IGNATIUS.......A SAINT, HE AIN'T

The latest session of the "De-Landmarking Commission" of the City Of Cleveland gave their blessings to St. Ignatius High School to demolish yet another historic structure in their possession. It is a house that was built in the late-1860s for George Schlecter.  It is located in the Ohio City Local Historic District.  Owned by the school since 1991 and used by them primarily for some function related to volunteers, the school has decided that they want to expand the parking lot that they own which surrounds the house.  Removing the house will give them six parking spaces.

2900 Carroll - 2015 photo

2900 Carroll - 1957 photo

Ignatius has been in this general location since the 1880s.  They could have easily relocated to suburbia, as many a Cleveland area private school did.  Instead, mimicking the standard strategy of inner-city universities, they proceeded to acquire as many of the surrounding properties as possible.  The nearby buildings are/were strictly 19th-century.  The quantity of historic buildings that they have acquired and demolished over the decades is staggering.  After the 1960s flight to the suburbs of anyone who could afford to do so, particularly businesses and institutions, the City Of Cleveland has obliged every desire for which Ignatius has needed their cooperation, for fear that Ignatius finally will relocate outside of Cleveland if they do not.  Entire blocks of historic buildings have been demolished, the streets officially "vacated" by the City, and the land they once occupied transferred to Ignatius.  They apparently have a "cart-blanche" relationship with the City.  [Note:  Apparently as a further expression of 'solidarity' with the school, the "De-Landmarking Commission" in the same recent session also re-confirmed the approval they gave to Ignatius last year to demolish another mid-19th-century house, a block or so down the street. (See the post from December 21, 2014.)]  How much longer will it be before the City obligingly removes the ultimate obstacle to Ignatius -- the "Historic District" status of the neighborhood?