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Downtown Lakewood News


Friday, January 30, 2009


Lakewood Hospital Investment


FROM CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Cleveland Clinic plans updating of Lakewood Hospital

By SHANNON MORTLAND

10:23 am, January 30, 2009

The Cleveland Clinic has committed to spending at least $28 million to renovate Lakewood Hospital over the next five years under a plan called Vision for Tomorrow.

The plan is a multiyear project that aims to transform 102-year-old Lakewood Hospital into one that mirrors the Clinic’s newer hospitals, said Fred DeGrandis, president and CEO of the Clinic’s regional hospitals. The project could cost up to $50 million, noted Lakewood mayor Edward Fitzgerald. Clinic officials would not confirm that figure.

The cornerstone of the plan is to transform 200 hospital rooms into private patient rooms that will enable families and friends to visit patients in a more intimate and comfortable setting, Mr. DeGrandis said.

“The conversion to private rooms is really the centerpiece of this project,” he said. “It serves the patient in a much better environment.”

Much of the medical equipment now used in hospital rooms also will be moved to cabinets that will be inside the walls, so it’s not sitting out near the beds, Mr. DeGrandis said. The Clinic has been designing the rooms in its new buildings to be cleaner and more spacious by hiding the equipment.

The rooms also will be equipped to handle new technology, and wireless services will be made available throughout the hospital, he said.

Hospital to feature centers of excellence

Parts of the hospital will be redesigned to provide more outpatient care. The hospital also plans to forge more partnerships with community organizations on wellness programs, strengthen management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, and better align Cleveland Clinic services and community doctors with the hospital.

Centers of excellence in geriatrics, orthopedics, neurological services and diabetes/endocrine also will be created at Lakewood Hospital.

The services offered at the hospital will be better tailored to the needs of residents in Lakewood and the surrounding communities, Mr. DeGrandis said. The hospital primarily serves Lakewood, Cleveland, Rocky River, Bay Village and Lorain — a geographic area with an aging population and a high incidence of diabetes.

“Diabetes is to the point where there really is immediate intervention needed,” he said.

Mayor Fitzgerald said the city of Lakewood looks forward to expanding its effort to work with the hospital on community wellness initiatives. Under the Healthy Lakewood Partnership, the Clinic’s Dr. Michael Roizen recently held an open talk on nutrition, which was attended by about 600 local residents, he said.

The Clinic also is involved in a pilot project at a Lakewood elementary school in which it is exploring the links between nutrition and student performance. The city hopes to offer more such programs, the mayor said.

The Vision for Tomorrow plan will take place over the next several years. While some projects are still in the planning stages, those slated for 2009 include beginning the transition to private rooms, creating an eight-bed unit for acute care for the elderly, enhancing the endovascular suite, improving the parking garage and installing new heating and cooling systems.

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Panera's in Downtown Lakewood


Kowitt & Passov, a Cleveland-based real estate development firm, closed on its purchase of the INA and Lakewood Center Buildings in Downtown Lakewood on January 29th.

According to vice president, Myrna Previte, the company has aggressive plans to update, upgrade and market the buildings.

Panera Bread will be opening in the space formerly occupied by Curves, on the southwest corner of St. Charles and Detroit in early spring. Other potential tenants for the street-level retail space are in active discussion with K&P.

K&P will start renovations on the first floor, and work up. the entire block is expected to have a face lift by Fall,2009.

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Thursday, January 29, 2009


01/29/09 Sun Post Editorial


It's time to give your input on project


EDITORIAL

LakewoodAlive wants your input on a plan to help revitalize the city's downtown area. Through the end of the month, the nonprofit, economic developmentorganization is seeking input from the community through a survey. The group is in the midst of selecting a new color for -signage throughout downtown. Samples are posted in yellow, purple, red and blue in the 14700 block of Detroit Avenue, near Melt Bar & Grilled and Geiger's.


Visit the Web site lakewoodalive.com to register your thoughts on the proposal. It's your chance to make your opinion known.


The signs, which are the first phase of LakewoodAlive's. "signage and wayfinding program," should be completed byfall. The next step calls for the city and the organization to.work together to solicit bids and obtain funding for the project. "Wayfinding kiosks" will be included.


But the project is far more than just new signs. According to Mary Ann Crampton, LakewoodAlive executive director, the group will look at which buildings, institutions and landmarks should be included. There are some significant buildings in or near the downtown area, including Lakewood Hospital, First Federal of Lakewood, the old Masonic Temple and of course, Lakewood Public Library's main branch.


The next phase includes research on pedestrian patterns and vehicle and bicycle traffic. This is a key component of the plan. It's also significant because Lakewood is known as a "walkable" city .Take a few minutes to look up and complete the survey. It's worth the time in order to have your say on how the city's downtown should shape up.


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01/29/09 Sun Post Cartoon



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Tuesday, January 20, 2009


Studio Graphique: Lakewood Connection


My name is Allison Copeland Levine and I am the Marketing Director for Studio Graphique. I am a Lakewood resident, my husband and I have lived in the city for 5.5 years now and we are raising our 2.5 year old son in Lakewood because we love the city and all that it has to offer. We are homeowners, our son attends the Lakewood Community Care Center and I am thrilled to be a part of this project to help make Lakewood a better place for visitors and residents alike.

My husband Jeremy and I have been members of Lakewood Alive from the very beginning and as the former Secretary for the Committee for a Greener Lakewood, I was invited by Mayor George to attend the first Main Street meeting held at the Beck Center. This is where I met Mary Anne Crampton, who at the time was the president of LakewoodAlive when it was a volunteer organization. A few years later I attended the public streetscape meeting, where City Architecture presented the Detroit Avenue Streetscape Plan, which highlighted the need for a signage and wayfinding plan for Downtown Lakewood as a part of a successful completion of this project. Mary Anne (by then the Executive Director for LCPI and its Main Street Lakewood program) and I reconnected and Studio Graphique kept in touch with her as Main Street was searching for funding to implement these elements of the streetscape plan.

