THE WARNER & SWASEY OBSERVATORY A Case Study and Memo A hypothetical memo prepared for the Mayor of East Cleveland, Gary Norton, regarding the possible rehabilitation and reuse of the historic Warner & Swasey Observatory located at 1975 Taylor Road in East Cleveland, Ohio.
Caylen Payne UST 578 Kathleen Crowther 12/12/2014
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TO: Mayor Gary Norton FROM: Caylen Payne, Historic Preservation Researcher DATE: December 12, 2014 SUBJECT: The Warner & Swasey Observatory, A case for reuse and rehabilitation
Over the course of the last 40 or so years the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service estimates that Historic Tax Credit related projects have created over 2.3 million jobs and added over 120 billion in GDP to the national economy and boast an almost 25% return per dollar. East Cleveland in that same time period has witnessed the decline of its housing stock, loss of population and jobs, as well as a deteriorating infrastructure. Two things however have stood out in that time period as important historic placeholders that continue to draw people into East Cleveland and serve as active sites for the community and its surrounding population; Forest Hills Park and GE’s Nela Park. What sets these two assets apart from the rest of East Cleveland? Their inclusion on the list of National Historic Districts. Although two other entities in East Cleveland are included on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and First Church of Christ in Euclid, one glaring omission has to be the Warner & Swasey Observatory located at 1975 Taylor Road (see figures 1 -3). This historic building sits atop the hill as you enter E.Cleveland from Taylor Rd. and could serve as an iconic entrance welcoming visitors and students as a renewed educational and community resource. Through a comprehensive and multi-step process involving its registration onto the national list of historic places this building could be rehabilitated and repurposed using state and federal grants and tax credits that would see it return to its former glory. The history and current status of the observatory mirrors closely the rise and fall of Cleveland and East Cleveland as important hubs of learning and economic activity. With the resurgence of Downtown Cleveland and the continued importance of the arts and education in and around University Circle, the observatory could serve as a shining jewel for East Cleveland attracting important historic tourism dollars, increasing surrounding property values, as well as an employment center and educational opportunity. Built in 1919 by Worchester R. Warner and Ambrose Swasey1, to fulfill their amateur astronomy hobby, the building originally housed a 9.5 in. telescope built by the company itself. The observatory was designed by the famous Cleveland architecture firm Walker and Weeks and was donated to the Case Institute of Technology when it opened in 1920. In 1939 an additional dome and auditorium were constructed to hold a bigger 24 inch telescope which gives us the iconic building frontage seen today, (see figure 4). A third addition was added to the building in 1963 behind the current frontage which added additional
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Trustees of the Case Institute of Technology, Warner & Swasey owned and operated a machine company founded in 1880 which manufactured turret lathes and telescopes, the company operated in Cleveland until they were bought out by the Bendix Corporation in 1980, around the same time operations ceased at the observatory.
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classrooms, offices, and library space along with a new 36 inch telescope, (see figure 5). The observatory continued in operation until 1980 giving public viewings and serving as a learning facility for Case-Western. While the two bigger telescopes were moved to facilities in Geauga County and Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona the original 9.5in. telescope still finds a home and operates on the Case campus. In 1983 the building was sold for $130,000 to Alfred Quarles who used it as headquarters for his cable television company, and then sold again in 2005 at a sheriff’s sale to Nayyir Al Mahdi of Shaker Heights for $115,000. Mahdi and associates were convicted in 2007 of fraud and in 2011 the building and land were given to our own East Cleveland Land Reutilization Program. Currently the building sits vacant and nonutilized serving as fodder for looters and vandalism. With every new project comes new challenges and hurdles to overcome, and the observatory is full of them. While there exists a methodology for turning this facility into a usable asset incorporating historic tax credits, grants, and corporate and private partnerships, let us begin by defining a vision of what this structure could be. To begin with the historic significance is great, being designed by Walker and Weeks who were responsible for Severance Hall, Cleveland Auditorium and the original Cleveland Public Library, the architecture is bar none with nearly, (see figure 6), all of its original exterior still intact. The site served for almost 60 years as a significant center of higher learning taking part in groundbreaking studies in the 1950’s including one which aimed to prove the theory that the Milky Way was a spiral galaxy and that red giants were mainly located near the center of the Milky Way. Given the scientific and architectural significance one can imagine the observatory returning to such functions by utilizing a phased approach to its rehabilitation. First off the historic frontage could be rehabbed with and the original 9.5in telescope returned to its original dome and perhaps the second more dilapidated dome serving as a grand entrance foyer,(considering the telescope has been previously removed). With the addition of the auditorium this original 1939 part of the building could be a historic tourism resource as well as holding public meetings and educational forums. Additional phases could see the 1960’s additions turned into a charter or magnet science and engineering school serving East Cleveland as well as Greater Cleveland students interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. This additional educational goal could be achieved via a partnership with Case Western Reserve University and other local corporate sponsors and partnerships. 2 The key steps outlined below represent a sampling of a much more involved process that could be undertaken with additional partnerships between East Cleveland and surrounding Universities, corporate sponsors, and non-profit entities. One of the great things about this project is that the city already “owns” it, so no acquisition costs are required! However, where do we go from here? To begin with I recommend that East Cleveland attempt to gain Certified 2
The question of increased use has brought up parking concerns, which could be addressed by the adding additional parking on the Taylor Rd lower entrance, the parcel to the northwest, which is owned by E.Cleveland, or by acquiring additional privately held land on parcels across Taylor Road and caddy corner to the site.
