CRS's Current Advocacy Efforts

Historic Preservation and Sustainability

Sustainable development demands ways of living and working that enable people to lead healthy, fulfilling, and economically secure lives without destroying the welfare of future generations. When we think of sustainable design and green building, we often think of new construction and new technologies that are designed to complement local conditions, making the best of the available light, wind, rain and terrain.

But aren't historic buildings and the neighborhoods in which they are found inherently sustainable? Features of historic structures, such as large operable windows and high ceilings, make them well suited to maximize available resources. Moreover, preserving historic buildings maximizes the use of existing materials and infrastructure, reduces waste and preserves the historic character of older cities and suburbs.

At our 34th annual Community Luncheon on November 21, 2006, Donovan Rypkema, principal of Place Economics, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic development consulting firm, made the connection between historic preservation and sustainable Development.
 

Read Donovan Rypkema's Keynote Speech, to learn more about how historic preservation can be used to promote economic, environmental, cultural, and social responsibility and address issues such as the affordable housing crisis.

In October 2006 the first National Summit on the Greening of Historic properties was held in Pittsburgh. The Summit featured experts in the disciplines of both green building and historic preservation in a discussion regarding existing LEED certification requirements as they relate to preservation. Find out more about the Summit, including the resulting White Paper, from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
 
How You Can Help

For more information on making the connection between historic preservation and sustainability, please call the Society at (216) 426-1000.

 

State Historic Preservation Tax Credit Passed

Ohio's historic preservation tax credit was signed into law on January 2. The new law creates a two-year pilot program that allows 100 rehabilitation projects in each of the next two years. Projects that meet the criteria can be submitted beginning July 1. Read the full text of the legislation as enrolled.

How You Can Help

For more information on the state's new historic preservation tax credit, please call the Society at (216) 426-1000.

 

Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Makes Economic Sense

John Hay School

The Cleveland Municipal School District could save $66.4 million by rehabilitating 23 schools eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS) has been deeply involved in the issue of historic neighborhood schools for the last four years. Neighborhood schools are typically anchors in communities, and often represent a community’s largest investment in art and architecture.
		William Cullen Bryant

Indeed, despite years of deferred maintenance, in Cleveland, we estimate that forty-nine buildings in the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) portfolio are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Despite this, only recently has the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission (OSFC) recognized the value of these buildings by allowing for greater flexibility in the administration of their guidelines for state funding. Charged with disseminating an estimated $10.2 billion (proposed) and $3.6 billion in funds (appropriated) for rebuilding Ohio’s schools, the commission has adopted an onerous set of rules grossly slanted against rehabilitation of existing structures.

	The most offending rule, the “two-thirds” rule, now relaxed to a “guideline,” states that when the rehabilitation of a school costs over two-thirds of the cost of new construction, the school must be replaced. This philosophy has permeated the thinking of the agency, despite the fact that billions of tax dollars would be saved through rehabilitation. By our estimate, using OSFC cost figures, the CMSD could save $66.4 million if it chose to rehabilitate 23 of its schools rather than demolish and replace them. This number was developed based upon the OSFC’s own calculations of costs of rehabilitation versus new construction and adds in a modest cost per square foot for demolition ($7.10 per square foot). Check the math here. The calculation is very simplistic in that it does not factor in the myriad of decisions about location and clustering the CMSD is challenged with, so in this regard this statement is not a complete picture, but helps make our point that rehabilitation can be more cost-effective than new construction. Rehabilitation is also better for the local economy in that more jobs are created than in new construction that spends a larger proportion of the budget on purchase of construction materials rather than on the wages of workers.
William Cullen Bryant historic detail
Albert Bushnell Hart historic detail

A few words about the Cleveland district – the rebuilding project is enormous, with $1.5 billion at stake, the largest single infrastructure project in the history of the city of Cleveland. It was our district that added considerable weight to the effort to change the state policy regarding the two-thirds rule as it recognized the impracticality of replacing so many of its buildings. Older urban districts, when analyzing their buildings in light of the state policy, immediately reacted to the unreasonableness of wholesale replacement of older schools.

