Historic homes along Cleveland’s East 115th Street may soon be demolished. The 12 homes, owned by University Hospitals Main Campus (UH), are at the center of a debate over the extent of which UH values redevelopment versus preservation.
In July, the Ohio Department of Development awarded the Cuyahoga County Land Bank a $230,000 grant for the demolition work involving the properties. Now, UH is asking the City Planning Commission to support this project. The City Planning Commission is an advisory committee working alongside the Cleveland Landmarks Commission, whose approval will ultimately determine whether UH can move forward with the project or not.
The same 12 homes have been threatened by demolition multiple times in the past few decades. For a long time, almost no maintenance has been done on the homes nor have they been rented out to tenants. In UH’s presentation to the City of Cleveland’s Central East Design Review Committee, officials claimed that their demolition efforts were “in the business of patient care, not housing.”
Although UH proposed building a Healthcare Center of Excellence at the site in 2005, UH has not confirmed the major purpose of this specific expansion. However, in the near future, UH hopes that demolishing the houses will make room for two interim, expanded parking lots and a green area for patients.
In an email statement released to The Observer, UH stated that they will “work with [their] partners to salvage and repurpose parts of the homes that UH has owned for decades and are seeking permission to raze the structures thereafter.” UH continued that they are “still working to determine the best long-term use for the property, but it will ultimately be based on the clinical needs of [their] patients.”
While UH has owned the properties for years, city records indicate that maintenance and utility connections have been shut off for the past 25 years. On Sept. 3, Cleveland Restoration Society President Kathleen Crowther argued in a letter to the City of Cleveland “that deterioration should not become a self-fulfilling justification for demolition.”
This is not the first demolition project UH has initiated. In 2023, UH demolished “a single-story, 17,000-square-foot trauma training center at 2071 Cornell,” according to Cleveland Magazine. Currently, it “remains a vacant lot—aside from a collection of shipping containers stored on the site.”
Historic preservation advocates argue that improving these homes should take priority rather than expansion. “I always have a challenge to take on a historical preservation project and no one steps up to buy them,” Blaine Griffin, Ward 6 Councilman and City Council President, said. “It gets me frustrated when people pick and choose what houses they’re going to be upset about and try to protect. A house in Buckeye should be just as worth saving as a house in University Circle.”
The Observer has not yet heard back after requesting a comment from University Circle Inc., Cuyahoga County Land Bank and councilman Griffin.