Cleveland Restoration Society

10/13/2026

Ohio communities are preserving important stories of African American history!

The National Park Service has announced $21.8 million in African American Civil Rights Preservation and History Grants supporting 55 projects across 18 states, including three projects right here in Ohio.

🎉 Congratulations to Ohio’s 2026 grant recipients:

📍 Cleveland Restoration Society — Shiloh Baptist Church Rehabilitation

📍 Miami Valley Housing Opportunities, Inc. — Fifth Street Branch YMCA Rehabilitation in Dayton

📍 Ohio History Connection — Rendville Historic Resource Survey and National Register Nominations

These projects represent important opportunities to preserve places and document stories connected to African American history and the struggle for civil rights in Ohio. We’re proud to see Ohio projects recognized through the Historic Preservation Fund and excited for the work ahead!

Congratulations to all of the Ohio recipients! 👏

Learn more about the grants from the National Park Service.

🔗https://www.nps.gov/subjects/historicpreservationfund/index.htm

NPS Awards $21.8 million in African American Civil Rights Preservation and History Grants

10/13/2026

Cleveland Public Theatre Renovations to Offer Even More Welcoming, Supportive Environment

Members of the Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS) snooped! around Cleveland Public Theatre’s Campus to experience first-hand the highly anticipated, still yet to be completed project in the Gordon Square Arts District. Founded in 1981 by James Levin, the theatre and arts complex is located on Detroit Avenue in Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.

Renovations of the Gordon Square Theatre lobby, classroom, cabaret room, and conversion of the former St. Mary’s Church into the new Joan Yellen Horvitz Performance Gallery are among the upgrades.

The improvements are intended to enhance the physical space and atmosphere for audiences, students, artists, and the district.

Kudos to Cleveland Public Theatre staff, Perspectus Architecture representatives, and Marous Brothers Construction for leading our October 12 SNOOP! tour.

Join the family. Become a member.
Visit https://clevelandrestoration.org to find out more about our exclusive member-only SNOOP! tours, other preservation programs, and events.

10/08/2026

The Chagrin Documentary Film Festival continues through October 11th. Remember to grab your tickets to see tonight's Oct. 8 showing of our CDFF partnered film -- LORRAINE. The feature-length documentary directed by Sam Pollard, chronicles the history of the Lorraine Motel from its purchase inb1945, by Walter and Loree Bailey, to its role as a safe space in the Jim Crow south for the likes of Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, many other recording artists, and the eventual site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. Use code {CRS26] to get $2 off each ticket. purchase. https://www.chagrinfilmfest.org/

10/06/2026

Let's Keep the Momentum Going: Make Village Capital Corporation the Clear Ohio Minority Enterprise Top Nonprofit Winner

VCC is leading, as the top vote-getter, in the race for the Ohio Minority Enterprise Top Nonprofit Award as the People's Choice! And Cleveland Restoration Society wants to keep it that way. So cast your vote daily (now through October 18) for an undeniable clear victory.

Dione Alexander, our most recent board chair, ended her term in August and is President of Village Capital. Since 1992, the nonprofit has provided access to capital for businesses across northeast Ohio, investing over $140 million in lending, to fostering community development, economic development and entrepreneurship.

Let’s get Cleveland the recognition it deserves for VCC's transformative work. See the link below to vote daily. Go VCC!!
https://ohiombeawards.com/2026-peoples-choice-awards/

10/02/2026

Cleveland Restoration Society Wins Gant to Continue Rehabilitation of Cleveland’s Oldest Black Baptist Congregation.

Cleveland Restoration Society believes this is good news worth sharing.

CLEVELAND, Ohio, October 1, 2026 – Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS) is happy to announce that it is the recipient of a $750,000 National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund African American Civil Rights grant award for the rehabilitation of Shiloh Baptist Church. The three-year grant will enable the Restoration Society to continue to restore the Cleveland Civil Rights landmark. Shiloh moved into their current home at 5500 Scovill Avenue in 1926 and has since served Cleveland’s Central neighborhood. The church was founded in 1849 and is the oldest African American Baptist congregation in Cleveland.

Rehabilitation addresses structural damage to the grand portico; plaster repair due to water-driven deterioration; the addition of air conditioning for better climate control; and accessibility upgrades. The grant will also allow the National Register Nomination, first completed in 1982, to be updated to include the history of Shiloh Baptist Church and the congregation’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. The project is being managed by Cleveland Restoration Society, and work will be carried out by qualified preservation contractors.

