Just two months from the grand opening of the largest open air shopping center in Cuyahoga County, much of the furor over Steelyard Commons has died down, even as the final phase of construction ramps up.
If you're not a regular traveler of the northbound side of the Jennings Freeway, and have not seen the project being built, its' sheer size will be a shock. 90 feet downhill from the highway, Steelyard Commons sprawls across 125 acres which formerly housed the Number 2 finishing mill of Mittal Steel, or LTV to many of us. Hundreds of workmen fanned out across the site, which is nearing completion, with a main structure that measures a half-mile across.
Now, it won't be long before the sounds of price check scanners and the smells of chain restaurant food fill the air that once carried the sounds and smells of American steel production. This type of transformation has been a dream of developer, and Cleveland native, Mitchell Schneider.
Mitchell Schneider: I believe in Cleveland, and to have an opportunity to do our small share of helping the city of Cleveland, at the core of Northeastern Ohio, and its' economic vitality, is really something that we have a great opportunity in, and feel honored to have had the opportunity to participate in.
An honor not easily acquired. Much of the past six years have been laced with accusations against Schneider's company, First Interstate Properties, and former Mayor Campbell's office. Critics feared that this development would disgrace the history of the site, and that the coming of big box stores and a shopping mall would destroy the cozy ways of life in nearby Tremont, and Ohio City. Schneider has been working overtime to change those perceptions - and says it was as hard as clearing the two million square feet of steel-making buildings, then excavating the land.
Mitchell Schneider: We've had on-going talks with the Tremont West Development Corporation, with other community groups within Tremont, Ohio City and other neighborhoods. You know, the fact is, there's a huge amount of retail dollars being spent outside of this area at these stores. So what we're trying to do here is to say for Cleveland residents, rather than having to go to North Olmstead, or to Parma, or to Avon, or to Cleveland Heights, why not spend your retail dollars in Cleveland and support Cleveland? So most of the dollars that will be spent here are dollars that otherwise would be spent at the same retailers, not at the shops in Tremont or Ohio City or the other neighborhoods around here.
He pointedly reiterates that the $120 million invested come from his firm, and from companies like The Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples, and Target, which are building stores here - without any subsidy from the city, county or state - though there are federal tax credits involved.
Schneider has a bag full of other selling points: the money to be generated for Cleveland schools, the jobs to be created, and the veneration being paid to the men who used to work in this place. That last point includes several elements. A museum is being placed here, built in a 500-square-foot renovated brick building that once served as the time clock house for the 12,000 men who worked in this plant. Here's First Interstate Director of Design Kevin Zak.
Kevin Zak: That steelyard heritage center is really serving two purposes: one, identifying the steel making process, to break it down into laymen's terms so that the public can see how that's done; and then secondly to really talk about why that's important to Cleveland and the families that it touched in terms of making steel in the Cleveland area.
The preservation of the memory of the steelyard extends outside the museum where a gigantic molten steel ladle sits, given to the project by Mittal Steel, as was a 260-foot long, 55-ton steel utility bridge, which will serve as a gateway to the shopping center's north end.
Richard Carlisle: We thought that the bridge was a unique element and would give us a character unlike anything else that we could even build here.
The character of the development also includes the addition of a major portion of Ohio's 110-mile-long Tow Path Trail, nearly completed now from Cleveland south to New Philadelphia. Director of Development; Richard Carlisle.
Richard Carlisle: We've put in almost two miles of the Tow Path trail through the site and accommodated the tow path so you can cross the whole site without crossing any vehicular driveways or roadways. We've built two tunnels on the north side of the project, one under the Quigley connector and one under Steelyard Drive, so that the people that are enjoying the path won't have to cross a grade at a traffic.
The hope is also that travelers on the trail might stop in from time to time, whether for a meal, a doughnut, or an MP3 player for their hike.
With studies showing Cleveland is an underserved retail market, Mitchell Schneider says this center will fill a good portion of that gap while supplying an estimated 6,000 new permanent jobs. The Steelyard Common development is targeting as its primary customer base, the 320,000 people who live five miles east and west of the site, and about two miles south, then north to Lake Erie. We'll begin to be able to measure its success when the Home Depot opens February. Several more stores are set to open by Memorial Day. The Wal-Mart Supercenter is not scheduled to open till September. Rick Jackson, 90.3.