Urban Studies II
Breaking Ground: A Photographic Analysis
On the cold day of March 15, 1968, late in the morning, this picture was taken to commemorate a drastic move to insure that University succeeds over time by spending money, time and effort to make the neighborhood its best. For the next two weeks workers lifted a Case Western Reserve University building off of its foundation and readied it for a 100-yard trek east ward on campus. The building, Claud Foster Hall, a three-story men’s dormitory, was being relocated to make way for the construction of Circle Center, a major investment to benefit the 32 member institutions of the University Circle Development Foundation of 1968.
Shown in the picture, turning the first screw jacks that lifted this massive dormitory were, from the left, Robert W. Morse, president of Case Western Reserve; Neil Carothers, president of the University Circle Development Foundation; and James McCabe, CWRU sophomore who served as the last president of the dormitory. Standing is William Mural, president of Mural & Son, Inc., movers of the building. The four men didn’t seem to be comfortable in what was probably a nippy Cleveland day in late winter. They were wearing thick, fur coats and leather gloves; the young college student is the only one hatless. If you would like to see Claud Foster Hall now, you are out of luck. It was demolished 1980. That locale is now Claud Foster Park.
Why would Case Western move a building off its hinges in the first place? Because the Case that we know and love, along with the Cleveland University Hospitals was the charter founder of the University Circle Development Foundation, the predecessor of University Circle Incorporated as we know it today. By 1950, those 34 institutions of University Circle were facing serious challenges. To meet these challenges, the 1957 University Circle Master Plan was issued after a rigorous 18-month study of the Circle. Perhaps the most important recommendation made was to "establish a central organization to administer the Plan and give it some real authority." But that central administration would need a headquarters and Case gladly pushed aside a colossal dorm to provide the space.
What we should appreciate about this picture is the dedication that it shows of a community to grow sustainability. With the passage of time, anything will grow and die and then be reborn, a city especially; but it takes thought and commitment to make a city immortal, even if its buildings and people are not. There is no better example of that than University. University neighborhood has evolved through several identities and has always remained distinctive. It started as a log hotel and tavern in woodland in 1797. It matured into a business investment in the 1800’s. It transformed into part of Millionaire’s Row by 1820. At this time in University’s history, probably no one thought that the neighborhood could get any better. Everyone probably thought that when the beautiful mansions were demolished one after the other that that was the end to Euclid Avenue and University. There is no end; time moves forward.
The idea of a plan to progress a neighborhood is the sort of action that cities need to become sustainable. And when a city is sustainable, it has a chance of becoming immortal, through the history told by its buildings and by its people. University has changed in these 200 years. It will continue to change. But this picture of four presidents represents an action that would lead to the University that we know today, the cultural epicenter of Greater Cleveland.
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