The Gordon Square Arcade opened to the public on April 8, 1921. The unique and massive structure quickly became the centerpiece of the Gordon Square commercial district, and a source of pride for the surrounding neighborhood. The monumental building was not only constructed to meet the needs of the community, but acted as a reflection of the neighborhood's growth into a commercial center. In part, the success and growth of Gordon Square, and the choice to build the arcade on the corner of West 65th and Detroit Avenue, was due to its location. Interurban and crosstown streetcars not only provided Clevelanders access to the Gordon Square area. It also attracted residents from the developing communities of Rocky River and Lakewood.

Construction of the arcade took about one year to complete, and cost $1,500,000. The Gordon Square Arcade and Community Building included a seventy-five room hotel, a seventy-five stall market, a pool and billiard room, the Capitol Theatre, seventy offices, thirty-one stores, a barber shop, and a restaurant.

The Gordon Square Arcade remained the heart of a healthy commercial district until the middle of the 20th century, when post war affluence and the construction of highways played their part in promoting a mass exodus of residents, businesses, and industry from the City of Cleveland to the suburbs. New waves of settlers into Cleveland would never again match the numbers of those leaving, and the population began to plummet. Businesses left behind vacant storefronts, factories moved away, and the commercial district slowly began to deteriorate. In what is now considered the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, these changes culminated in the collapse of the Gordon Square Arcade's parapet onto West 65th Street in 1978.

Through the efforts of citizen groups and the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, the Gordon Square Arcade was saved from demolition and rehabilitated. In the process, the arcade once again became the centerpiece of Gordon Square and helped reestablish the intersection of West 65h Street and Detroit Avenue as a commercial district. A symbol of the possibilities of urban redevelopment, the Gordon Square Arcade has become a model for efforts to revitalize the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.

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Upon entering Cleveland's west side "Little Italy", one is instantly met with a display of Italian colors on benches, fire hydrants, sidewalks, and telephone poles. Best known for its street processionals and annual church festival, this small Italian neighborhood dates back to the early 20th century. At the core of this Italian American community lies Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church.

The smaller of two Italian settlements on Cleveland's west side during the early 1900s, early settlers predominately hailed from the Campania coastal region of Italy. Initially drawn to Cleveland by work opportunities offered in local factories and manufacturers, the choice to settle in what is now the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood has been attributed to the close proximity of the lake and the area's resemblance to the Bay of Naples. The Italian neighborhood replaced what was previously an Irish settlement, and was bounded by West 65th, West 69th, Detroit Avenue, and the lake.

Following in the footsteps of immigrant groups that came before them, the Italian community first set up societies and organizations to provide security and help ease the process of relocation. For Italian immigrants, these groups generally grew from familial or territorial ties. Efforts then focused on developing churches. For the Italians living north of Detroit Avenue, securing a full time pastor was initially delayed due to the small size of the community. Sacraments were received at St. Rocco's, the Roman Catholic church built by the West Side Italian community near Fulton Avenue and West 33rd Street. In 1924, the first mass for what would become Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was held at St. Helena's Romanian Catholic Church on West 65th and Detroit Avenue. A room in a house on West 69th Street was then transformed into a chapel and masses were held there until 1926. That year, under the leadership of Father Sante Gattuso of St. Rocco's, the mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was founded.

The room on West 69th Street was replaced in 1926 by a saloon on the same street that had been converted into a chapel. Despite the effects of the Great Depression, enough money was eventually saved to purchase a double house on Detroit Avenue in 1932. This house would remain the home of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel until 1949, when post war prosperity (and a financially successful Our Lady of Mt. Carmel celebration) enabled the parish to begin construction of a building to house both a school and church. As the parish continued to thrive through both the contributions of a growing congregation and the revenue raised by its annual festival, a parish hall was constructed in 1951 and work soon began on a new church. Taking about one year to construct, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church was dedicated on April 19, 1953.

As residents of Cleveland's larger Italian neighborhoods relocated outside of the city in suburbs and new ethnic neighborhoods, the Mount Carmel community would retain a strong presence in the west side of Cleveland. While the small Italian community did not escape the effects of assimilation and suburbanization, the church's commitment to the neighborhood intensified. Under the guidance of Pastor Rev. Marino Frascati, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel helped lead the efforts to redevelop the neighborhood and create what became known as the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.

