Ten Important Buildings/Architectural Designs

On November 14, 2021, former Cleveland resident Bridget Enggasser created an online petition to save the original Cleveland Play House facility from destruction. The buildings had remained empty since 2009 when the Cleveland Play House collaborated with Cleveland State University and Playhouse Square (the organization responsible for maintaining downtown theatres utilized by touring companies). The massive complex featuring four theatre spaces, rehearsals rooms, costume shop, and scenic shop had been redesigned by renowned architect Cleveland-native Philip Johnson in the 1980s to great fanfare (although criticisms of his lack of knowledge concerning theatre architecture and the resulting problems in the Bolton Theatre persisted), but after being purchased by the Cleveland Clinic for $13 million in 2009, the facility sat empty except when used for infrequent presentations or when the local S.W.A.T. teams stormed the building for training purposes. It was long assumed that the Clinic wanted the land for much-needed parking for its staff (let alone future considerations as the world-renowned hospital continues to grow its footprint on Cleveland’s east side), but it was not until May 2022 that the Clinic announced its intentions to demolish the old theatres in totality. In a meeting with local residents of the Fairfax neighborhood, a Clinic representative stated that repairing the buildings to be operational as theatres would cost roughly $40 million (the Cleveland Play House has cited a figure of $8 million when justifying their move to their new downtown home).