Showing posts with label Cuyahoga River Caught Fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cuyahoga River Caught Fire. Show all posts

Monday, September 3, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 23

STEEL MILLS




I have no idea what the function was of this rail car.

It looks like it carried something boiling hot, maybe dangerous.

It's preserved at the edge of the parking lot of the Steelyard Commons shopping center.

From the shopping center's site:

Steelyard Commons, located at the edge of Cleveland's industrial valley just south of downtown, has risen from the ashes of LTV Steel's abandoned No. 2 finishing mill. 

The mixed-use shopping center combines retail outlets, restaurants, a playground, and hiking and biking trails--all in the heart of the city.

Friday, August 31, 2018

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 19

THE FLATS

Perhaps the meaning of this graffiti is that art is art.

It shows  a cop arresting Leonardo Da Vinci, presumably for painting the Mona Lisa.

One could surmise this is a Banksy-like protest of arrests for street artists.


Tuesday, August 28, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 18

THE FLATS

This brick building in Cleveland's industrial zone sports Banksy-like street art.

We're not sure if "Please Reconsider" refers to demolishing the stately, but careworn old building.

We hope it does.

Monday, August 27, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 17

THE FLATS

Brick machine shops, warehouses, small factories -- they all look like they are just waiting for a visionary to turn them into housing, galleries and more.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 16

THE FLATS

What is it about fire escapes that are so charming from a design standpoint?

It's like Urban Designers and Urban Photographers have to love fire escapes the way music critics and independent record store owners have to love Yo Lo Tengo.


Saturday, August 25, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 15

THE FLATS
We love our adopted hometown of Miami.
But there are virtually no industrial areas.
No ruins of bridges and smokestacks to preserve as art.
No elegant red brick industrial buildings to convert to artist lofts.

Friday, August 24, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 14

THE FLATS


Cross this bridge under the crooked river that burned, and you will be in Tremont -- one of the most-desirable urban neighborhoods in the Great Lakes region.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 13

THE FLATS


So many worn out buildings, many occupied by workers for 3 round the clock shifts in Cleveland's hey day, exist in the valley along Cleveland's Cuyahoga River.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 12

THE FLATS


Smoke stacks certainly are symbols of fossil fuel burning that polluted most of the Rust Belt.

But preserved here, this brick tower is as elegant as a commissioned piece of art.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Monday, August 20, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 10

THE FLATS


Happy birthday to my brother Keith, my only sibling.

He turns 50 today.

He lives in Medina County, the same county -- contiguous with Cleveland's Cuyahoga -- that we were raised in.

I remember many visits to Cleveland with Keith.

One time we saw an Indians game in the cavernous old Municipal Stadium, but really wanted to see NE Ohio favorite son Joe Walsh in concert after the game.

The James Gang alum killed it.

When you rock Cleveland, you can rock any place on earth.

The "new," going on a quarter century old, ballpark looms just above the big rust-hued goliath of machinery in the picture above.


Sunday, August 19, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 9

THE FLATS

Larger than life contraptions hulked all over Cleveland's Flats.

Heavy industry inspired some larger than life music to come out of Cleveland.

And more legendary bands than can be counted owe their first big break to airplay on Cleveland rock radio and appearances at its many music venues.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 8

THE FLATS


Brother where you bound?

The west bank of the Flats is a bit of an entertainment center.

The east bank has lots of condos, apartments, and new places to eat and drink along a riverwalk.

Ohio City and Tremont are booming classic old Cleveland neighborhoods on just west of the Flats.

Friday, August 17, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 7

THE FLATS


Tearing down old, rusty things and removing any touchstones of the past used to be consider the best way to do urban renewal.

Thankfully, best practices shifted toward keeping essential parts of the old DNA, so the new could be contextual.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 6

THE FLATS


So much steel -- in the bridges in the Flats and made in the giant mills just south of it.

The auto industry made Midwest cities huge in the first half of the 20th century.

Cleveland (forget our rival Pittsburgh) made steel.

Akron made rubber tires.

Toledo made glass.

Detroit put it all together.


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 5

THE FLATS



Dozens of great bridges spanned the ravine separating the west side of Cleveland from the east.

Many carried cars. 

Movable lower ones carried industrial trains.

Some carried commuter rail.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND, OHIO -- part 4

THE FLATS


Cleveland's red brick factories, steel bridges, heavy wires and concrete masses inspired my sense of what an urban place should look like.