Convening in Chelton Park during the first week of August, 2016, bands of volunteers joined artists Gary Williams and Robin Robinson to take part in the final stage of a community art endeavor that aspired to beautify the public space. A bleak retaining wall was to be transformed into a colorful representation of the surrounding Moreland community.  With chalk and paintbrushes in hand, participants spent their summer days outlining and painting interlocking shapes along an eastern barrier that divided recreation grounds from the Shaker Heights School Bus Garage. The final mural depicted images of Moreland neighborhood residents surrounded by jigsaw puzzle pieces. Overseen and guided by the non-profit art organization Sankofa Fine Art Plus, the Chelton Park Mural Project had evolved from community input as part of the City of Shaker Heights’ Moreland Rising program.  Culminating in the Faces of Moreland mural, the dividing wall now serves as an apt tribute to the Moreland community’s long tradition of advocacy for the development of public spaces within the neighborhood.  The advancement of park building projects, as reflected through the development of Chelton Park, had been both a point of collaboration and contention between Moreland residents and the City of Shaker Heights since the 1960s.



The need for public parks in Moreland had long been apparent by the time of Chelton Park’s opening in 1964.  The area’s only designated recreation facilities and playground were located at Moreland School.  This was typical of Shaker Heights neighborhoods.  Local schools acted as the nucleus of community life and identity, and provided grounds for civic and recreational activities. Moreland’s residential layout, however, presented unique conditions that demanded a different approach to public space.  Small property lots and the prevalence of multifamily homes precipitated a need for accessible community recreation facilities.  Additionally, play space at the school had dwindled over time following the construction of a library, warehouses, bus garages and parking lots. What remained of the land was often unavailable due to school activities, and its asphalt surface precluded use for activities such as baseball and football. While neighborhood children used vacant lots and city streets for play, the practice was discouraged by police.



The first realized efforts to promote park building were initiated by the Moreland Community Association (MCA).  Formed in the spring of 1962, the community group was modeled after and inspired by the Ludlow Community Association. Its primary goals were to deter block busting and promote stability within the neighborhood. Moreland had witnessed an unprecedented rise in the number of homes being placed on the market, in part a reaction to racial integration in the southwest region of Shaker Heights. Beyond efforts to manage the neighborhood’s racial composition, MCA advocated for improvements to municipal services and the creation of community recreation grounds.



Upon its founding, MCA quickly began work with the Shaker Heights Recreation Board to identify locations for the development of local playgrounds. These sites were conceived as designated play spaces for the neighborhood’s estimated 1,300 children, as well as a means of promoting urban renewal through the creation of an aesthetically attractive landscape.  United in purpose to create stable, attractive and livable communities, MCA and the City did not always align in their perception of where parks should be located and how they were to be used. 



Early park building efforts focused on two sites.  Four adjoining lots owned by the City near Milverton and Sutton Roads were recommended as a tot-lot facility.  Grounds behind a commercial building on Lee Road between Hampstead and Nicholas Roads were chosen for potential use as a play field.  The City of Shaker Heights Finance Committee swiftly rejected plans for the proposed Milverton-Sutton playground.  The land’s potential value for future development, inaccessibility to the total community, and proximity to parks in other neighborhoods were cited as reasons for not moving forward with the project. In a letter penned to City of Shaker Heights Mayor Paul K. Jones for the Moreland Community Association in March, 1963, Mrs. Netta Berman expressed, “We are appalled at the possibility of the development of this site for other than recreation purposes.”



Within a month of sending the letter, Nette Berman presented Shaker Heights City Council a petition containing 889 signatures to demonstrate support of MCA’s plans for neighborhood playgrounds. Despite continued objections to the Milverton-Sutton site, the City Council approved the purchase of a 240 by 200 parcel of land between Hampstead and Nicholas Roads in February, 1964.  A house on the property was to be demolished to create an entrance from Chelton Road, and three lots developed as a community playground.



In October, 1964, the playground off Chelton Road was dedicated.  Mayor Paul K. Jones spoke at the ceremony, recognizing the collaborative efforts of the Moreland Community Association and Shaker Heights' Recreation Board. Recreation facilities, including a baseball backstop and field, were added during the Spring of 1966. For the park’s youngest visitors, a fenced-in tot-lot was situated at the south end of the play field.  Shrouded from the dangers of stray baseballs, the area offered benches, a Swedish Gym, a climb-around, a slide, a steam engine and five spring-loaded saddle mates of differing animal types.