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Local Government Status with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. This would enable the city to apply for grants that would allow it to further its historic preservation goals with a variety of resources and funding only available to certified municipalities. Once this has been accomplished and some sort of non-profit entity established for the historic preservation work ahead, (or perhaps contracted to consultants per OH SHPO CLG guidelines), the task of funding the rehabilitation begins. However, before we get here the next step is applying for section 106 status as a nationally registered historic place. Given the criteria listed on the National Park Services website for listing in the registrar, I believe strongly that the Warner & Swasey building meets and exceeds this criteria. This will enable the city to apply for the more meaningful state and federal historic tax credits that could see this project come to fruition. While the 106 process can be long and arduous, given the CLG grants as well as the myriad of professional historic non-profits that exist in Cleveland, we would not have to do this alone. Let us assume then that after preliminary approval for registration has been granted we can move on to securing the 20% federal historic tax credit as well as the 25% state historic tax credit.3 To begin with we own the building, but how much can we expect to spend for the rehabilitation? While it may be difficult to estimate without extensive review let us turn to the facts that we do have. The total building square footage is 13,728 sq/ft. and according to a report by Design Cost Data in 2012 regional costs in Pittsburgh came to around 90$ per sq/ft. Now some caveats, first off this report is for buildings larger than 100,000 sq/ft so the cost may be more since the economy of scale doesn’t apply here, however Mahdi and associates had already begun some refurbishment including new heating, plumbing and electricity. So let’s just use 100$ sq/ft for the sake of argument which gives us an almost 1.4 million dollar renovation cost. Then let us assume that we can achieve the full 45% deduction from state and federal resources, (again not counting additional city and private grants which could be further attained,) this brings our cost down to around $755,000. While this may still seem like a huge sum, let us remember that this is the cost for the whole building, if we go for a phased approach over 5 years, which the federal tax credit allows for, we could work out funding at a much more realistic speed. 4 With the current resurgence that we are witnessing in and around Downtown and University Circle the time is now to put East Cleveland on the map for something positive. While the process is quite involved, there are clear cut steps and resources in place to make this unique vision happen. Again, don’t underestimate the philanthropic opportunity through alumni of Case Western Reserve University, and important entities like University Circle Inc. and the Cleveland Foundation to name a few, as well as state and national competitive grants and awards. Current literature in the historic preservation field points toward the efficacy of this type of project through increased surrounding property values, construction jobs and permanent positions, historic tourism dollars as well as the educational opportunity for our region that the 3
For the purposes of this memo I will not go into the additional funding sources that could be obtained for additional educational phases as they pertain to the Federal NSP and CRA Acts. 4 Although the project would be depreciable, one would assume that any revenue would go towards operating costs as well as future rehab, so let us not consider this for now.
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later phases of this project could hold. Additional opportunities for education exist if a partnership can be struck through CWRU, perhaps for operating and staffing costs, as well as an outreach and teaching opportunity for its current students. While many might bemoan such a project given the current economic and physical status of East Cleveland, if it was done right with outside partnerships, grants, etc‌ the cost to the city could be very small while the rewards extremely large. Remember, the idea is creative place-making, to encourage the arts and education through an iconic project like this within the city, brings renewed attention to and focus on not only the problems, but what solutions are created through bringing a community, and its surrounding region together. I urge you to consider this opportunity and to contact me for more information and to perhaps setup a meeting. Sincerely, Caylen Payne.
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Figure 1 Regional and Local Context: 1975 Taylor Road, Couresty of Google Maps
Figure 2Parcel and Building Footprint, Courtesry of Cuyahoga County GIS
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Figure 3 Relation to Nearby Historic Districts (Forest Hills Park to the South and Nela Park to the North) Courtesy of the National Park Service
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Figure 4 Historic and Contextual Photos of the Observatory, Courtesy of Case Western Reserve University and UrbanOhio.com
Figure 5 Rear of Building facing Taylor Road, Third addition of Classrooms etc... Courtesy of UrbanOhio.com
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Figure 6 2014 Current Status Courtesy of Farrah Berrou of bambisoapbox.com
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Works Cited Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit for FY 2012. Rep. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U, 2013. Web. Castelli, David. "Large Renovation Cost Per Square Foot Regional Analysis." Design Cost Data (n.d.): n. pag. July-Aug. 2012. Web. Claspy, William. "History of the Warner and Swasey Observatory | Department of Astronomy| Case Western Reserve University." History of the Warner and Swasey Observatory | Department of Astronomy| Case Western Reserve University. Case Western Reserve University, n.d. Web. "Community | Community Grants, Loans, Bonds, and Tax Credits." Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program. Ohio.gov, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. Entries, Multiple. "Case Western Warner and Swasey Observatory." Case Western Warner and Swasey Observatory. UrbanOhio, 30 Dec. 2009. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. "GIS My Cuyahoga." Cuyahoga County GIS. Cuyahoga County, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. NEO CANDO. NEO CANDO. Vers. 2014. Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, n.d. Web. "Office of the Auditor Property Information - Transfer History." Office of the Auditor Property Information - Transfer History. Cuyahoga County, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. O'Malley, MIchael. "Nayyir Al Mahdi's Dream of Turning Observatory into Home Ended with Indictment." Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer, 28 Jan. 2008. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. Souther, Mark. "Warner and Swasey Observatory | Cleveland Historical." Cleveland Historical. Cleveland Historical Society, 2012. Web. United States. National Park Service. "National Register of Historic Places Database and Research Page -- National Register of Historic Places Official Website--Part of the
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National Park Service." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.