Community Corner is a new e-news segment where we pass the mic to neighbors to share their experiences in the Campus District. Interested in being featured? E-mail info@campusdistrict.org
Campus District Priorities
By now, if you’re like me, you’re probably tired of hearing about the ‘new normal’ or ‘trying times.’ I long for the chance encounters with friends and colleagues while walking through the Campus District. I miss the daily brainstorming with my colleagues. But like all of you, the Campus District organization and team has had to adapt to our current realty.
Back in January the Board of Directors approved our new three-year strategic plan. This plan outlined how we were going to move the organization and neighborhood forward through a mixture of direct, ground-level, and long-term planning. Since we’re unable to do much of our direct programming, we’ve flipped the priorities of the strategic plan. The three main areas that the organization will work on over the next 15 months are:
Renew the Superior Arts Improvement District
Re-authorization of our Special Improvement District is currently our top priority. This effort will ensure that we continue to provide the same level of outreach, cleaning, and security services to the northern part of the Campus District. We are currently very close to our making our goal a reality and are working with property owners to finish up the renewal process and continue to make great progress for the next five years.
Complete a Neighborhood Masterplan with City Adoption
The Campus District has had numerous plans completed throughout its 36-year history, however, it does not have a formal master plan adopted by the City Planning Commission. We had originally planned to do this work in the later part of 2021 but feel that now is the right time to synthesize all of our existing knowledge into one cohesive document. This is especially important as Cleveland State University begins its own master planning process this fall.
Elevate the Juvenile Court Site Adaptation into a Top Priority
The former Juvenile Court Building on East 22nd Street has remained vacant for a decade. This site is vital to our work to reconnect the southern end of the Campus District back into the Central Business District. As part of our master planning process, we will look at innovative ideas for the historic parts of the building and how they can be adapted to tomorrow’s needs.
Embed Trauma-Informed and Racial-Equity Principles into All of our Programming
CDI has a continued commitment to creating equitable and trauma informed programming. Projects like the Bridge that Bridges and the Payne Avenue Project have used the arts to examine the wounds of systemic racism. As we plan for the future, we're working to continue to deepen the neighborhood's understanding of trauma through development of developing a trauma training for community members. We plan take these lessons into our masterplanning process as well; addressing what decades of redlining and urban renewal have done to the Campus District.
As always, the public will be invited to participate in all of our programming. Please look for future ways to participate in future e-news addition. In the meantime, please reach out to myself or any of the Campus District staff if you have questions, suggestions, or would like to just brain storm about the future of our neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Mark Lammon
Executive Director