09/28/2026

ACT NOW: Tell the U.S. Department of the Interior why its proposed Monumental Arch is a really bad idea.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's Public Comment Period for construction of a Monumental Arch ends at 11:59 p.m. ET, Tuesday, September 29.

This proposed project's scale, location, and design along the Potomac River threaten one of America's most sacred landscapes, a visual and symbolic vista from the Lincoln Memorial across Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Arlington National Cemetery and Arlington House.

These historic landscapes in our nation's capital articulate the unimaginable impact of the Civil War and its cost on all Americans.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation activates the power of place to serve the public good, improve people’s lives, and enable a shared future.

09/23/2026

Cleveland Restoration Society President Kathleen Crowther takes in one of the lighter moments, for a quick selfie, at the National Preservation Summit at the Washington National Cathedral, in the nation's capital with National Trust for Historic Preservation President & CEO Brent Leggs.

The Summit brings together the preservation community, national, civic, business and communities from around the country. This year's theme, All People are Created Equal, explores community revitalization, the interpretation of the past to foster a shared future, and unity through historic places.

For more on the Cleveland Restoration Society, its role, mission, and contributions to historic preservation and places, click here: https://clevelandrestoration.org/

09/17/2026

The Chagrin Documentary Film Festival 17 (CDFF) is officially underway! Now through October 11th, 75 films from 31 countries are hitting the big screen across 12 venues. And Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS) is proud to be a Community Partner for the documentary LORRAINE. So grab your tickets and experience it for yourself. Use code [CRS26] for $2 off each ticket. https://www.chagrinfilmfest.org/

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08/28/2026

Just yesterday, Cleveland Restoration Society highlighted projects, milestones and record-breaking accomplishments from the past year within the beautiful Volunteer Garden during our 2026 Annual Meeting. We welcomed new members to our board of trustees, Peter Bohan and Carl Dettlebach, and celebrated the “Passing of the Gavel” from our most recent Board Chair Dione Alexander to our newest Board Chair Bill Hubbard. We are thankful for Dione’s dedication and passion and are eager to see where Bill Hubbard will take us during his time as Board Chair.

To learn more about our achievements from this past year and read the full 2025 Annual Report, please visit clevelandrestoration.org/2025-annualreport/

08/26/2026

Cleveland Restoration Society mourns the loss of the historic Friendship Baptist Church on E. 55th Street, which burned to the ground in the early hours August 21, 2026.

Originally built in 1894 for the Tifereth Israel Jewish congregation, the massive structure was designed by Cleveland architects Lehman & Schmitt in the Romanesque Revival style. Tifereth Israel moved out of the synagogue in 1924; it was then purchased by Mount Zion Congregational Church in 1928 and, in 1940, by the Friendship Baptist congregation. During the pandemic, Friendship vacated this site and merged with Mt. Sinai Baptist, now named Mt. Sinai - Friendship United.

For over 132 years, this Cleveland Landmark has told the story of Jewish and African American heritage in the Central neighborhood. The loss suffered by our community extends beyond the current neighborhood and those who had direct ties to the church; it affects all Clevelanders because of what this site represents in the city’s history. Indeed, the tragedy of this fire has saddened good people across the region, many of whom have expressed a visceral response to the loss.

This once-magnificent structure was vacant and had been vandalized. “Urban explorers,” who brazenly entered the building without permission, documented the interior in video and photos for all to see the good, the bad and the ugly. These photos are now what we have to remember the site as it was in its last years.

Stewardship of aged, large religious buildings is challenging, even when occupied by large congregations providing strong financial support. But when a religious structure no longer has a large enough congregation, new thinking is important for the very survival of the historic site. Transitioning a sacred landmark to a new use under a new owner with wherewithal enables the site to survive. In order for this to happen, we need community support, ingenuity, and investment tools for older and historic buildings. Adaptive reuse is a reasonable solution and can result in exciting reinvestment and creative space. Landmarks can change and should change, so that they meet the needs of an evolving community. This approach still honors the heritage of the site. Unfortunately, the arson event at Friendship Baptist means that this building will not have that chance.

The note left on the cornerstone of the church says it all:
The death of this amazing church to fire has deeply affected this community – in ways we cannot fully convey. It is hoped that something far greater will rise from the ashes.