can be served up quickly for the theater crowd, and libations will include "high-end cocktails" as well as wine.

An extensive renovation of the site, previously Hamilton's Martini Bar, is under way, and furniture is on order. Bodnar expects the "quaint and cozy" main dining room to seat about 45. "We're going to be the little guy on the block," he says, "but the place where people stay longer and come back more often."



Source: Greg Bodnar
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

For almost two years, neighbors of the former Coventry School in Cleveland Heights looked forward to welcoming The Music Settlement to the community. The University Circle-based institution had planned to raze the Coventry building, which was closed in 2007, and build "a state-of-the-art early childhood learning center and training center."

That plan was abandoned in August, after Music Settlement concluded that it could not raise the $16 million to $19 million needed for the project. But the building — just off Coventry Road and adjacent to the popular Coventry Peace playground — won't necessary remain vacant forever. Nancy Peppler, president of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education, says that the school district and Music Settlement continue to discuss the latter's leasing space in the building.

Another possible tenant is Ensemble Theatre, which currently performs at Cleveland Play House. Managing Director Martin Cosentino says that Ensemble would like to use Coventry for shows and for classes, like the dramatic writing workshop that it now offers at Heights libraries.

The property is nearly surrounded by single-family homes, so zoning is an issue, Cosentino notes. Talks with the city and school board continue.

Ensemble is leaving the Playhouse next year, Cosentino says, adding, "We'd like to come back to the city. We're a Cleveland Heights company. It seems to me that [an arts center] is a use the neighbors could support. It's a win for us, a win for Music Settlement and a win for the neighborhood."



Source: Ensemble Theatre
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

It has always been a bit of an oxymoron: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland (MOCA) housed in a building with as much contemporary flair as an old-fashioned Cracker Jack box. And while visitors still came to the Carnegie Avenue location to admire the museum's growing collection of contemporary art, many surely wondered why such a gem wasn't located in University Circle with other great museums, especially the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Turns out, MOCA was wondering the same thing. The museum had been planning for ten years to leave its Carnegie Avenue location for a permanent home that reflected the cutting-edge and forward-thinking image for which MOCA has been known. That vision will soon take shape at the corner of Euclid and Mayfield in University Circle.

The new museum building will be part of a long-planned project that will bring restaurants, stores and housing to that section of Euclid Avenue.

In addition to a comfortable place to exhibit and store the museum's collections, the new MOCA building will help the museum increase its educational and public programs.

Farshid Moussavi with Foreign Office Architects of London designed the building, which will rely on clean lines and sharp angles made from glass and black steel to create a structure that promises to be as intriguing as the art displayed inside. According to the MOCA website, "The lobby is designed as an urban living room, a place for visitors to mingle, eat, shop, attend events, over the course of hours, or for brief interludes in a busy day. The building itself is a learning environment, infused at each level with education offerings that range from low tech to high tech, from contemplative to interactive, from solitary to group encounters. This building is an opportunity to provide a 21st century model of an art museum that anticipates dramatic shifts in how we learn, how we see, and how we socialize."

Jill Snyder, director of MOCA, is pleased with the multipurpose design an aesthetic appeal of the new building. "FOA's design for our building is the perfect expression of our program--one that will not only enable us to operate at the highest level, but that will also be beautiful, intriguing and sensitive to our urban surroundings and community."

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission reports that MOCA hopes to break ground on the new museum building in late fall. The project is estimated at $26 million.


SOURCE: Jill Snyder
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

For decades it was merely a dream, but soon, the Syrian Cultural Garden becomes a reality. Part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens that wend along Rockefeller Park, the Syrian Garden is in progress on Martin Luther King Boulevard across from the Indian Garden. Upon completion, it will be the first of the Cultural Gardens representing an Arab country.

About 80 years ago, Cleveland's Syrian community received a garden site on which to commemorate its culture and heritage. Plagued by lack of funding followed by waning interest, the plot of land sat undeveloped for many years. But around 2007, the notion of a Syrian Cultural Garden began to once again take shape, with members of Cleveland's Syrian community becoming involved in design and fundraising efforts.

