After Winston Willis was driven from the south side of the 10500-10700 block of Euclid Avenue, a state-funded urban renewal project replaced the last vestige of Cleveland's second downtown. Named for William O. Walker, the longtime editor of Cleveland's black weekly newspaper The Call and Post, the W. O. Walker Center was a project of the Industrial Commission of Ohio. Built to house and treat injured workers, today it houses the Cleveland Clinic's physical therapy department. When the design was unveiled in 1982, it reflected a subtle response to fears of area crime. Its architect, according to an interview with the Plain Dealer, did not want "fences and walls" and opted instead to set the building back far from the street with extensive landscaping to create a buffer of reassurance, calling to mind years of debates over University Circle institutions' relationship with surrounding, largely African American neighborhoods. | Source: Cleveland State University. Special Collections. Cleveland Memory ProjectDownload Original File
Source
Cleveland State University. Special Collections. Cleveland Memory Project
