The IngenuityFest public outreach efforts of Sally Levine [1] and David Ellison [2] are intended to prevent Cuyahoga County from demolishing Cleveland’s Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower. Ms. Levine and Mr. Ellison present a “Right vs Might” poster boy case of passionate public citizens who are “right” going up against “City Hall” “might”. Except in this case it isn’t “City Hall”, but “County Hall”.
But County Hall has a problem. The demolition plans of Cuyahoga County Commissioners Tim Hagan and Jimmy Dimora for the Marcel Breuer Tower have reverberated around the globe via the internet. The wasteful, provincially minded, ignorant intention of Hagan and Dimorath to demolish the classic Breuer building will get no support from anyone outside Cuyahoga County, while the effort to save the Breuer has already (and will continue to) inspired informed persons across the US, Europe and beyond.
That’s why I believe we have an excellent opportunity to save the Breuer - and in the process show that Cleveland is not entirely full of dead heads like Hagan and Dimora - it’s just that North East Ohio has let dead heads take over in public office.
We’ll have to wait to replace our folly prone elected public servants – but we don’t have to wait to use the internet to reach globally for financial support to underwrite a local lobbying effort to reverse the decision to demolish the Breuer Tower.
The Lobbying efforts should be conducted under the aegis of a local 501 C 3 [3] non-profit to allow maximum tax benefits to prospective financial donors. I ask the RealNeo audience to make suggestions as to relevant (historic preservation?) non – profits who would be interested and are appropriate to allow the Save Breuer Tower campaign to advance under the organization’s auspices.
Neither the Cleveland Foundation nor the Gund Foundation has stepped forward in support of the Breuer effort.
And, if there is a County wide campaign to collect signatures to put the quarter cent tax hike proposed by the Commissioners on a ballot, that signature drive should also simultaneously collect signatures to force a vote on the demolition of the Breuer – especially since demolishing the building and then constructing a new office building will cost 30 million or more than renovating the Breuer. County tax money will be squandered if the Breuer is demolished.
In the next few days the digital files of each of the concept plans submitted to Ms Levine and Mr. Ellison – seen on the wall in the photo above - will be available on Realneo.
Let's continue to lend our internet skills, public outreach, ideas, and appreciation to the cause Sally and David have championed!
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