CLEVELAND, Ohio – In discussing whether Cuyahoga County should build a skywalk connecting the Global Center for Health Innovation to the Marriott hotel across the street as part of a larger $54-million renovation project, county council posed a second question: Would Cleveland officials or nearby businesses support it?
The answers differ.
Cleveland, which would need to approve the building permit, has historically rejected skybridges, arguing they take pedestrians off the streets and potentially reduce foot traffic to nearby businesses. Mayor Justin Bibb echoed those arguments in a statement this week, and City Councilman Charles Slife, who also serves on the City Planning Commission Board, said he expects the proposal to meet resistance.
“There are some limited instances where I think skybridges make sense, like at a hospital for example, but this seems like a rather expensive solution to a minor problem, which is walking across St. Clair Avenue,” Slife said.
On the other hand, business owners looking to benefit from the increase in convention visitors that officials promise the project will bring don’t believe a skybridge would hurt their bottom lines.
Cleveland.com, this week, surveyed eateries within a few blocks of the area and found that all six of the businesses that participated not only supported spending to expand the convention center but were indifferent toward the skybridge.
“I don’t think a skybridge would have any impact,” said Adelle Tannous, general manager at Taza, a Lebanese grill on West Sixth Street, about .3 miles down the street. “I think (convention goers) are just Googling and finding restaurants near them. We get calls all the time from people just asking how long the walk is.”
The idea for a $5 million skybridge was tacked on to council’s agenda last week as part of a total $54 million proposal to renovate the Global Center into more meeting space for the convention center, but council held off pledging the extra money.
While members seemed receptive to the idea – Councilman Jack Schron suggested the bridge should have been added from the beginning – they wanted to know first how the community felt about the project and whether Marriott would be paying for some of the work.
Jeff Appelbaum, the consultant on the project, said the county would have to negotiate with Marriott if it wanted to split the cost but stressed that no such agreement has been made.
Cleveland.com asked the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower about the proposed skybridge this week, but a reporter was told the manager “has no knowledge of the project.”
However, Appelbaum said they’ve been having conversations with the city about the project and suggested the city was willing to get on board. He clarified Wednesday that project representatives have met with members of Bibb’s staff about it but not the mayor himself.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the game, but I’m more optimistic at this time than I have been before,” Appelbaum told council at the Aug. 2 Committee of the Whole meeting. “I think we could get there.”
The city seems less certain.
The planning department and Bibb “generally do not believe that skybridges support good urban planning principles,” city spokeswoman Marie Zickefoose said in a written statement Tuesday. They seek to promote pedestrian activity and community building downtown and believe that work is hindered by diverting foot traffic away from the street level.
“While we are willing to learn more about the concept, no one from the administration has shared support for the plans at this time,” Zickefoose said.
While councilman Slife could not say how other members might feel about a skybridge, he believes the idea is not likely to find much support, based on past discussions about similar projects.
Before the bridge is approved, plans would first have to be vetted by an advisory committee made up of local design professionals, which would then make recommendations for how the city’s planning commission should vote. While the planning commission has no obligation to follow that advice, they generally do, Slife said, and “I would be surprised if the members of that committee, as well, were enthusiastic about this.”
He believes money should be spent on increasing use of public spaces, not on trying to “climate control” the city in ways that direct pedestrians away from those assets. It’s not too much to ask convention goers to put on their coat in the winter or grab an umbrella on rainy days, he said, noting that’s what visitors staying at every other downtown hotel do.
“It seems that much more of a detrimental factor to be pulling people away from the street and allowing a convention goer to basically come to Cleveland without ever seeing a Clevelander,” Slife said. “I want people to be able to experience the city not be experiencing a sky bridge.”
Restaurants just want more business.
Many said they rely on convention goers swinging by for coffee, lunch or dinner almost as much as they do visitors attending a sporting event, seeing a play or enjoying some other downtown activity. More business for the convention center means more customers for them.
“We’re not getting a lot of foot traffic,” Michael Lombardy, manager at the nearby The Original Dave’s Cosmic Subs said. “The Marriott, Hilton, Global Center, convention center, they all send people here.”
It’s not consistent business, many of the restaurants conceded, but when the crowds hit, it can make a big difference. Alan Kneidel, owner of Cleveland Chop, said he often sees runs in the late afternoon or dinner time, after convention activities have concluded for the day. They need more of that.
“It hasn’t had a proven track record so far, but when conventions come in, even small ones, we do see an increase in business,” he said. “So, anything they can do to book an event is a positive.”
Agave & Rye Epic Tacos, a new tequila and bourbon hall opening at the corner of West St. Clair and 6th Street later this month, is also counting on it. The company’s Director of Training, Gavin Mullen, said they rely on foot traffic at their other locations across Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee and believe “any funds poured into the city benefits everyone around.”
One criticism restaurants did raise, however, was that they’re often not informed about upcoming conventions in time to adequately prepare. Tannous described a scenario in which she had only one server on staff when a Friday morning convention rush hit. It took her sales from $600 to $3,000, she said, but she worried it did not fairly represent their customer service.
“Our restaurant does depend on what’s happening downtown,” she said. “I would like to know if there is going to be a big crowd there so I can prepare better.”
The controversy over skywalks dates back decades. In the 1950s they were considered a modern solution to separating cars and pedestrians and providing relief from harsh weather, but in the last decade cities began tearing them down to drive pedestrians back to the sidewalks.
In the same period, Cleveland has been adding them.
Some serve as practical links, like Cleveland State University’s 0.6-mile Inner Link and the bridges at the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus or the privately-owned skywalk over Prospect Avenue that connects the fourth floor of the county’s headquarters to a parking garage.
There are also enclosed walkways that tie parking garages to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Playhouse Square and JACK Cleveland Casino – the last of which Slife was in a position to vote against. And two new skywalks are planned to connect the new Sherwin-Williams headquarters downtown to a pavilion to the east and four-story parking garage directly north, all for employee use.
But other proposals have fizzled.
One was a bridge linking the Westin Hotel and Public Auditorium, a historic hall tied into the convention center. Developers ultimately shelved the idea after running into resistance from historic preservationists and a few city council members.
It’s unclear when county council may next consider funding for the skybridge. So far, the body has only given early approval to about $49 million in spending on internal renovations to double the size of the Global Center’s junior ballroom and add more meeting space on the upper floors. The county is considering borrowing about 63% of the funds, with the remaining $18 million coming from a near-even split between council’s general fund and reserves from the taxpayer-funded board that governs the Global Center.
Appelbaum has said renovations can move forward unhindered by the skybridge debate.
The bond issue is expected to be heard for third reading -- and passed -- at council’s next meeting on Sept. 13.
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