The Moreland Community Association continued working with local government officials to guide the maintenance and development of neighborhood recreation spaces over the next two decades. In 1968, the organization offered its support for a City-sponsored bond issue that included funds to develop open spaces within the southwest section of Shaker Heights.  The issue’s passage helped finance the construction of Sutton Place, a controversial six-acre combination park and town house development.  The community organization also advocated for city property at Hildana Road and Chagrin Boulevard to be transformed into a play space and ice-skating pond.



A new community organization took the lead advancing recreational facilities for the Moreland community during the 1990s.  Founded in 1991 as Moreland on the Move, the community group merged with the Moreland Community Association in 1994 to establish Moreland on the Move Community Association.  These institutions oversaw the renovation and expansion of Chelton Park as part of a larger effort by the City of Shaker Heights to overhaul its playgrounds and recreational amenities during the first half of the decade. 



In the fall of 1992, the City hired a landscape architect to redesign the playground in Moreland.  Plans included the purchase of two adjoining properties on Chelton Road to open the grounds for better visibility and security.  The new park was to be made over as a play space for elementary school children.  An application for a Community Development Block Grant was submitted by the City to finance the project, but the proposal was denied. Shaker Heights City Council agreed to move forward and fund the plans, which had received widespread support from Moreland residents and its community organizations. Two homes were acquired and demolished, and existing playground equipment was reinstalled closer to Chelton Road.  In the spring of 1995, the revamped park opened to the public.



Municipal government efforts to develop and improve green spaces within the Moreland neighborhood once again surged following 2010.  The City of Shaker Heights had begun receiving disbursements of over $2.75 million in federal grants the prior year for Neighborhood Stabilization Programs through the Cuyahoga County Department of Development. This funding aimed to counteract the devastating impact of the national foreclosure crisis in hard-hit communities such as Moreland.  Foreclosed and abandoned properties quickly accrued in the city land bank.  While some homes were rehabbed and placed on the market, dilapidated structures that undermined neighborhood stability were demolished.  The ensuing vacant lots were maintained by the city while being marketed to buyers wishing to build quality new homes within the neighborhood. Empty lots were also developed into parks and playgrounds for the community. 



In Moreland, $181,000 in National Stabilization Program funding was utilized to enhance the neighborhood’s playground and park facilities. Working in collaboration with Moreland on the Move Community Association to identify the needs of neighborhood residents, the City developed two new playgrounds in vacant properties.  The Menlo Tot-Lot was designed for children two to five years old, and the Ashby Play Lot was created as a neighborhood play space.  Funds were also allocated to the Chelton Park Expansion Project.  The City purchased and demolished a home adjacent to the park, landscaped the grounds, and added new fencing, amenities and playground equipment.  Throughout the park building process, community members actively engaged in its planning.  A petition signed by over 100 members of the Moreland community in 2015 helped advance the Chelton Park Mural Project, which used public art to physically inscribe the neighborhood’s identity into the popular recreation grounds.



In 2018, the Moreland neighborhood boasts five recreation spaces available to its residents.   Continuing a long tradition of collaboration between community members and the local government in park building projects, the City of Shaker Heights made a concerted effort to engage local residents in the development and implementation of plans initiated through Neighborhood Stabilization Programs. This partnership, dating back to the creation of Chelton Park in the 1960s, has guided the creation of meaningful, attractive and usable spaces in the Moreland community.

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Cleveland’s 1903 Group Plan was a grand undertaking: one of the era’s most ambitious and successful attempts to turn what civic leaders saw as an irredeemable slum into a “City Beautiful,” replete with dignified new structures and striking public spaces. In 1910, the Group Plan’s first building opened and the bar was set high: Christened the Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, the structure is an architectural masterwork with a Beaux Arts façade and interior spaces enhanced with fine art and marble and brass finishes. The building was renamed the Howard M. Metzenbaum United States Courthouse in 1998; it is the only Group Plan structure to border both Public Square and the Mall.

The Courthouse belongs to an elite group of 35 buildings commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Tarsney Act of 1893. That legislation gave permission to the secretary of the treasury to use private architects, selected through competitions, to create federal buildings around the United States. The Cleveland structure was designed by Arnold W. Brunner under the direction of James Knox Taylor, supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury Department.

As the first Group Plan building, the Courthouse—built at a cost of $3,318,000—became the model upon which most of its Cleveland brethren were later based. The Public Library (1925), which resides next door, bears a particularly close resemblance to the Courthouse. Most of the other Group Plan buildings—the Cuyahoga County Courthouse (1912), City Hall (1916), Public Auditorium (1922) and the Board of Education building (1931)—also emulate the Courthouse’s style, size, scale and overall appearance.

