Another Nail In The Coffin Of Cleveland's One-Time "Showplace Of America"

Here's the brand-new post -- posted one day later than expected.

Since so much time has passed since the last regular post, the subject matter of this post is obviously WAY later than just one day.

In a 'nutshell', not too very long ago, we lost one more of the tiny handful of survivors from Euclid Avenue's grand residential era.  This house was located at 7218 Euclid.  It was built in 1887, which made it the second oldest of the fore-mentioned survivors.  Its first owner-occupant was Frank Allen.  Additionally, it had been the ONLY frame example.

7218 Euclid - 2014

By the early-1900s, it had succumbed to the same fate that had afflicted a majority of the Euclid Avenue mansions -- being converted to commercial and/or institutional use.  Perhaps its most 'notable' post-residential use was when it served as a clubhouse for the Sons Of Italy fraternal organization, from 1935 to 1945.  The Sons Of Italy had immediately built a spacious and elegant hall, attached to the rear of the house, designed by local architect Frank Azzarelli.

Sons Of Italy clubhouse - 1935 
photo: Cleveland Press Collection, CSU Schwarz Library, Special Collections

Decades later, it served as the Coliseum Party Center for many years.  After they left in the late-1990s, it was vacant and stayed that way.  It was only a matter of time, with all the recent new development along Euclid Avenue east of East 55th Street, that someone with enough capital and resources realized the potential for the property -- but, sadly, not the structures.  These historic and important structures were demolished in June of 2021.

For a far more informative 'biography' of this house, please see the excellent story on Cleveland Historical written by Jim Dubelko.

https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/864