We assisted Mary Anne and Lakewood Alive (formerly LCPI) with a grant proposal for a branding, wayfinding and signage design project. When the funding was awarded, we submitted a full proposal for Design Committee review. While we have extended our discounted non-profit hourly rate to LakewoodAlive, we have not offered any free work for this project, as has been suggested elsewhere.

There have been several public meetings on the overall streetscape project and the signage and wayfinding program, where Lakewood residents voices could be heard and there will be several more throughout the project.

I want to note that the Downtown Lakewood Logo and the Signage and Wayfinding Plan are separate phases of this project. Wayfinding and environmental graphic design is a very refined art and process and our firm is one of only a handful of firms throughout the region that specializes in this work. We are the only firm in Northeast Ohio that specializes in both branding and environmental graphic design. Our experience in developing wayfinding programs is unmatched in the Cleveland area, and includes projects such as Shaker Square, University Circle (to be installed Summer '09), the Eastlake Stadium and Lucas County Arena. The technical, behavioral and political understanding required to put these programs together is normally out of the range of what traditional graphic design firms do.

Our involvement in this project started with my passion for Lakewood, its walkability, its mom-and-pop shops and the desire to give downtown Lakewood a sense of place and to help residents and non-residents alike find what makes our town so great. I feel honored to work with a team of such creative and talented designers that could help Lakewood implement this plan.

I’d like to thank Mary Anne, the Wayfinding Committee and the Board for all the hard work they have put into this project and can’t wait to see the end result for Lakewood.

EDITOR'S NOTE: We want to thank ALLISON for her relentless professionalism and enthusiasm for Lakewood, particularly since she has been undergoing treatment for a rare cancer throughout most of this project. She is an incredible, inspirational woman, and a reflection of the quality of people involved in this effort. If you would like to send Allison words of thanks or encouragement, visit her website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/allisonlevine. Thank you,Allison, for taking the time to write this post.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009


Color Selection: Community Survey


January 14, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Signage Color Selection: Community Input Sought


As part of its signage and wayfinding design project, the Downtown Lakewood Design Sub-committee is seeking community input on the color selection for street signs in the district. Four sign blanks, each a different color, have been posted on poles in the 14700 block of Detroit Avenue. The blanks are posted about 10 feet high; two colors are displayed in front of Geiger’s Clothing & Sports, the other two in front of The Melt Bar & Grilled.


Community input on the colors can be submitted through a survey located on the LakewoodAlive website: www.lakewoodalive.com


Dru Siley, Assistant Planning Director for the City of Lakewood, and a member of the resident-based sub-committee remarked, “Since residents and downtown workers will live daily with the finished product, we think it is only appropriate to get their input on the final selection.”


Sub-committee Chair, Sean McDermott added, “The historic color palette approved by the committee reflects the community’s expressed desire for traditional elements in the design.”


The signage design project is funded by a grant award to LakewoodAlive from Heritage Ohio matched by the City of Lakewood, and is an outgrowth of the community-based Detroit Avenue Streetscape Plan funded by a grant award from NOACA and adopted by City Council in December of 2008.


Downtown Lakewood is a LakewoodAlive program to revitalize Lakewood’s primary commercial district using the National Main Street Four-Point Approach™.


LakewoodAlive is a nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of residents by creating alliances with community leaders, leveraging community assets and expanding the pool of available resources to facilitate economic stability and growth in Lakewood, Ohio.


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News Release: New Downtown Logo



January 14, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Logo For Downtown Lakewood


LakewoodAlive announces the adoption of a new logo for its revitalization program, Downtown Lakewood. The logo was designed by the Cleveland based branding consultancy and environmental graphic design firm Studio Graphique, with oversight from the Downtown Lakewood Signage & Wayfinding Design sub-committee.


“The design draws upon community responses expressed in the public meeting held in October 2008,” reports Rachel Downey, Principal and Creative Director of Studio Graphique. “The community strongly favored traditional design elements. In this logo, historical typefaces are surrounded by architectural details found on many of the older commercial buildings in Lakewood.”


Creation of a new logo is an early first step in the LakewoodAlive signage and wayfinding design project funded by a grant award from Heritage Ohio and matched by the City of Lakewood. The design project is an outgrowth of the community-based Detroit Avenue Streetscape Plan funded by a $75,000 grant award from NOACA and adopted by City Council in December of 2008.


“The volunteer sub-committee has provided invaluable direction to the process,” said Sean McDermott, committee chair. “We have established an excellent foundation to support the completion of this important project that will have a dramatic impact on the character of our downtown district.”

Downtown Lakewood is a LakewoodAlive program to revitalize Lakewood’s primary commercial district using the National Main Street Four-Point Approach™.


LakewoodAlive is a nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of residents by creating alliances with community leaders, leveraging community assets and expanding the pool of available resources to facilitate economic stability and growth in Lakewood, Ohio.

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Friday, January 9, 2009


Light Up Lakewood Videos


Peddlers of Mirth




Beck Center Children's Choir




Harding Middle School




Gold Coast Follies




St. Edwards Trash Talkers




Light Up Lakewood 2008



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Monday, January 5, 2009


Spooky Pooch Videos






Lakewood's first ever Spooky Pooch Parade, presented by LakewoodAlive/Downtown Lakewood, attracted more than 200 dogs and 400 humans for a costumed march down Detroit Avenue on October 18, 2008.

LakewoodAlive extends its thanks to Cox Cable and Virginia Marti College for creating these videos!

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