Wednesday, February 15, 2006

WHO NEEDS HISTORY WHEN WE CAN HAVE "GREEN SPACE"?


This posting concerns a building in Strongsville, Ohio, in the southwest corner of Cuyahoga County. The building threatened with demolition is the old Town Hall. If memory serves correctly, this is the last remaining frame historic town hall in this area. Although nothing "absolute" has actually been revealed, it appears that the City Of Strongsville, particularly the Mayor's Office, wants to remove this building because of a developer's proposal to build some condominiums, nearby. It doesn't need the ground the old town hall sits on. But, the old town hall will be blocking a particular view from the condominiums, if built. The mayor's representatives have been confering with the Strongsville Historical Society, on and off for several months. In the first meetings, they said they wanted to get it on the National Register and then use tax-credits to make repairs. In the latest meeting, they were saying they'd like to see the building 'moved'......for "green space". Despite all this dancing around and all the smoke-screens, it is pretty obvious what is planned. Please contact Karen Lehman, with the Strongsville Historical Society, at kmlehman1@hotmail.com, if you have any good ideas.