The future of Coventry's longtime arts hub has become more uncertain this week. The Heights Library Board on Monday rejected a plan to sell the Coventry PEACE building to its resident artists. Their lease ends Dec. 31.
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights library system owns the building. Library Director Nancy Levin said the proposal to buy the structure for a dollar was not feasible.
“They are basing their request on the transfer from government to government that occurred in 2018 between the school board and the library,” she said. “For the purpose of recouping the costs we've put into the building, that has not come from rent, we see no logical reason to accept this offer.”
Levin said plans for the artists to handle maintenance and fundraising have not panned out over the past six years. She estimates that the library has spent about $500,000 replacing part of the roof and supporting an HVAC system, which partially failed over the summer. She also plans to order a study of whether the building's restrooms meet ADA requirements.
The 48-year-old PEACE building is home to several nonprofits, such as a church, a teachers union, a news organization and several arts groups including ARTFUL, which supports artists with studio space. As the lease issues came to a head in June, ARTFUL’s Robin VanLear said, “if the building's had 50 years of utility to the community, then the costs for another 50 years are certainly a lot less than building a new building.”
Amy Rosenbluth agrees. She’s executive director of Lake Erie Ink, which has been a tenant since 2011. She acknowledged the roof and HVAC issues, but she said the building should remain an arts hub.
“If we felt like the building was unsafe, I wouldn't be running youth programs in it,” she said. “I've seen quite a few people come through. And I would say the last five years, the synergy has been really wonderful.”
The current tenants band together each quarter for an open house, PEACE Pops. The next - and possibly last - event is Oct. 25. Until then, Rosenbluth said the nonprofits are likely all studying their futures.
“I've spent most of the summer trying to see what alternative space would be,” she said. “We are incredibly grateful that we've been able to be in this building with an affordable rent to provide the types of programming that we provide.”
Her group offers writing programming for school districts, and she said moving during holiday break is not ideal.
“I think that the school district doesn't want to lose what's here,” she said. “But they also are stretched to fulfill their mission and serve students. And they really don't have space.”
As for the PEACE building’s future, Levin with the library said deed restrictions on the land date back to 1917, which complicate adding for-profit tenants. There’s also the issue of geography: The building is sandwiched between the PEACE Park and a county-funded urban mini forest. Levin said those projects are a good use of four of the property’s six acres.
“Having wilderness accessible to a person is good for their mental health,” she said. “One of the many possible outcomes is that the park could be even expanded through the area where the school is. I know this is one that everyone wants to jump on: We could demolish the building. It's not our favorite choice. We have many choices, and I've asked for time to prepare.”
That includes studies on hazardous materials in the building and how demolition might affect a creek which runs under the park.
“There's just a lot we don't know yet and we need to find out,” she said. “It doesn't mean we're going to tear down the building. It means we want to know what we're sitting on there and what would be the right thing to do if we got into that building and tried to make any changes.”
Levin said they’re discussing a possible lease extension beyond Dec. 31 for tenants like Lake Erie Ink.
