Chagrin Falls & Chautauqua Institution

Private group wants multi-million-dollar arts makeover for Chagrin Falls

Posted by Steven Litt June 20, 2007 14:12PM

Categories: Architecture

Chambers, Murphy & Burge Restoration Architects, LtdThis computer-generated image shows a renovated Town Hall as the focal point of an expansive, new arts district in Chagrin Falls.

Steven Litt
Plain Dealer Architecture Critic

A private group will announce plans on Thursday to turn Chagrin Falls into the next Niagara-on-the-Lake by converting part of the village into an arts and entertainment district. They're getting started with a bang by launching a partnership with New York's Chautauqua Institution to bring nationally and internationally renowned speakers to Chagrin Falls this summer.

They also unveiled plans to raise $8 million in private money to make the village an arts hub for Cleveland's eastern suburbs.

The group of arts advocates and community leaders wants to renovate and restore Township Hall, a 159-year-old brick building on Main Street, as the heart of a new, four-block arts and entertainment district.

On Thursday, the group will announce the formation of the private, nonprofit Chagrin Foundation for Arts & Culture. The organization's first goal is to raise $8 million in private money to rebuild the second-floor theater at Township Hall, destroyed by fire in 1943; to renovate Chagrin Falls Little Theatre around the corner on River Street; and to start an endowment.

The goal is to strengthen downtown Chagrin Falls at a time when surrounding shopping centers and suburban "lifestyle centers" are threatening to siphon money and businesses from the village.

"We want to get ahead of the curve," said Stephen Thomas, a lawyer and the president of the foundation's board. "We're talking about the evolution of the community."

Diana Nazelli, president of the Chagrin Falls Township Trustees and a local retailer, sees the project as a rediscovery of the village's agrarian past, when Township Hall played the role of a cultural center for residents, farmers and merchants.

"It's an opportunity to dust off the tradition of the village and bring it into the 21st century in a very modern way," she said.

The foundation is also announcing on Thursday a partnership with the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., to provide cultural and educational programming in the village, beginning next month.

Four Tuesday evening lecture programs are planned for July 10, 17 and 31 and Aug. 21. They will address, respectively, "The Meteoric Rise of China and India," "The Future of Cities and Diversity," "Sacred Texts in Context" and "Healing and Healthy Aging."

Speakers in the first program will include Richard Celeste, former Ohio governor and former ambassador to India; and Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Gandhi.

As part of a new partnership with Chagrin Falls, the Chautauqua Institution is also offering weekend packages to all residents of Northeast Ohio on July 7-9, Aug. 3-5 and Aug. 17-19.

In Chagrin Falls, future phases of the arts district will include construction of a parking garage with a restaurant overlooking the Chagrin River and new townhouses along West Orange Street to create a more lively and attractive entrance to the village.

Proponents also hope to lure the Valley Arts Center and the Chagrin Falls Historical Society to move into the district in future phases of the project.

River Street, which runs three blocks west of Main Street on the north side of the Chagrin River, will be the spine of the district. It now resembles a large parking lot dominated by rows of head-in parking spaces. It will be redesigned and landscaped to make it seem more like the leafy heart of the village, according to backers of the arts district.

The Greek Revival Township Hall building, built in 1848, was occupied by the township in 1864. The Township represents 200 residents in the unincorporated northwest corner of the community. Most residents in Chagrin Falls, which has a population of more than 4,000, live in the incorporated village.

The building, originally one story in height, was expanded with a second-story theater and an Italianate main facade in 1875, designed by Cleveland architect Joseph Ireland. The theater was a popular cultural venue in the Chagrin Valley until the building burned in 1943. It was rebuilt as a one-story meeting house and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

The restoration of the building, designed by the Akron architecture firm of Chambers, Murphy & Burge, will recreate the two-story facade and cupola designed by Ireland. A multipurpose area on the second floor will be used for a wide variety of cultural events and community programs.

Dwight Milko, a member of the foundation board and the village council, said the arts district project has strong local political support -- especially because it will not involve public money.

"There's an amazing number of people in this town who are arts-oriented and intellectually curious," said David Loomis, secretary of the new foundation and a senior executive at NACCO Industries. "That's what's driving this. We love this stuff."

Foundation officers will hold a public meeting Thursday, June 28, at 6 p.m. at Township Hall to present their vision in detail.

"We want to roll up our sleeves," Loomis said, "and make it happen."

PREVIEW
Chautauqua Institution programs
What: The Chautauqua Institution in New York has entered a partnership with Chagrin Falls to provide cultural and educational programs in the village and to offer weekend packages at the institution in New York to all residents of Northeast Ohio.
When: Chagrin Falls programs available July 10, 17, 31 and Aug. 21; Chautauqua packages available July 7-9, Aug. 3-5 and Aug. 17-19.
Where: Chagrin Falls programs at Township Hall, 83 N. Main St.
Admission: $10 in advance and at the door. For Chagrin Falls programs, call 440-247-8955 or 440-247-1895. For weekend programs at Chautauqua, call 800-821-1881 and ask for "Chagrin Falls Package."

 

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