The Cleveland Restoration Society, in partnership with the Cleveland Municipal School District, has completed a preservation feasibility study of four historic schools currently slated for demolition and replacement under the district’s Master Plan. The study concludes that renovating these four buildings, rather than replacing them, would save the district $17 million. (Read the executive summary of our report here.) The Cleveland Restoration Society hopes that the impact of these results will open the door for the preservation of many more schools when feasible, to keep traditional neighborhood schools in serve while meeting the highest of educational standards for our children.
		Albert Bushnell Hart Junior High School

How You Can Help

For more information on the Society's efforts to save Cleveland's neighborhood schools or to join the Society’s efforts, please call (216) 426-1000.

 

The Cozad-Bates House
11508 Mayfield Road, Cleveland

Historical Significance

Set back from Mayfield Road, this two-story, red-brick Italianate residence is the only pre-Civil War-era structure remaining in University Circle. Its original section, at the rear, was built in 1853 by Andrew Cozad for his son, Justus L. Cozad. Justus Cozad’s grandfather, Samuel Cozad, settled in Cleveland in 1806.
		The Cozad-Bates House

The Cozad family owned a large section of the land which is now occupied by Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, Severance Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Lakeview Cemetery. Through marriage, the Cozads were linked to other pioneer families of the Western Reserve, the Bates and Fords.

A City of Cleveland Landmarks Commission investigation revealed strong circumstantial evidence for linking the oldest section of the house with the Underground Railroad and documented that the University Circle area was a major center of Abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity during the three decades preceding the Civil War. Over 40,000 fugitive slaves were transported over the Ohio Underground Railroad, aided by over 1,500 operators or station masters. The Underground Railroad activities of the Cozads and the Fords in 1853-1860 are well documented. Several of their homes were documented safe houses. Unfortunately, none of them have survived.

		“At one time he [Andrew Cozad] used to get good Americans to work as farm hands…At one time it was Run Away Slaves. The Dred Scott Decision put a stop to that. I myself have worked many a day in the field with run away slaves and always sat at the table to eat with them.” — Justus L. Cozad
Another view of Cozad-Bates

Architectural Significance

In addition to its association with one of Cleveland’s pioneer families and the Abolitionist Movement, the Cozad-Bates House is an excellent and unique example of the Italianate residential style. It faces north with a large lawn on Mayfield Road. The main cubical block has a hipped roof with a low cupola or belvedere. This feature has a pyramidal roof with a spear-shaped finial. Paired brackets support the wide roof eaves. The round-arched windows have a simple recessed molding and stone keystones. The main doorway has a large semi-circular arch, and its original doors with heavy molded paneling. A wooden veranda graces the north front of the house. All of these features are typical of the Italianate style, however the Cozad-Bates House is distinguished by two bay windows on the north façade and one on the west, which are curved rather than the typical multi-angular shape. A long rectangular block projects south from the main block. The east side of this south wing features a recessed porch.
		Cozad-Bates details

The western bay window and the west flank of the south wing have had large segmental-arched windows inserted in them at a later date, circa 1900. The interior has been divided into several apartments. The woodwork and stair of the main entrance hall are intact, however partitioning has eliminated any semblance of an articulated residential space.

Current Status

The Cozad-Bates House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. National Register listing, however, is only honorific and does not offer protection from insensitive changes or demolition. The Cozad-Bates House sat abandoned and deteriorated – a classic case of a structure threatened with demolition by neglect – for many years. In 2003, the city of Cleveland cited the property’s owner, University Hospitals, for extensive housing code violations. In 2006, University Hospitals donated the property to University Circle, Inc. (UCI) and the city of Cleveland. The Cleveland Restoration Society is now working with UCI to stabilize the house. Initial exterior stabilization, temporary protection measures, has been completed. This work included covering chimneys, patching holes in roof soffits, installing flashings, and installing a temporary, secure front door. All physical conditions and activities have been well documented before, during, and after installation. Also, a licensed abatement contractor has completed the asbestos abatement of the basement areas. Our staff will continue to work with UCI as a historic structures conditions survey and preservation plan for the house is completed.

How You Can Help

For more information on how you can help save the Cozad-Bates House or to join the Society’s Advocacy Committee, please call (216) 426-1000.

Cleveland's Group Plan

The Cleveland Restoration Society is pursuing National Historic Landmark status for Cleveland’s Group Plan. Learn more about Cleveland’s Group Plan by viewing this presentation created by the Society with a grant from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Download a copy of the nomination form here.

How You Can Help

For more information on how you can help save Cleveland’s Group Plan buildings or to join the Society’s Advocacy Committee, please call (216) 426-1000.

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