Sponsored by the Syrian Cultural Gardens Association, in collaboration with the Syrian American Cultural Council, the garden will have at its focus a series of classically inspired arches designed by University of Damascus architecture students Raghda Helal and Nagham Nano. The Arches of Palmyra, the Amphitheater of Basra, the Syrian Arch and the Arabic Fountain all served as inspiration. The history of Syria will be displayed on several granite stones along the amphitheater, according to Layla George-Khouri, one of the founders of the garden committee. Damascene roses will surround the architectural feature.

"It's going to be beautiful," says Khouri, adding that the goal is to unveil the finished garden to the public in April of 2011.

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens date back to 1926, when the Shakespeare Garden (which later became known as the British Garden) was dedicated to honor the Bard. Through the years, many other ethnic groups have planted flowers and built monuments as a tribute to the land of their ancestors. Check out this link for detailed information about all of the gardens, as well as a map.


SOURCE: Layla George-Khouri
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The spice of life might just be found inside a Budapest Blonde Cocktail Mix. Created by Clevelander Ilona Simon, the new drink mixes promise to offer loads of taste but few calories.

The Hot Blonde Bloody Mary mix features fresh tomato puree, Hungarian paprika, mustard powder and wasabi - for that special kick. The best part: The tasty mix has only 10 calories per serving, according to Simon, although adding vodka will increase the calorie content (and, ahem, the fun).

Budapest Blonde also offers a Dirty Blonde olive martini mix (40 calories per serving), and the Beach Blonde margarita and mojito mix (also 40 calories per serving).

Simon, who was co-owner of the former Budapest Blonde Wine & Martine Bar in Independence, says that her new mixes provide great flavor without any artificial or unhealthy ingredients. "They don't have all those preservatives; they don't have all that sodium; and they don't have all those calories," she says. Teetotalers needn't feel left out. "[The mixes] are so good, you can even drink them straight from the bottle," Simon declares.

These days, you'll find Simon's Budapest Blonde Cocktail Mixes at Heinen's in Brecksville, Independence Beverage, Minotti's Wine & Spirits and Shoregate Beverage, among other locations. For more information, visit the Budapest Blonde Facebook page: Budapest Blonde Cocktail Mix


SOURCE: Ilona Simon
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The main entrance resembles an unrolled Torah. The color scheme throughout the building is inspired by vegetation mentioned in the Bible.

Every detail within the new Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood has significance, whether it's about Jewish faith and culture or the latest in high-tech design. More than 400 preschool through high school students walked through the doors of the school on August 30, marveling at the architecture, the amenities and the space--something that had been dearly lacking for years.

In fact, Fuchs Mizrachi occupied two separate buildings in order to accommodate its students. Now, they all gather under one roof in a state-of-the-art setting.

Fuch Mizrachi is an Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionist college prep school that seeks to grow students into young men and women who are capable of "swimming in all waters." The school was founded in 1983 as Bet Sefer Mizrachi of Cleveland and later renamed for major donors Leonard and Susan Fuchs.

Shaker Square's Bialosky + Partners designed the 100,000-square-foot school to consolidate the two existing campuses. In addition to respect for Jewish heritage, the campus design incorporates eco-friendly details: an advanced lighting control system, high insulation values, a geothermal HVAC system and energy recovery ventilators to improve fresh-air transfer from the outside. The project earned LEED Gold Certification.

Students may not immediately recognize the sustainability features in and around their new school. But they will drink in the beautiful beit midrash, or "hall of study," with its three-tiered ceiling and dramatic use of beams and pendant lighting. The new school also boasts two gymnasiums, a large music room and a theater.

On the day the school building was dedicated, Leonard Fuchs said that Fuchs Mizrahi "has become part of my body and soul." With a new location and a fresh look, the school will no doubt become an important part of its students' formative years.


SOURCES: Fuchs Mizrachi, Bialosky + Partners
WRITER: Diane DiPiero