Save the SE-L Mansion Library

03/03/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Y2HnpU1Y4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Reposting this from back when I originally posted it in 2020. it's even more true today than it was then.

06/24/2024

Of Course

Union members at libraries throughout Cuyahoga County have voted to strike in July after negotiations have failed to bring forward a fair contract.

01/19/2023

Please consider donating to preserve this part of Cleveland Heights history. Thank you!

A MESSAGE FROM THE FOREST HILL HOMEOWNERS ASSOCATION:
Help – a lifebuoy needed! Help save our cute, storybook Cleveland Heights Landmark called the “Little Blue Cottage” that is slowing sinking, listing and cracking (taking on water)! This quaint 1930 cottage, in the French Norman style, at Monticello and Lee boulevards., was designed by architect Andrew J. Thomas of New York, like the Heights Rockefeller Building and the original Forest Hill “Rockefeller” houses. It was originally the sales office for Abeyton Realty to sell homes for the Forest Hill neighborhood developed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and is also included on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the neighborhood is home to over 1000 unique residences and overlays Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland, bordered by Glynn, Mayfield, and North Taylor roads and Lee Boulevard. The “Little Blue Cottage” was once at the SE corner of Lee Boulevard and Brewster Road before being moved to its present spot. It has been the office of the Forest Hill Homeowners Association since the 1950’s. The Association serves the neighborhood but does not charge a mandatory fee. Members depend on voluntary donations for their projects and are currently in need of a goal of $80,000 (per the contractors) to get the historic building back in shape! No donation too big or small to save this iconic neighborhood landmark. Those willing to donate something can go to FHHO.org (to donate online) or can mail a check to Forest Hill Homeowners Assoc., Inc., 2419 Lee Blvd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 44118. Hoping the Blue Cottage can eventually cry out “Land Ahoy!” and, with your help, be able to remain afloat another hundred years!

07/10/2021

WHY I AM NOT VOTING FOR NINA TURNER. Nina Turner, by not responding to her constituents, facilitated the sale of the Telling Mansion by the Cuyahoga County Library Board. Her constituents asked her (she was the state senator for the South Euclid-Lyndhurst area at that time) to bring the County Library Board to the table to discuss the future of the Telling Mansion (the Telling Mansion was the South Euclid-Lyndhurst County Library Branch for over 60 years). You can see her reply below. She asked the Board to let her know if they held a meeting.. This was equivalent to giving her okay to the sale of the Telling Mansion. Because I believe in holding elected officials accountable. I will not be voting for her, will you?

Nina Turner is running for the 11th Congressional District House of Representatives seat. When Nina Turner was the state senator who represented the South E...

06/11/2021

Dunham Tavern Museum Annual Meeting is this Sunday, June 13 at 2pm (this is correct time--website has two different times). This is a video of the destruction as it was on April 9, 2021. It is much worse now. (I apologize that the video displays in such a cockamamie way, but it is worth contorting to watch it.) https://youtu.be/gVwLJOzfLBQ

Anyone can attend the annual meeting; please come and speak up about the destruction of the physical space, beauty, history and the love that was Dunham Tavern Museum. Please print out the attached and display it at the meeting.

Hope to see you there!

03/15/2021

Historic George Washington property getting the same treatment from its Board that Dunham Tavern Museum did--and the state attorney general''s office is investigating:"a Virginia deputy attorney general seeking documents about the proposed sale says the office is responsible for ensuring that charitable assets are used in a way consistent with purposes expressed by the donor." (Go to paragraph that starts with "Meanwhile").

An 18th-century colonial mansion on a Virginia property that once belonged to George Washington has become the unlikely setting for a 21st-century mystery. Why, critics ask, would the American Horticultural Society consider selling a historic property on the Potomac River if it might end up as luxur...

01/24/2021

THANKS TO ALL WHO WROTE TO HELP DUNHAM! I think we all got the same reply, so I hope you will all SEND THIS FOLLOW-UP EMAIL TO:
Sharyn C. LaCombe, AICP
Federal Historic Preservation Officer
Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Environmental Programs
Federal Transportation Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
OR
[email protected]
COPY FROM HERE: I'm sorry, I don't understand how any part of a TLCI (Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative) cannot be covered by Section 106. Even though the update to the plan may have been paid for by a non-profit (Cleveland Foundation), that does not mean that the monies to implement the plan are not federal funds.
The funding source for the Initiative itself is the Federal Transit Administration. Federal funds.
You cited Section 106 as follows: An undertaking is defined as: “a project, activity, or program funded in whole or in part under the direct or indirect jurisdiction of a Federal agency, including those carried out by or on behalf of a Federal agency; those carried out with Federal financial assistance; and those requiring a Federal permit, license or approval.”
I would appreciate it if you would further clarify for me, how TLCI projects do not meet this part of the code.

Thank you for your help,
_________________________________________________________________
Send to:
Sharyn C. LaCombe, AICP
Federal Historic Preservation Officer
Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Environmental Programs
Federal Transportation Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
OR
[email protected]

12/22/2020

CLARIFICATION/CORRECTION. In this Steve Litt article, he quoted Tim Collins, who led the sale of the Dunham land: “The cost of acquiring the land and demolishing the building left Dunham Tavern mired in debt, and unable to hire staff, conduct programs or realize its vision of creating a “central park”. Collins statement is FALSE. Dunham was not “mired in debt”. (Lots of people think this is true, as they grapple for a reason that justifies the sale of the land. There is no justification other than the personal interests of the board.) Christeen Tuttle responds to Collins at the bottom of the page. She submitted financial documents to Steve Litt that support her statement.

The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal in a lawsuit over Dunham Tavern Museum's sale of land to the Cleveland Foundation for a new headquarters.

11/28/2020

Please help the Dunham Tavern Museum by emailing Ms. Sharyn LaCombe, the Federal Historic Preservation Officer for the U.S. Department of Transportation and asking for a SECTION 106 REVIEW. This review will help preserve the historic qualities of the Dunham Museum, while that area is developed. You can copy and paste the sample email below and send it to Ms. LaCombe at [email protected]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!
__________________________________________________
Sample email:
Ms. LaCombe,
As part of a TLCI (Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative,) which is funded by the Federal Transit Administration through NOACA , the Innovation District (at Dunham Tavern Museum) should be considered an undertaking of the Federal Government.
Please initiate a 106 Review for the Dunham Tavern Museum The Dunham Tavern Museum ( http://dunhamtavern.org/)is the oldest building in Cleveland that is still on its original site; it was a stagecoach stop at one time. The Dunham Museum provides some greenspace that is important for the economically disadvantaged and underserved minority population in that neighborhood. There is very little greenspace in that part of Cleveland.
Thank you.
Sharyn C. LaCombe, AICP
Federal Historic Preservation Officer
Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Environmental Programs
Federal Transportation Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
OR
[email protected]

11/15/2020

Local journalist and Chateau Hough proprietor Mansfield Frazier penned a lengthy Facebook comment Saturday accusing Scene Magazine of yellow journalism borne of racism. The comment...