You Can Always Go...Downtown

The Presbyterian USA Old Stone Church in downtown Cleveland is a graceful old beauty, almost lost amongst the skyscrapers of finance. I say “almost” on several fronts. Location, location, location – Old Stone Church fronts onto Public Square, which is a combination park, impromptu concert venue, and bustling public transit hub. Beyond that, Old Stone is offers a subtle mix of traditional Christianity (some of their windows are Tiffanys) and arts offerings such as weekday yoga and their own art gallery, managed and animated by Beth Giuliano.

Currently, The Gallery at Old Stone boasts an installation of photographs and text by students from three schools: Euclid, Ohio, Manassas, Virginia and Sierra Leone. Deeply moving, as these young people reflect on their identity, what helps them succeed in school and what difficulties they face getting an education. The Gallery at Old Stone is committed to a strong vision to exhibit local, regional and national artists whose art speaks to the downtown core and its vitality. The gallery seeks artists who strive to be an active part in the dialogue towards the city’s faithful revitalization. (See the church’s website at www.oldstonechurch.org for more info.)
In our conversation, Beth and i noted some similarities between Cleveland and Winnipeg – particularly the challenges of our respective downtown cores (what some of us like to call “historic neighbourhoods”). Out for a walk near my hotel last night, i was struck by the quiet: storefronts boarded up, an absence of pedestrian and vehicular traffic...i walked for blocks and couldn’t find even a corner store to buy a copy of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, a newspaper whose title has always appealed to me. We spoke of people we know in our respective cities who are afraid to go downtown, particularly after dark. i’m in a hotel on Euclid Avenue in a section of street that has had a great restoration and make-over, including the installation of a wonderful transit corridor. Alas, construction took so long that many shops closed up, and the area, it seems to me, is struggling a bit.

Later in the day, i rode the double-long bus called the Healthline out to the Cleveland Museum of Art, and i was struck, as i often am riding public transit in Winnipeg, that i was the only white person on the bus. Which set me to thinking about the fears we have about downtown, and how aggressive panhandlers are named as a problem, and sometimes even gangs, but rarely do we (at least in Winnipeg) talk about race as a factor in the downtown’s struggle. Americans are pretty forthright in naming White Flight, the exodus of white folks to the supposed safety of the suburbs and shopping malls. We Canadians mostly like to pretend we have no race problems. But the face of our downtowns, and the faces we see on public transit, tell us something.

Are you afraid or even wary about your downtown?

Do you use public transit? If not, why? If so, what do you notice about who is riding with you?

What role might downtown churches play in a city’s faithful revitalization?

What would a “faithful revitalization” look like to you?