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Architecture & Infrastructure
Art
Culture, Heritage & History
Music
Theatres
Theatrical Companies
Science & Technology
Attractions
Something non-locals don't often realize is that Cleveland's long history
of industrial wealth has left it chock full of cultural riches as well as
the beginnings of a "sustainable city" movement. For decades, the city has
boasted of:
• a "Big Five" orchestra (The
Cleveland Orchestra ),
• the second largest performing arts center in the U.S. (Playhouse
Square Center ),
• a world-renowned art museum (The
Cleveland Museum of Art ),
• the nation's first health museum (HealthSpace
Cleveland ),
• R&D hub of the aerospace and aviation industry (the
NASA
Glenn Research & Visitors Center ) and
• a number of other first-rate attractions (too many to mention here - read
on).
During its "comeback" years, Cleveland has added:
• the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and
Museum,
• the Great Lakes Science Center
with Omnimax theatre, and
• four new sports facilities in the downtown area - Jacobs Field
("The Jake") for the Major League Baseball Indians, QuickenLoans Arena
("The Q") for the NBA Cavaliers, Cleveland Browns Stadium for the NFL
Browns and the Wolstein Center for the Cleveland State University
Vikings basketball team.
• Key Tower, the tallest building between New York City and
Chicago, designed by Cesar Pelli.
• City of Bridges, particularly view the Hope Memorial Bridge
(Lorain-Carnegie Bridge) named for Bob Hope's (the famous actor/comedian and
native Clevelander} father, who worked on its construction. The bridge is
framed by four art deco pylon sculptures portraying the evolution of forms
of ground transportation. In addition to a large number of jack-knife and
lift bridges along the Cuyahoga, one of the world's few remaining "Swing
Bridges" is still in use, connecting the east and west banks of the Flats
entertainment district.
• Old
Arcade. Built in 1890 and designed by John Eisenmann. The
construction was financed by John D. Rockefeller, Marcus Hanna and several
other wealthy Clevelanders of the day. The cost of the project was
approximately $875,000 - today it would be impossible to replicate. The
inspiration of the project is said to be the Vittorio Emanuele in Milan,
Italy. Although pedestrian arcades exist in several North American cities,
few - if any, compare to the grandeur of the Arcade in Cleveland. The Arcade
was the first building in Cleveland to be placed on the National Register of
Historic Places. The structure features a five-story atrium with extensive
metal decorative work. The top floor features gargoyles which circle the
entire atrium area. The structure includes the famous skylighted atrium as
well as two nine-story towers, one each on Euclid Avenue and Superior
Avenue. In the past decade, the structure was renovated as a Hyatt Regency
Hotel.
• Peter B. Lewis Building, Case-Weatherhead School of Business,
designed by Frank Gehry with his trademark undulating metal forms.
• Terminal Tower, the centerpoint of Tower City Center, located on
Public Square, is the Terminal Tower, built in 1929 as the second tallest
building in the world. The building was also constructed as the main
railroad terminal in Cleveland and currently serves as the main hub of the
RTA Rapid Lines (below the retail mall levels). Go to the Terminal Tower's
observation deck to observe the surrounding environs (particularly, Lake
Erie, the winding Cuyahoga River, and the juxtaposition of downtown against
industrial uses to the south and west).
• Cleveland Museum of Art,
11150 East Boulevard, Ph: (216) 421-7350. A free art museum offering
exhibits of everything from a world-renowned Asian collection, Greek and
Roman statue to modern art. Closed on Mondays, open Tu, Th, Sa, Su 10AM-5PM,
We, Fri 10AM-9PM.
• MOCA - Museum of Contemporary
Art,, 8501 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106 p: 216 421 8671.
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Thursday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.,
Admission: $4 suggested donation; $3 suggested senior/student admission.
Free to all visitors on Friday.
Tremont
This neighborhood is experiencing an enormous influx of redevelopment
that was pioneered by the arts community. Call a gallery to get dates for
the periodic Tremont ArtWalk.
• Asterisk Gallery, 2393 Professor St. Often features live music and
DJs as well as its art.
• Doubting Thomas Gallery, 856 Jefferson.
• Eye Candy Gallery, 2335 W. 11th St.
