Federal Building to be closed, agencies moved

The tall building at center, located next to Cleveland City Hall, is the Anthony J.
Celebrezze Federal Building. Reports are emerging that the federal building needs
hundreds of millions of dollars of work, that the building will be closed and its
occupants moved to other privately owned buildings downtown (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

More than 4,000 federal employees based at Downtown Cleveland’s Anthony J. Celebrezze (AJC) Federal Building, 1240 E. 9th St., are reportedly going to be moved out of the 32-story office tower to privately owned office properties downtown in the next three years, followed by AJC’s closure, according to a spokesperson for Congresswoman Shontel Brown (D-11) who opposes the sudden move.

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Cleveland Amtrak routes surge; but expansion lags

Nearly 50 people prepare to board the westbound Lake Shore Limited at 4 a.m.
March 14 at Cleveland. This train is the nation’s single busiest train as it
links population centers on the East Coast with those in the Midwest (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

According to the latest data from national passenger railroad Amtrak, America’s most heavily used passenger train passes through Cleveland each night. And it, plus the other Amtrak route through Cleveland, were the two fastest-growing long-distance routes in terms of ridership last year. But getting more ridership or better departure times at Cleveland will be difficult absent new federal policies, said a nonprofit rail advocacy coalition.

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Leaning laundromat of Little Italy demolition due

The 19th-century building at the center with the white siding is visibly leaning to the
left, into Maxi’s Bistro which is owned by the same principal. The leaning building is
due to be demolished but it remains to be seen if plans for developing the property
are imminent (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Italy has its famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. Cleveland has its leaning laundromat of Little Italy. But while Pisa’s was built in 1372 and is in no danger of falling, Cleveland’s 19th-century version is a danger to surrounding buildings and may be demolished soon after five years of consideration.

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Bibb: fate of Cleveland Federal Building “concerning”

About 4,000 people are employed at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Down-
town Cleveland. The Trump Administration has proposed to close and/or sell the 59-year-
old building without identifying where the federal services and the employees who
provide them would be located (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Earlier this month, the Trump Administration offered hundreds of federal buildings and properties for sale or other disposition but quickly withdrew the list in the face of national criticism. Now, the General Services Administration is issuing a new, much smaller list of eight federal buildings to be cast off in an “accelerated disposition.”

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Euclid Beach Park arch relocation ready

This 1951 postcard shows the Euclid Beach Park arch from the waning years of the
amusement park’s heyday. The arch is being relocated and preserved in a new pub-
lic park adjacent to this location in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood
(Cleveland Public Library). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s Office of Capital Projects is ready to start work on relocating and rehabilitating a gateway arch from the historic Euclid Beach Park to its planned new home a few feet away. That home is a new greenspace in the 15900 block of Lake Shore Blvd. in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood, with trees and walkways and the landmark arch spanning the main walkway lined with benches.

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Goodwill to open at Gordon Square Rite Aid site

August 2024 marked the end of the Rite Aid drug store at West 65th Street and
Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. But Goodwill
announced last week that it will open a store here this summer (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

On Friday, Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer shared on her Facebook page a letter to the community from Goodwill Industries that they will open this summer a store at 6512 Franklin Blvd. in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. The location is a former Rite Aid drug store that closed in August 2024.

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North Coast Yard pop-up to activate lakefront

A street-level view of the proposed pop-up park at North Coast Harbor,
next to the Steamship William G. Mather Museum, north of the Great
Lakes Science Center (NWDC). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Like a company offering a free trial period to customers in the hopes of converting them into loyal subscribers, the city of Cleveland and North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation (NCWDC) officials hope to offer residents just that: a free trial period of lakefront activation and a tangible reason to support a permanent, fully-realized reimagining of an underutilized lakefront.

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