In becoming a thriving arts district and a renowned model of urban redevelopment, the Gordon Square Arts District in Cleveland, Ohio, has been able to showcase what it means for an area to actively enable economic growth and increase livability. That has allowed it to cultivate the community and spur interest and activity from all across Cleveland.
Highlighting the Monumentous Opportunities of Urban Redevelopment
In the late 1800s, the area that would become known as Gordon Square housed shops and stores that would come to meet the retail, recreational, and service needs of the surrounding community. The Gordon Square Arcade and Community Building that opened in 1921 was the most prominent of all the buildings of the seven-block area. Although it fell into disrepair over the decades, it was saved from destruction and rehabilitated to become a symbol of the kind of opportunities that urban redevelopment efforts can open up.
Gordon Square has realized these opportunities in a tangible way, as the area is now full of commercial and community activity. Five performance spaces and an independent cinema house reside in the district, along with numerous coffee shops, restaurants and even a pinball parlor.
Events talk place at and around Gordon Square throughout the year, further cultivating a sense of community with residents and visitors. With defined goals to build on the identity of the arts through arts programming and public art while also engaging and supporting artists and creative professionals who live and work in the Gordon Square neighborhood, the entire space has cultivated an identity that numerous people and organizations can be part of and further develop to everyone’s benefit.
Located within walking distance of other Cleveland landmarks like Battery Park and Edgewater Beach, the Gordon Square Arts District has enabled a legacy for Cleveland that is set to influence the people and area for the better in the present and future.
Defining an Identity of a Neighborhood and Creating a Legacy for Cleveland
While it does not have an instantly identifiable monument or icon like other famous squares, Gordon Square has nonetheless been able to define an important identity for the surrounding area. That has allowed it to be positioned and recognized in a variety of ways throughout Cleveland.
In doing it, it showcases what it can mean for a space to attract the attention of residents and the interest of visitors from across a city and beyond.
