Mon 9/25 @ 11AM
Back in 2021, the Jesse Owens Olympic Oak was planted by the Rockefeller Park Lagoon to honor the track & field star and four gold medal winner of the 1936 Olympics, who grew up in Cleveland, attending East Tech High School and later The Ohio State University. It was propagated from a Jesse Owens Oak at Rhodes High School, the only known location of one of the four trees he was awarded for winning his gold medals.
For the last few years, University Circle Inc., DERU landscape architecture and local ceramic artist Angelica Pozo (who designed the wall at the Stephanie Tubbs-Jones Memorial Plaza few blocks away) have been working with the Owens family and community members on a design for the surrounding plaza just north of the lagoon. It’s been under construction for the last few months with memorial markers, a podium wall and tiles featuring quotes submitted by community members about their dreams and battles.
That plaza will be dedicated on Monday September 25 @ 11am. It’s free and open to the public. Go here for more information.