Neither the Gund Foundation nor the Cleveland Foundation made a peep to preserve the Breuer, and two of our County Commissioners (with the exception of Mr. Lawson-Jones) are (at best) too ignorant to appreciate the international architectural jewel which Jacobs bought and sold to the County (The Breuer Tower, like the Coast Guard Station, shows Jacobs has erudite architectural taste?).
But this summer it wasn’t business as usual in Cleveland. The Greater Cleveland Partnership could pay to fly their plane with the “don’t sign the putitontheballot petition”, but the rest of us weren’t without communication – we have the internet and the blogs.
Though the Dirty Dealer editorial page supported demolishing the Breuer, from the blogs came a groundswell of revolt regarding the proposed ignorant demolition plans for the Breuer. A firestorm of virtual and face to face discussion ensued. The spotlight was on the Breuer from around the globe.
Posts on Realneo about the Breuer are constantly hit through Google from around the world.
And then Susan Miller took it on herself to organize an “appreciative inquiry” (Jackzen [1]) into the Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower and its nexus with the Bauhaus movement. Ms. Miller’s intensity and organizational skills have produced three events taking place here in Cleveland, Ohio. The first is tomorrow, [2] Saturday November 10, 2007, when Anthony Hiti, chair of the historic resources committee of the AIA, Cleveland Chapter will review the history and significance of the Breuer Tower and discuss the challenges of preserving buildings of the recent past.
Now you can attend because you are an architect or designer or historian, but I will attend because I want to change the government in NEO and in Cuyahoga County. Marcel Breuer, though dead, in my mind, is a logical vehicle to catalyze this change. Maybe the FBI thinks so too!
See you there!
Links:
[1] http://www.jackzen.com/
[2] http://smtp.realneo.us/events/the-primer-on-breuer-and-the-bauhaus-nov-2007
[3] http://smtp.realneo.us/blog/jeff-buster/breuer-tower-reuse-concepts-from-around-the-world
[4] http://smtp.realneo.us/content/saving-breuers-ameritrust-tower
[5] http://smtp.realneo.us/events/cleveland-city-planning-decision-on-breuer-tower-jun-2007