28 YEARS OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY OldOld BrooklynBrooklyn NewsNews A Publication of the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio www.oldbrooklyn.com June 2006, Volume 28 Number 4 Brooklyn YMCA to close; building to be sold by Sheila Long No. It’s a done deal. We have long-time [email protected] employees — Debbie Natal at the desk; she’s been here for ten years. She sat at the table and said, `This isn’t a job; this is part of After a half century of service to my family.’ What do you say to her? I have Brooklyn Centre, Old Brooklyn and sur- been a member for 34 years.” rounding neighborhoods, the Brooklyn Despite Boester’s obvious shock and YMCA on Pearl Road will be closing its concern, he acknowledged that Haley’s doors and put on the market for sale. assessments of the financial forecast for the Glenn Haley, the president and CEO of the Brooklyn Y were grim and somewhat com- YMCA of Greater Cleveland made the pelling. public announcement on Tuesday, May 30. “In terms of a membership,” Haley The Downtown YMCA also will be said. “You have a 60,600 square-foot facili- placed up for private sale but will continue ty that has 519 membership units. To main- as a membership branch in a contingency tain the organization and the operations, the of sale lessee relationship with the buyer. Brooklyn Y would need 2200-2500 mem- In a May 30 letter to the Brooklyn Y’s bership units just to sustain it. Over the last membership (the first notice that members Photo by Sandy Worona two years, we’ve got it up by barely 100 and received of any potential closure), Haley that is not sufficient.” wrote: In 1919, Karl Kist founded the Brooklyn branch of the YMCA; its first home was a second- floor office (with one phone) at 4145 Pearl Road shared with the YWCA and the editor of the Fiscal woes have plagued the YMCA of “The Brooklyn YMCA will be placed Brooklyn News. In 1935, the “why” leased club rooms and recreational space from the Pearl Greater Cleveland for quite some time. up for private sale and we will transition its Road Methodist Church, and in 1955, it moved into its present location in the newly con- Struggling with deficits over $2.4 million, in operation to either a program branch or structed Claud Foster building on Pearl Road. 2004, the West Side YMCA on Franklin non-facility branch. As such we will no Boulevard in Ohio City closed, followed by longer be providing housing and the resi- “To help facilitate the change, we have “I was informed of this on Thursday of closings at the Miles and Glenville YMCAs. dence will be closed by Sept. 1… included a postage paid postcard and ask last week (May 18) and, up to that point, we The recent announcements of the “In the Brooklyn community, it is not that you return the card by June 30, 2006.” were convinced that we had more time to Brooklyn closing and the Downtown sale feasible for this branch to continue as a Though discussions regarding the deal with the issues facing the facility,” said are what Haley termed the “final phase of a membership branch…. financial difficulties at the Brooklyn Y had Brooklyn YMCA Board President Dr. three-year financial stability plan.” The plan “At this time, we would like to offer been underway for over a year, the brisk- Charles Boester. “It was a shock at first. I calls for the organization to “prepare and you the opportunity to transfer your mem- ness and finality of the announcement and just can’t believe that they are going through manage a positive cash flow budget without bership to another YMCA of Greater the letter to members came as a shock to with this. We sat at the table with Glenn the use of endowment funds in 2007.” Cleveland membership branch at your cur- staff, board members, city council repre- (Haley) and Willie (Dean) and said: Can we rent rate… sentatives and community leaders. discuss it? Can we have some dialogue? See Brooklyn YMCA page 2 2006-2007 Business Directory Old Brooklyn News receives twelve available in expanded territory awards at annual NCPA presentation by Susan Nieves by Lynette Filips place after a deli-style lunch and short busi- [email protected] [email protected] ness meeting. There were eleven categories, and each newspaper had been allowed up to The 2006-07 Business Directory and The Neighborhood and Community three entries in each of them. The Old Service Guide is being distributed to Old Press Association (NCPA) conducted its Brooklyn News submitted a total of twenty- Brooklyn, Brooklyn Centre and City of annual meeting and awards presentation on six entries in ten categories, and received Brooklyn households and businesses with Saturday, April 29, in the Music & twelve awards (in nine categories). Four this month’s issue of the Old Brooklyn News. Communication Building at Cleveland State were first-place awards. For the past sixteen years the directory, a University (CSU). Lynette Filips, Jay Sandra Worona received two of the publication of Old Brooklyn Community Gardner, Sheila Long, Susan Nieves and first-place awards. One was for an original Development Corporation (OBCDC), has George Shuba represented the Old Brooklyn ad she designed for Golden Harvest Produce been delivered free-of-charge to households News (OBN) at the gathering. which ran in the February 2005 issue, and and businesses in Old Brooklyn and Ward 15 councilman Brian Cummins the other was for the layout of page 1 of the Brooklyn Centre. This year the circulation also attended the seminar, but he was there May 2005 issue. The layout featured photos has been expanded to include City of as one of the presenters. As former editor of and articles related to the death of the pope, Brooklyn residents and businesses. the OBN and outgoing NCPA president, he upcoming spring cleanups, and the depar- The decision to expand into the City of had been asked by Professor Leo Jeffries, tures of Ward 15 Councilman Brian Brooklyn was made by OBCDC Executive the organization’s moderator, to discuss his Cummins and Ward 16 Councilman Michael Director Jay Gardner as part of a broader insights regarding the relationship between O’Malley, and the arrival of Ward 16 effort to extend the circulation of the Old Cleveland City Council and neighborhood Councilman Kevin Kelley. Brooklyn News to every household in the City newspapers. Concerning Sandy’s first-place ad, the of Brooklyn. Regarding the expansion Jay Bill Barrow, CSU’s Special Collections judges wrote, “Nice integration of art, text explained, “Old Brooklyn, Brooklyn Centre The cover of the 2006-2007 Old Brooklyn, Librarian, was the morning’s second speak- and products”; concerning the page layout, and the City of Brooklyn are a unified market. City of Brooklyn & Brooklyn Centre Business er. He talked about the Cleveland Memory they said, “Generally a clean, uncluttered By expanding into the City of Brooklyn we Directory and Service Guide features nine Project which CSU has put online. will be better able to serve that market.” distinctive homes showcasing the varied The presentation of the awards took See awards page 2 In March of this year the Old Brooklyn styles of housing stock in the region. News began distribution to a limited number of businesses in the City of Brooklyn. For the usual sites in Old Brooklyn and What’s Inside this month only, City of Brooklyn households Brooklyn Centre will also receive drop-offs What’s Inside Charter One; obituaries 13 and businesses will receive free door-to-door of the Directory. News Notes; OBCDC membership 3 Slovak church histories 14 delivery of the Old Brooklyn News and the The new business directory lists hun- CASH; Neighborhood clean-ups; Garden4 Classified & Service Directory 15 Business Directory and Service Guide. dreds of commercial, civic and religious Town Crier 5 Brooklyn residents will be able to pick organizations within the geographic areas up future issues of the Old Brooklyn News at described above. It serves as a useful tool for Senior dog sanctuary 6 local drop-off locations including Brooklyn easy access to local contact information and Safety Summit; Rosie’s Girls 7 City Hall, Brooklyn Recreation Center, the assists in the promotion of “buying local.” Restore Cleveland 8 Brooklyn Branch of the Cuyahoga County For more information on where to Public Library, Geppetto’s Pizza & Ribs, obtain the Old Brooklyn News in your area Community Toolbox 9 National City Bank, Marco’s Pizza, Dairy or for additional copies of the 2006-07 Senior Olympics 10 Mart and the Memphis Avenue Shell Gas Business Directory and Service Guide, con- Station. tact Sandy at 216-459-1000 or visit the Family Fun; Lower Big Creek 11 The Old Brooklyn News and the Service OBCDC office, 3344 Broadview Road, dur- Church & Senior Notes 12 Directory are also available at various loca- ing regular business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) tions in the Tremont neighborhood. All of Monday through Friday. PAGE 6 OLD BROOKLYN NEWS JUNE 2006 Man's best friend gets better with age By Sheila Long have little time or patience for puppies. [email protected] “Senior dogs won’t chew your slippers Did you ever think that maybe old dogs and then act like they have no idea what hap- find new tricks boring and that’s pretty much pened, said Deborah. “They’re mellow and why they won’t let you teach them? It is generally happy with almost anything.