There’s good news from Cleveland Heights about the long-running attempt to secure the former Coventry Elementary School, now the Coventry PEACE Campus, as a hive of arts and culture organizations and nonprofits.
The school closed in 2007, and over the years, arts groups such as Ensemble Theatre, Lake Erie Ink and ARTFUL moved in, later joined by organizations such as FutureHeights, Reaching Heights and the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union. Then in 2017, the school district announced it intended to sell the building and there was talk that it, and the adjoining, much beloved PEACE playground, would be turned over to a developer, perhaps to build more of those ugly LEGO townhouses infesting so many neighborhoods. Ultimately a deal was worked out to transfer the property to the Heights library system, which formed a partnership with the tenants.
Recently there was talk again of evicting the tenants for an unknown future for the building. But Coventry PEACE Inc., the umbrella organization for the tenants, has announced that they’ve signed a 15-year lease, with a path to a 99-year lease to stabilize the space as an arts and culture center.
In their press release they share, “In 2017 when the Library purchased the six-acre property and building for $1, Coventry PEACE began developing a path forward for the project, one that neither the Library nor the City of Cleveland Heights subsidize. The tenants have continued to pay rent, despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, and CPC has been meeting with outside advisors, like the Cleveland Foundation, to lay the groundwork for launching a multi-faceted fundraising campaign. By evolving the Coventry PEACE, Inc., mission, the organization will have the capacity to build a unique arts, education, recreation and community service hub that is even greater than the sum of its parts. The anchor tenants, Ensemble Theatre and ARTFUL, will lead this effort.”
CPC will be actively looking for additional tenants to enhance the current mix of arts/education-related organizations. (Robin VanLear, formerly of the Cleveland Museum of Art and creator of Parade the Circle, is a recent addition). They are also looking for donations to fulfill the terms of the new lease, which they call “challenging.” But preserving this arts mecca, an ideal fit for the Coventry Village neighborhood, is a win for the community.
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Cleveland Heights, OH 44106