What were some of the key considerations in remaking Cleveland's Public Square?

 

People wanted bathrooms, a cafe and a water feature in addition to an expansive lawn and plenty of shade.  After an uninspiring update in 1986, Public Square was again up for a facelift in 2009, and the current design was completed just in time for the GOP Convention in 2016.

 

Dating to 1796 when the city was founded, Public Square has been the heart of Cleveland ever since.  It's the region's central gathering space and the city's tallest towers surround the Square, visible from 20 miles away.  

 

Meet Tony Coyne, former chair of the Group Plan Commission that oversaw the remaking of Cleveland's Public Square, as he describes some of the items the public wanted to see:

Public Square has always been big, much larger than other civic spaces such as Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Campus Martius Park in Detroit or Union Square in San Francisco.  

 

During most of its history, the Square consisted of four quadrants with streets running through them, and it was hoped that the latest iteration would finally unify the space.  After a battle with the local transit agency, an east-west busway was allowed through the center, although the whole Square can be closed off for special events.

 

Below is an overview of Cleveland's Public Square:

 

We tell the story of Public Square in a piece that compares the historical Cleveland place with Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square, a 1980s created space that replaced a block-square parking garage in the heart of downtown.

 

The Rebol Cafe in Cleveland's Public Square is shown below:

 

The water feature in Cleveland's Public Square is below with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in the background:

 

Saving the City creator Ron Blatman was recently featured in an extended interview in The Planning Report, a journal about cities out of Los Angeles.

 

 

If you like the idea of sharing ways to help make our cities better places (such as highlighting the importance of civic squares as public gathering places), join us to help complete the first four 60-minute episodes of the Saving the City series.  

 

. Why Cities Matter

. Living Downtown

. Parks & Recreation

. Family Ties

 

We just brought on board a highly regarded British animator to create a 60-second opening sequence that will appear near the beginning of all our episodes as well as commissioned a musical piece for the open.  And we're still finalizing and clearing rights for hundreds of historic images and dozens of archival film clips that appear in our initial group of stories.

 

We are also working on an updated website to be released soon.

 

And, we are seeking a lead funder so we can start on our next six episodes, covering topics such as transportation, homelessness, urban universities and climate change.

 

 

Please share this newsletter with friends and family.  Our newsletter archive is here.

 

And check out our work and let us know what you think.  We're always eager to learn about new stories and be referred to people we should know about.

 

After watching Saving the City, you will never look at cities the same way again.

 

 

“Public Square was a place where where you would graze your cattle, but then later evolved into more of a public gathering space or town square…the Facebook of the time.”

 

Jason Russell, Cleveland city planner

Cleveland's Public Square became the first outdoor public space in America to be illuminated by electric lights when twelve high-power dynamo arc lamps mounted on tall poles lit up the night on April 29, 1879.