WHERE ART LIVES...AND HISTORY DIES

This is perhaps one of the worst of any "worst-case-scenarios" you're ever likely to read about on this blog. This house, located near Pearl & Denison and built in 1884 for Frederick Wirth, the Postmaster of what was then the Village of Brooklyn, Ohio [now part of Cleveland], is on Cleveland's Historic Architecture Death Row. This is so despite the fact that it is a historic house located within a Local Designated Historic District. It is owned by an art-school, which occupies another building on the property. When they first acquired this property several years ago, they announced that they would be restoring this house for their primary facility, occupying the other building only until that restoration took place. Several months ago, though, they shocked their history-loving community by announcing that they were going to demolish the house, instead. The councilperson, a personal friend of the art-school's director, pushed politically to get this demolition appoved. "Politics" always 'pays off' in this pathetic city, and, sure enough, the City ignored the house's historic status and gave its 'blessing' to the demolition. This has literally infuriated many of the community's residents who take great pride in their neighborhood's history. This house could easily just be sold to someone who could use it, but, the muleheaded, arrogant -- and obviously history-hating -- owner refuses to consider anything other than their announced plans. The City ought to be ashamed of itself for being so hypocritical, but, we know they are not, and never will be. When this house comes down, it will establish a precedent; no structure with official historic status in this city will be safe. (Maybe they never were......)