Monday, August 17, 2020

HOUSE-ECTEMIES AT THE CLINIC -- THE WORST KIND OF "MALPRACTICE"

We think that many of you who subscribe to this blog, or otherwise visit it occasionally, may already know what this post is about.  It had experienced some local attention on at least one local blog and one Facebook page, neither 'historic preservation focused', in early-August of 2020.  This is a very rare occurrence, but apparently occurred due to the high-profile and broad awareness of the structure in question.  The location is right along the heavily-traveled downtown-University Circle 'expressway' Chester Avenue. This had been one of the most visually arresting structures on this thoroughfare for roughly seventy-five years.  In a very genuine way, it had been the truest form of what the public declares a Landmark.  The house was built in 1894 for Henry Trenkamp, Sr., who at the time was the Vice-President and Treasurer of the Schneider & Trenkamp Stove Company.  Later, Trenkamp established the Trenkamp Stove Company and the Cleveland Enameling Company.

The house had been designed by Cleveland architect Fenimore C. Bate, who had created some of the absolute best examples of the Queen Anne style conceived in Cleveland, the Trenkamp house being one of best of these.  Bate's most celebrated commission was the Grays Armory, still extant and still used by the Grays, on Bolivar, near East 14th.  The Trenkamp commission, which included a barn, had a projected cost of, as reported in the Inland Architect & News Record, a then-phenomenal $25,000 -- more than the costs of some of the houses being built on Euclid Avenue at this time.  The house was selected and featured by a Cleveland newspaper in 1905 as an example of a "A Beautiful Cleveland Residence".


1905

A mere six years later, the house was featured in the new edition of "Art Work Of Cleveland", despite its by-then-fading architectural style.
1911

Mr. Trenkamp's neighborhood had been an extremely fashionable one circa 1900.  Eventually, with the gradual migration to the suburbs, the neighborhood fell into a severe decline in later decades. The Trenkamp house had been used for many years, in recent memory, as a treatment center for persons with drug addictions, known as Orca House.
TRENKAMP HOUSE - 1991 - PHOTO BY C. B

The house had been subjected to very few, mostly insignificant, exterior alterations, except when in 1999, Orca House chose to replace the entire front porch (very loosely mimicking the original). Unfortunately, when the organization fell on hard times recently, it sold its property at this location to the one and only truly aggressive buyer of properties in this area, the Cleveland Clinic.  This organization, originally locating in this area during its initial years of decline, has been engaged in an expansion strategy of colossal proportions during the past few decades.  Literally hundreds of historic buildings have been acquired by the Clinic and demolished to make way for that expansion.  Among these were the original buildings of the Hathaway Brown and Laurel private schools for girls, and two prominent church buildings that had been constructed for the wealthy Euclid Avenue families formerly of that section. The Trenkamp house was viewed by the Clinic as 'just another old, useless building' [not a quote].  And, it must be stated, the Trenkamp house was one of three structures, all adjacent and all part of the Orca House operation, demolished.  A moderately contemporary structure had been built behind the house, to serve as further residential quarters. The third structure, behind the one just mentioned, was another house, facing an adjacent street. Of a relatively conservative and subdued design, it had been built in 1906 for Charles E. Squires, the President of a "steam specialties" company named after him.

Apparently, the Clinic believed that there was some 'implied threat' from such old (but thoroughly benign) structures being located so close to their towering, ultra-modern buildings.  In other words, there was no actual urgency related to these demolitions.  A Clinic spokesperson stated that no plans had yet been made for what the cleared site would be used.  Yet another truly sickening display of insensitivity to history, which will ultimately be remembered as one the worst.


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