Today is the day we honor a revolutionary thinker and inspiration to millions-Martin Luther King. It is not lost on me the irony that our new African American president will be sworn in the day after we celebrate the life of a man who worked so hard that this historic day might one day be possible. I have high hopes for what Barak Obama will do for green energy, global warming and a multitude of other issues.
As for the office, not much has happened in the last week or so. We met with the Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation twice. The first was a group meeting, where we had a chance to say hello to members of the office: Marilyn Mosinsky, Economic Development Director; Lilah Zautner, Ecovillage Project Director; and Lisa McGovern, Project Manager. They were very helpful in giving us ideas and helping to steer us in some directions. They are also a wealth of information and hopefully can hook us up with a list of trusted contractors that they have worked with. While we didn’t accomplish as much as we had hoped, I must admit the fault lies with me. When I begin to talk about this project, I can hardly shut up! We met again on Friday with Marilyn and Franklin Piccirillo of the Department of Community Development. We were able to get started on applying for a storefront renovation program. This program is a rebate of some of the money spent to beautify an existing storefront. I have seen other buildings around the city use this program to effectively fix up the their fronts and I am pleased to be a part of it. Being the “go-to guy” for historic review, he also helped us define some of the necessities we will have to meet in order to pass the design review committee. We did discover that the site is on the edge of a historic district. We are also researching other programs to help pay for upgrades to the property. We intend to add solar and maybe wind power and are going to try and tap into both state and federal dollars to make that happen. There are programs for empty buildings, programs for economic development, and programs for historic restoration. We intend to make use of as many of these programs as we can. Additionally, we are planning to apply for grant dollars to help up set up the Eco Education Park. This project is near and dear to my heart. If we do not get supplemental funding, it will have to come out of our own pocket, but it will still happen. However, I think that this is a project that is relevant and necessary in today’s economic outlook and we ant to make it happen sooner rather than later.
After our meeting on Friday, we attempted to find out more about the building. Mr. Piccirillo was sure that building facade was typical of the 1870′s. We had already been to the county archives, and best we could determine, was that the smaller addition building was built in 1887. We discovered this by looking through plat maps and tax records at the archives until we saw a tax increase in the value of the property. The main building was listed as being built in 1885. However, I believe there was an integration of record at that time, or some such thing, as it seems many buildings were listed as being built in 1885. We went to the public library in search of pictures or other information. We were able to discover that the site had changed addresses at least once. We suspect that it may have had an earlier address change as well. The most interesting thing that we discovered, however, was that the earliest mentions of the building that we can find are as a grocery store. You may not know it, but Bud & I both share a history of grocery stores. To find out that our new building probably started of life as a grocers was more than ironic. We believe that it was built in 1875, by a Prussian immigrant named William Wissing. We are planning another trip to the archives with our new research to see if we can expand on what we know so far.
In addition to its origins, these buildings have served as homes to a variety of businesses. There has been a deli, a millinery, and a plant store. Neighbors have told me that it once was a massage parlor. While that seems odd, there is an area of the basement that is lined with cedar and looks like a sauna room. Most recently, at least one storefront was used as an apartment. If anyone can remember other businesses that used these storefronts, be sure to let us know. We like to know the history of the buildings that we inhabit. Additionally, past owners include William Wissing, Bernard Meiring, Elizabeth Van NEil, Mary Biermacher, Dora Wissing, Robert Strebelow, George Pappas, William Henry, Bobby Dumetroff, Alden Heise, John & Bonnie Turner, and Patricia Clement. We would love to find out more about these owners and the property, especially if anyone has old photos. Feel free to contact us if you can help out.
Tags: Cleveland neighborhoods, Green and Sustainable Design, History, New Office, programs
Just wanted to say HI. I found your blog a few days ago on Technorati and have been reading it over the past few days.