Around Town

Building a City

Get the update on a few local projects.

One of Mayor George’s top priorities when stepping into office was the preservation of Lakewood’s historic building stock tied to adaptive reuse of these impressive structures. As a result of the city’s support, Lakewood is seeing a number of older and/ or outdated buildings being brought back to a vital life. Shawn Leininger, director of planning and development, spotlights four of those projects: The former St. James School and Rectory project is spearheaded by Oster Services and is a $3.1 million investment. The buildings, formerly owned by the St. James Catholic Parish, were built in 1923 and 1954. The school building was closed in 2005 when St. James partnered with other Catholic schools in Lakewood to establish Lakewood Catholic Academy. The St. James campus was later designated a historic property in 2010. Oster will relocate its offices to the first floor of the school and other as-yet-unannounced tenants will occupy the second and third floors.

The city of Lakewood bought the former Trinity Church site at 16400 Detroit Avenue “in order to save it from potential demolition,” says Leininger. Scalish Construction of Lakewood now has plans to preserve and reuse the property’s school and church as commercial space. The $3.7 million investment will also include the new offices of Scalish Construction. This project received historic tax credits from the State of Ohio.

Another recipient of historic tax credits, the former BiRite building at 12501 Madison Avenue, is being converted into a multi-use commercial space. Known tenants include a coffee shop, a bar and restaurant with golf simulator stations and a salon. Developer Jim Miketo (Neighborhood Drummer Company), who owns Forest City Shuffleboard in Ohio City, begins his new Lakewood project this fall. The $4 million investment project is located in Lakewood’s historic Birdtown neighborhood.

Studio West is an ambitious project from developers Daniel Budish and Betsy Figgie that will create an impressive complex of business, social services, and entertainment and recreation opportunities to support the LGBTQ community. Plans call for the former Phantasy Nightclub and an adjacent former manufacturing building to be transformed by a combined $11 million investment. Leininger calls this idea “an important hub for the LGBTQ community and eastern gateway to the city on Detroit Avenue.”

The city is continuing its progress on the downtown development at Detroit and Belle avenues. CASTO/North Point Realty (a regional developer of urban projects teamed with a local developer) is updating its 2017 plans to reflect the current condition of the property and preparing those ideas for public review. — Jill Sell

Eat and Park

The Lakewood Truck Park offers a new dining and entertainment option.

Maybe it’s not quite the same as tailgating in a stadium parking lot. But there will be plenty of camaraderie, good food and cheering at the Lakewood Truck Park this fall. Owner Daniel Deagan invites fans to watch The Ohio State University football games on Saturdays and Cleveland Browns games on Sunday at his food truck complex. Don’t worry — it will be easy to view the games because 20 televisions are strategically placed around 12,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor park.

“What I really didn’t expect last year when we opened was that so many people really like to be outside, even when it’s only 35 degrees,” says Deagan, who was inspired to open the park after he visited a similar food court in Texas several years ago. “We are Clevelanders. We like to be outside in our shorts even if it’s cold. People will bring stacks of blankets when they come here, and we also have firepits.”

Lakewood Truck Park is open all year round. In really bad weather, Deagan says customers “run outside during a break in the rain, visit a food truck, and run back inside.” Food trucks offer top-notch hamburgers, BBQ and tacos, but also on-the-spot shucked oysters and oyster shots, as well as authentic ethnic food representing Argentina, the Philippines and other cultures, as well as desserts. More participation activities are planned this year, as well as live acoustic music performances, dependent, of course, on COVID restrictions.

“The whole idea of a food truck park is to make it feel like a community park. Unfortunately, we will have to wait awhile for our trees to mature, but it will happen,” says Deagan. — JS

City park updates are aimed at increasing enjoyment for residents.

During the pandemic, Lakewood’s parks were a valuable gathering space for families to spread out and safely socialize with their neighbors. The city is committed to maintaining its investment in parks and made progress on several parks projects over the past year.

Renovations at Wagar Park, at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Hilliard Boulevard, were completed in 2021 with the installation of a street mural by local artist Ryan Jaenke. The ¾-acre park includes permanent benches and tables, two playgrounds for different age groups, new walking paths, a play field and a half-court basketball among other improvements. “Wagar Park is adjacent to the intersection of Hilliard and Madison, which is a high traffic location,” explains Michelle Nochta, city planner. “At this heavily used and highly visible park, not only was design important, but we were also focused on protecting the children playing there. Closing the southern portion of Rosewood Avenue and adding fencing around the playground made the park much safer for residents.”

Kauffman Park is the city’s third largest park at 7 acres. Lakewood’s downtown park and its most centrally located green space will complete construction on a new play area this winter. Improvements include: the addition of nature play elements; replacement and relocation of playground equipment; a picnic shelter; new lighting and ADA pathway improvements; as well as a water play area that includes hand pumps.

Every park, no matter what size, is a priority for the city. Clifton Prado Park is one of the city’s smallest pocket parks at 0.06 acres. The converted residential lot will receive a new piece of playground equipment and picnic table.

The city is also planning the rehabilitation and modernization of Foster Pool at Lakewood Park. A water slide and splash pad are priorities along with keeping lap lanes for adult swim. “We are in the information gathering and preliminary stages, subject to approval of the construction budget,” says Leininger. “We hope to have the final design wrapped up by the beginning of 2022. Then, immediately following the 2022 swim season, we can start construction and be complete prior to the 2023 swim season.”

The city’s goal is continuous improvement to our park system. The Park System Strategic Plan will be updated in 2022 with community input, focusing on the next round of investments. — JS

Back to pursuing your dreams.

KAUFFMAN PARK

LAKEWOOD PARK

WAGAR PARK