Saturday, August 30, 2008

Commodore Theater likely to be torn down


From clevend.coom, posted by Michael O'Malley August 29, 2008 22:45PM

The old Commodore Theater in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood finally got to Housing Court Friday -- four years after the city condemned it -- and appears to be heading for demolition.

What took so long?

If you ask Councilman Mike Polensek, it's a Law Department that lacks the spine to drag landlords with problem buildings into court.

"The Law Department is in a foxhole," said Polensek, who has been trying to rid his East Side ward of the empty, hazardous building for eight years.

The Commodore, a complex of apartments, street-front retail and a movie theater featuring a Wurlitzer organ, was built in the 1920s. But in recent years, it has become a haven for vandals and junkies.

The rambling brick structure with a classic overhanging marquee sits at a school crossing on the corner of East 152nd Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. Decorative pieces of stone facade have been falling off the building onto the public sidewalk.

Read the full story here.

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