Brunner took as his architectural inspiration the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The similarity is evidenced particularly by the tall Corinthian columns that adorn all four of the Courthouse’s facades. Like the Place de la Concorde, the Courthouse also is festooned with statuary, including two pieces—"Jurisprudence" and "Commerce"—by Daniel Chester French who also designed the Lincoln Memorial.

The interior is equally notable. Entering through one of three arched doorways, visitors encounter a lateral corridor 30 feet deep that runs the entire width of the building. The hall’s vaulted ceiling reaches 30 feet in height and all surfaces, including the floor, are done in Italian marble. Cast-bronze, spread-wing eagles standing on globes appear over each pair of elevator doors. Windows are trimmed in bronze. On higher floors of the building, there also are small interior windows. When the building was used as a post office these “postal peeps” served much the same function as internal security cameras do today, allowing supervisors to keep an eye on workers below.

The third floor’s ceremonial courtrooms have often been at the center of history-making events. In 1918, Eugene V. Debs was put on trial in the East Ceremonial Courtroom for opposing US involvement in World War I. Civil suits relating to the May 4, 1970, shootings at Kent State University were held in the building’s upper courtrooms, which also were the site of Cleveland’s famous school desegregation (bussing) case that was decided in 1976 by Judge Frank J. Battisti.

Visible everywhere inside the building are fine artworks, many of which have Cleveland or Ohio themes: “City of Cleveland Welcomes the Arts” by William Hickok Lowe. “Passing Commerce Pays Tribute to the Port of Cleveland” by Kenyon Cox. “Battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813” by Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum. The building also boasts a collection of 63 “Delivering the Mail” murals by artist Francis Millet, who also created the 13 murals in the Cleveland Trust rotunda and died on the Titanic.

Following a 1998 upgrade, the courthouse was renamed in honor of former U.S. Senator Howard Morton Metzenbaum. A major initiative to restore public spaces and modernize the mechanical systems was initiated in 2002. That same year, a number of functions of the U.S. District Court moved to the new Carl B. Stokes Federal Court House Building west of Public Square. Today, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, General Services Administration, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, and Office of the U.S. Trustee reside in the Metzenbaum facility. The upper courtrooms are still used for public hearings and proceedings.

One of more than 200 legacy properties under the stewardship of the General Services Administration, the Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

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The Cleveland Public Library comprises one of the largest collections in the United States: nearly ten million items. The Library’s two buildings on Superior Avenue (the main structure, 1925) and the Stokes Wing (1997) command an entire city block between East 3rd and East 6th Streets. The exceptional collection and iconic buildings demonstrate both the institution's importance as a symbol of democracy and—at a more pragmatic level—the library's popularity.

The development of the Cleveland Public Library mirrored a larger movement in the United States: merging practices from tax-funded school-district libraries with early circulating libraries that required fees or membership dues. Heavily laden in classist ideals of democracy, these early public libraries became increasingly popular in the last decade of the 19th century. The advancement of publicly funded libraries also was a response to rapid social changes—particularly industrialization and a tidal wave of immigrants. Thus public lending institutions focused largely on maintaining large collections of educational materials, even though limited operating hours and a closed-stack system limited their accessibility.

Cleveland's first public library was founded in 1869, following the passage of a law providing library funding as part of the Cleveland school system. Known until 1883 as the Public School Library, the new institution on the third floor of a building off West Superior Avenue was estimated to have 5,800 books on its opening day. Visitors to the 20 x 80-foot room had to submit their requests at a main counter. The item would then be retrieved from the stacks by an employee of the library. This system remained in place until 1884, when William Howard Brett was appointed librarian. Under Brett's direction, the institution became a model for progressive, service-oriented libraries throughout the United States, a fact that led to its popular nickname "The People's University."

The notion of accessibility lay at the core of Brett’s innovations. He made all materials in the adult sections available to the public. Cleveland Public Library also became the first large urban library to institute an open-shelf policy. In addition, Brett developed programs and collections for children, instituted a classification system to group books of similar subject matter, opened Cleveland's first branch libraries, created library stations throughout the city, expanded the collection of fiction, and created the city’s first stand-alone children's room. This trailblazing librarian helped secure both the land and funding for the Cleveland Public Library's permanent home in the city's emerging civic district east of Public Square.