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Cleveland Public Theatre was founded in 1982 by Cleveland native James Levin. From its early years, CPT was instrumental in promoting, creating, and providing a home for experimental theater in the Cleveland area. Initially sparking interest in local theater through productions such as Shakespeare at the Zoo and the New Plays Festival, the focus of CPT gravitated toward the latter by the late 1980's. Over the next decade, the theater would make a name for itself both within and outside of Cleveland as a stage for original works by contemporary artists.

Ingrained into the mission of the theater is the belief that art can not only change individual lives, but that the theater can be a means to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. Beyond providing a space and forum for local artists to perform and display their work, CPT developed urban outreach programs that provide educational services to at-risk youth and homeless adults. In addition, the success of Cleveland Public Theatre helped set the stage for the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood into an emerging arts district. Working in collaboration with other community organizations, Cleveland Public Theater has played a key role in promoting the commercial and economic development of what is now the Gordon Square Arts District.

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On April 8, 1921, the Capitol Theatre opened its doors to the public at the dedication of the Gordon Square Arcade and Community Building. Developed by the West Side Amusement Co. and Canadian motion picture theater promoters Jule and J.J. Allen, the theater began as a vaudeville and silent film house. During the surrounding neighborhood's prosperous years, the theater remained a centerpiece of Gordon Square. The arcade and theater slowly fell into disrepair, though, following the outmigration of both Cleveland residents and businesses following World War II.

In 1978, the parapet of the Gordon Square Arcade collapsed and damaged the marquis. Plans were quickly prepared for the demolition of the building. Although the building itself was spared through the efforts of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, the Capitol Theatre eventually closed down in 1985 due to years of deterioration. With the revival of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood and the designation of the Gordon Square area as a cultural arts district, the theater was renovated and reopened in 2009. It is now owned by the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization and operated by the Cleveland Cinemas.

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Located at the intersection of W. 65th Street and Detroit Avenue, Gordon Square is the historic commercial district of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. As residential construction and industry grew along and away from Detroit Avenue following the turn of the 19th century, the Gordon Square commercial district emerged to meet the retail, recreational, and service needs of the surrounding community. The construction of the Gordon Square Arcade and Community Building symbolized the prominence of this bustling community. Encompassing an entire city block, the Gordon Square Arcade was the largest construction project to have taken place on the West Side at the time of its opening in 1921. The arcade quickly became the heart of the Gordon Square commercial district.

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Cleveland's EcoVillage is an urban redevelopment project that aims to create an economically and ecologically sustainable community within the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. The project was conceived by environmental groups in the mid 1990s to combat urban sprawl and outmigration from the city's core by creating an attractive, healthy living space. Environmentally conscious, pedestrian-friendly designs for an urban village were integrated with efforts to promote diversity and community involvement. The EcoVillage project has been led by the efforts of EcoCity Cleveland, an environmental group that merged in 2007 with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to form the GreenCityBlueLake Institute, and the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, a neighborhood development organization. While part of a larger worldwide movement toward creating sustainable ecovillage communities, it is one of only a few projects to successfully be implemented in an urban environment.

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Battery Park is an urban redevelopment project in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood located on W. 73rd Street and W. 76th Street. Laid out in a "U" shaped design, the $100 million development overlooks Edgewater Park and is surrounded by what has sometimes been dubbed the West Side's "Little Italy." The upscale residential enclave was built on the site of the Eveready Battery Co.'s old Edgewater Plant, which originally opened in the 1890s. Canadian-born engineer Lewis Urry, who worked at the Edgewater Plant, invented the modern alkaline dry battery (which became branded much later as Energizer) in 1956 at Eveready's research center in Parma. The plant on the site of Battery Park produced batteries until the late 1980s and thereafter became a battery-testing facility manned by a much smaller workforce. The facility closed permanently in 1999. Battery Park is currently the largest housing development in the City of Cleveland.

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