... neighborhood change through strategic work and partnerships.
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On a formerly vacant five-acre parcel in the heart of the Buckeye neighborhood, a true neighborhood transformation is taking place. Where the former Saint Luke’s School of Nursing once operated, a host of community partners have come together to revitalize the neighborhood in the form of a “learning campus” that will benefit youth and seniors alike.
This is a story of truly coming full circle – for what once was a place of learning is now poised to once again be a place of learning.
When completed, the learning campus will include the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s new Harvey Rice School as well as a newly built Rice branch of the Cleveland Public Library.
Both state-of-the-art facilities are destined to be a source of learning, inspiration and pride for everyone in the community – as well as a testament to what can happen when people come together and work for positive change.
Early steps lay foundation.
The revitalization work began many months ago when Neighborhood
Progress Inc. (NPI), working with the Buckeye
Area Development Corporation and funded by the Saint Luke’s Foundation,
helped a group come together to create a community plan.
From the onset, “community members took ownership of the planning
process,” recalls Joyce Rhyan of Neighborhood Progress.
Initial brainstorming yielded a broad list of priorities that was eventually narrowed down to include safety, home repair and the pressing need for a new school and library. (The aging early-1900s era school had become a safety hazard, while the underequipped library branch provided just four computers for the entire neighborhood.)
“Once the community had a sharper vision of what they desired to see for their community, NPI, the Saint Luke’s Foundation, and other partners came together to help facilitate the development of the learning campus,” Rhyan recalls.
She also observed that by coming together as a cohesive group, residents were empowered.
Capitalizing on that energy, residents appealed as a group to the school district to build the new school in 2009 – four years ahead of its slated construction – and to construct it on the former Saint Luke’s site.
“It was as a result of the community meeting with the district [and the
district listening to the community] that this school was moved up for
earlier development,” says Rhyan. All parties agree that the decision
was a win-win solution for the neighborhood and for the students.
State-of-the-art enhanced with public art.
When completed in 2009, the new Harvey Rice School will be a $16
million, 65,000 sq. ft. facility that will accommodate up to 450 students
in grades K-8.
The building will feature the latest in classroom design, energy-efficient construction, a computer lab, and advanced learning materials like Smart Boards and distance-learning equipment. Additionally, the school will showcase artwork by two local artists, Hector Vega and Angelica Pozo, who met with school officials and staff for inspiration and to get a sense of the neighborhood. Pozo even had students develop ceramic tiles to be part of her mosaic murals.
“It’s giving everyone involved more and more reasons to feel proud and excited, and to feel a sense of personal ownership,” Rhyan noted.
Dr. Eugene Sanders, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (left) and Felton Thomas, Cleveland Public Library Director (right) pose with a student.
“The
Harvey Rice learning campus will have a tremendous impact on not
just the students and parents who will be affiliated with the school, but for
the entire neighborhood and community,” says Eugene Sanders, chief executive
officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
“It reflects a tremendous opportunity for both students and neighbors
to see that there is growth, that there is rebirth, that there are
institutions like the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and others that
are interested in the well-being of them and their neighbors.”
Rhyan adds, “I think this is a special gift (for students). We’re excited to see their faces on the first day.”
New era for library services.
Getting the new Rice Branch library slated for construction
was an equally effective exercise in community engagement.
Rhyan explains, “At the time there were no funds available to construct a new library. But this community was so persuasive and so committed when they spoke with the director of the library system, he invited them to the board of trustees meeting to present their case.”
The board was so impressed with the community turnout at their meeting that they took little time, following the due diligence process, to approve the project.
Literally next door to the school on the learning campus site, the new library will be a dynamic resource on the learning campus. In addition to circulation materials and wireless internet access, it will offer some innovative resources.
“It’s going to be the first library that will house one of our homework
help centers,” says Cleveland Public Library director Felton Thomas, who
replaced retired director Andrew Venable midway through the Harvey Rice
redevelopment process.
The center is designed to help children after school in a structured environment. It will provide learning materials that tie into programs the school is offering.
“I’ve seen how libraries have been able to change the lives of kids and really move them forward,” says Thomas. “We’re working very closely with the school district to get the same learning software that they have.” One of these is the highly regarded Accelerated Reader™, which Dr. Sanders cites as crucial.
“The reading capacity of a student is the core instructional fabric that will determine his or her success on any of the standardized tests that are out there,” he notes.
Adults too will benefit from the library. The help center will be available for adult education while children are in school. And per residents’ requests, the library will offer much-needed meeting space where any number of adult and senior groups can gather to plan, learn, or even enjoy entertainment.
Campus artistically enhanced
Another source of enjoyment – and an aspect that also arose from residents requesting it – will be the public art and landscaping at the entrance of the school and library and throughout the learning campus. ParkWorks, a key nonprofit partner in the development of the campus, teamed up with Cleveland Public Art to realize the vision. This work of integrating the campus with public art and landscape design was funded separately in November 2007 with a $1 million grant from the Saint Luke’s Foundation.
In many ways the art selected for this project symbolizes the fabric of the neighborhood.
Created by Washington, D.C.-based artist Martha Jackson-Jarvis, the mosaic patterns at the entrance and exterior seating areas are based on African designs, Hungarian patterns and even African-American quilting patterns – all part of the neighborhood’s rich historic and cultural heritage. Jackson-Jarvis even used materials unearthed at the site to create an even deeper connection to the area’s past.
Revitalization is a work in progress.
With the construction of the school and library, the installation
of public art and landscaping, and the upcoming renovation of the former
Saint Luke’s Medical Center into a modern senior living facility, the
site is again becoming a vital, vibrant asset to the community.
But it wouldn’t be happening without citizens willing to take the first step.
Rhyan puts it best, saying “This campus development is a testament to engaged community people caring and being concerned about what’s happening in their neighborhood and how that can be improved.”
| Posted by Kim St. John-Stevenson on Jun 10, 2010, 8:57 am |
| The new Harvey Rice School is an amazing facility. See Regina's Brett's column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer following her recent tour of the facility. http://www.cleveland.com/brett/blog/index.ssf/2010/06/new_harvey_rice_school_shows_w.html |
| Posted by Kim St. John-Stevenson on Jun 8, 2010, 1:42 pm |
| On June 7, 2010, the Harvey Rice Learning Campus was dedicated. To learn more about the Harvey Rice Learning Campus project, and to see photos of the project as it evolved, click http://www.clevelandpublicart.org/projects/completed/saint-lukes-pointe |
| Posted by Kim St. John-Stevenson on Nov 18, 2009, 9:40 am |
| Cleveland Public Library's Rice branch, which sits right next to the new Harvey Rice School, is nearly complete. More info to come soon about the library's planned opening! |
| Posted by Kim St. John-Stevenson on Nov 17, 2009, 2:32 pm |
| Martha Jackson Jarvis has finished her amazing work at the Harvey Rice School and looks to complete her work at the Rice Library is the spring of 2010! |
| Posted by Kim St. John-Stevenson on Nov 17, 2009, 2:31 pm |
| We are excited to report that the new Harvey Rice School is now open! More to come soon about the new school, students' reactions and how the neighborhood is showing its pride! |
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