• Smart T'art Gallery, 2336 W. 11th St.
Little Italy
• Bockrath Gallery. In the Murray Hill School House, home to
three floors of galleries, artist studios and artsy shops.
• Dick Kleinman Fine Art, 12210 Mayfield Rd. An eclectic mix of
galleries from cutting edge works.
• Fiori, 2027 Murray Hill Rd. Featuring hand-crafted work. You can
take RTA's Red Line Rapid Transit to the Euclid-East 120 station and walk
five minutes to the heart of Little Italy.
Other Galleries
• 9th Street Studio, 2173 East Ninth St.
• ArtMetro Gallery, 530 Euclid Ave #43
• Brenda Kroos, 1300 West 9th St.
• Spaces, 2220 Superior Viaduct.
• The Bonfoey Company, 1710 Euclid Ave.
• Dunham Tavern Museum, a restored inn that served as a resting
place along the "Buffalo Road", the Native American pathway that later
connected the East Coast to Cleveland.
• Lakeview Cemetery, a beautiful setting where many famous people
are buried, including President James A. Garfield, John D. Rockefeller,
Marcus L. Hanna...
• Maltz Museum of Jewish
Heritage.
• Rockefeller Cultural Gardens, a picturesque winding road,
featuring gardens representative of Cleveland's diverse and rich
ethno-cultural mosaic and connecting University Circle to I-90 via MLK Blvd.
• Temple Museum of Religious Art,
The Temple-Tifereth Israel, 1855 Ansel Rd, 216 831-3233. Hours are by
appointment only. Admission: donations accepted.
• University Circle.
University Circle is located several miles from downtown and can be reached
via Euclid Avenue. The circle itself is a large open area that is often
filled with frisbee-tossing college students, but its main attractions are
the numerous museums, research institutes and schools which surround it.
This rich cultural menagerie is surpassed by few places in North America.
• Western Reserve Historical Society,
10825 East Blvd, 216 721-5722.
• West Side Market,
northeast corner of Lorain Avenue (western node of the Hope Memorial
(Lorain-Carnegie) Bridge) and W. 25th Street an old world produce market
directly across the Cuyahoga River from Cleveland's skyscrapers.
• Cleveland Orchestra,
11001 Euclid Avenue (Severance Hall), Ph: (216) 231-7300, and Blossom
Amphitheatre in the summer months.
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Located on the Lake Erie shoreline, this distinctive building was designed
by noted architect I.M. Pei and houses a massive collection of rock and roll
memorabilia. Cleveland was home to the first Rock concert, the term "Rock
and Roll" was coined by a Cleveland DJ and many of the music genre's icons
used Cleveland as their springboards. As Rock Inductee, Robert Plant of Led
Zeppelin, has been paraphrased - to become a rock star in the U.S., first,
you have to be loved in Cleveland.
Theaters
• Cabaret Dada
• Cleveland Play House
• Cleveland Public Theater
• Dobama Theater
• Karamu House
• Near West Theatre
• Playhouse Square Center
Theatrical Companies
• Bodwin Theater Company
• Charenton Theatre Company
• Cleveland Shakespeare Festival
• Cleveland Signstage Theatre
• Convergence-Continuum
• Dobama Theatre
• Night Kitchen Theatre
• Great Lakes Theater
Festival
• Habitat East
• Red Hen Productions
Science & Technology
• Children's Museum
of Cleveland, 10730 Euclid Ave, 216 791-KIDS (5437). Hours:
Tu-Su 10am to 4:45pm (Closed M). Call for special holiday hours. Admission:
Members FREE; Adults $6; Babies 11 months and under FREE.
• Cleveland Botanical Garden
• Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.
• District
Medical History Center and Museum, Allen Memorial Medical Library
(Case), 11000 Euclid Ave, 216 368-3648 Hours: M-F 10am-5pm.
Admission: free.
• Great Lakes Science Center
• HealthSpace Cleveland,
8911 Euclid Ave, (between E. 89th and E. 90th Streets, near University
Circle), 216 231-5010.
• NASA Glenn Research & Visitors Center, 21000 Brookpark Road,
Cleveland, OH 44135, Phone: (216) 433-4000.
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