Great Lakes Green Pages

We hope to begin restoration of our office building very soon. We have had more than 25 contractors through the building in the last few months. Many of the contractors who saw the space were not interested in a project of this scope. Many didn’t understand our goals of adaptive re use and historical preservation. Most knew little or nothing about building to sustainable standards. It really has been up to us to educate the contractors on what we want. The entire experience has reassured me of the validity of this project. In case you haven’t followed my blog, I will let you know about the most exciting part of our office project. There is a small cottage that sits on the property that is attached to the main building. It will be surrounded by an educational green space that will teach builders and the general public about some of the basics of sustainable landscaping. It will feature native plants and ideas that will encourage native wildlife. We are planning a rain garden to handle some of the stormwater runoff and will install permeable pavers to help manage the rainwater. The cottage building itself will be an educational space that will be open to the public. It will feature exhibits on sustainable ideas and building techniques. The idea is to encourage a two pronged educational approach toward fostering sustainable building ideas. Both the construction community and property owners will be able to learn a little bit about things like dual flush toilets and R values (insulation). Our philosophy is that if Cleveland is going to keep up with the times, it is going to be necessary for builders to learn and educate their clients, and for property owners to learn and demand from their contractors, greener ideas that will save them money and resources. We hope that the next guy who wants a low flow fixture, or ideas about saving on energy costs can come and start at our “Eco Park.”

I have also begun the process of talking to retailers and business owners. We plan on having a 950 square foot office space, in a LEED building, and a 750 square foot retail space. The goal is to attract like minded companies to the area. We hope to work with neighboring property owners to establish a coffee shop. There is plenty of open real estate in the area and we want to attract new investment that will make the Eco Village neighborhood more than just housing and community gardens. As I met with one retailer, she asked me the hard questions. Where would her employees eat? What would attract consumers to the area to shop at her store? Where was the nearest grocery store? I took all of this in, and it made me realize that there was plenty of work to be done outside the scope of our project. Detroit Shoreway is a dense urban neighborhood with shopping, restaurants, and services. There are still gaps to fill along Lorain.

Lorain Ave was once the home of a vibrant business and residential district. The streetcar was laid and the street regrades to make use of the existing development. Now, huge sections of this main corridor lie vacant or underutilized. We hope to work with other like minded businesses to attract new investment and new businesses to the avenue. The infrastructure already exists, and while some buildings are being renovated and rehabbed, new ones are popping up as well. The Urban School is a gem in the area. Closer to the West Side Market, there are buildings being made into showplaces. There are antique stores and small businesses, but we need more. I would like to see a small grocery, like a Mustard Seed or Web of Life. There should be a coffee shop that serves organic and fair trade coffee. A good quality deli that has healthy foods, a vegetarian restaurant, garden store, and eco friendly home supplies and furnishings would all be welcome additions to the area. There is plenty of room for a fitness center that could focus on holistic health, instead of a store front of treadmills and stationary bikes. The old Nautilus Fish buildings would easily house an Eco Mart. Cleveland is ripe and ready for a vibrantly healthy walkable business district, and we want it to be here. The established bicycle store and RTA station make this a perfect fit. I have a vision for the area, would you like to take part?

Tags: Cleveland neighborhoods, environment, Green and Sustainable Design

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 9:50 am and is filed under Cleveland, Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.