And what a home it is. Designed by the prominent architectural firm of Walker & Weeks, the five-story facility was completed in 1925 for about $5 million. It is one of six buildings conforming to the Group Plan, an ambitious 1903 city-planning scheme built around a massive three-segment public park (the Mall) northeast of Public Square. Like most of the Group Plan buildings, the library reflects a Beaux Arts, neoclassical design. Its interior was modeled in a Renaissance style, making ample use of Italian marble. Vaulted ceilings are adorned with paintings of mythological and historical figures, while grand staircases carved in Botticino marble and elaborately decorated passageways invite visitors to explore the library's various departments.

Library functions were sorely tested during the Great Depression, when restrictions on public taxation reduced funding to libraries. Salaries were reduced, staff was let go, and the acquisition of new materials dropped drastically, even as library usage increased by up to 20 percent. Fortunately, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Public Works programs included the Cleveland library: WPA employees made building repairs, cleaned, painted, and even copied musical scores. In the 1930s, the library also was a recipient of federally funded art. In addition to countless prints and paintings, three WPA murals adorn the main Library’s walls to this day. Six additional murals were painted for branch libraries.

The late 1990s were a busy and productive time for the Cleveland Library system. Massive renovations were made to the building. A second structure—named after former U.S. Congressman Louis Stokes—was built in 1997 on the former site of the Cleveland Plain Dealer which, since 1957 had been used by the library as an annex. Focused largely on science and technology, the Stokes Wing has 11 floors totaling 267,000 square feet and more than 30 miles of book shelves for a capacity of 1.3 million books.

The two buildings are connected by an underground corridor below the outdoor Eastman Reading Garden, named after Linda Anne Eastman (1867–1963), the first woman to head a major U.S. city library system and a pioneer in the modern library system. The garden that bears her name was designed by landscape architecture firm OLIN, and includes sculptures by Maya Lin and Tom Otterness. The garden provides space for concerts, garden shows, book displays, and public art exhibits. Think of it as the center of a cultural sandwich—part of a block-long demonstration of Cleveland’s prowess and historic leadership in the arts and humanities.

Today, the Cleveland Public Library operates 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Among the main facility’s special collections are the Mears and Murdock baseball collections, the Cleveland Theater collection, 130,000 volumes of children's material, a 74,000-volume rare book collection, 1.3 million photographs, and the John G. White Chess Collection—believed to be the largest and most comprehensive chess library in the world. In 2009, CPL became the first library in the United States to offer e-book downloads.

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In Cleveland, several public housing projects (Cedar-Central, Outhwaite, Lakeview Terrace) preceded the development of Valleyview Homes Estates. However, Valleyview was among the first (along with Woodhill and Carver Park) to actually be built and overseen by the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA). Completed in 1940 on a bluff overlooking the Cuyahoga Valley in southeastern Tremont (then known as South Side), Valleyview was comprised of two-story brick buildings containing a total of 582 apartments . The project cost nearly $3.5 million and featured playgrounds, a community center, and craft shops. Local artists commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created numerous murals and other pieces of art, which were placed in various spots throughout Valleyview.

Despite the 1949 passage of a city ordinance banning racial discrimination in public housing, Valleyview—like virtually all public housing on the west side of Cleveland—remained segregated for decades. Integration was finally achieved in the early 1970s. By this time, however, federal limits on the percentage of a family's income that could be collected left too little rent revenue to cover the costs of maintenance. CMHA thus became more dependent on federal money; but the government provided only 90 percent of funds required for maintenance and less than half of other expenses. At Valleyview, upkeep faltered, and arson, drug dealing, and physical deterioration increased. More and more residents left. By 1978, police officers refused to enter Valleyview without two-person patrols.

By the 1980s, Valleyview clearly was on its last legs. The death knell was Clark Freeway, the highway that had caused so much controversy two decades earlier when County Engineer Albert Porter sought to route it through Shaker Lakes. That effort failed, but by 1990 the Ohio Department of Transportation had successfully run Clark Freeway—now the Troy Lee James Freeway (I-490)— through South Tremont. The massive Clark Fields park was carved in two and most of the original Valleyview Homes were razed. In 2004, buoyed by a $19.6 million Hope VI grant, the remaining units structures were torn down, and construction began on Tremont Pointe, a mixed public/private development.

Perhaps the greatest living legacy of Valleyview Homes is its collection of WPA art. Several of Valleyview’s sculptures are on display at Tremont Pointe. Also at Tremont Pointe—behind a large wall of glass at the complex's northwest corner—is the terra cotta Valleyview Mural. Designed by Leroy Flint and executed by Henry Olmer, the mural is essentially a topographic roadmap of the old Valleyview neighborhood. Other pieces formerly housed at the site are on view at Cleveland State University and CMHA’s headquarters on Kinsman Road.

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