We, the Friends of Cudell Commons Park, were granted a Temporary Restraining Order on Tuesday, September 19th, to halt all construction work on a new Marion C. Seltzer School on the site of our beloved neighborhood park. We are asking the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to return to the drawing board with us and seek a “Win-Win-Win” for this project:

A Win for the children, parents, and teachers of Marion Seltzer to have a new, safe school building, which has been desired and needed for many years.
  
A Win for the Cudell neighborhood, to save their beloved Cudell Commons Park;
  
A Win for Cleveland’s public health, because legacy trees improve air quality in Cleveland, the nation’s #2 Asthma Capital, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

We believe these 3 “Wins” are the desire of the majority of constituents of the Cudell community, but so far they have not been given a sufficient voice on this project. In March 2022 a site plan was introduced that would have protected the mature trees on the northern end of the park and returned green space to the southern end where the present school is located. CMSD promised a follow-up community meeting in May 2022. This never happened, but they went ahead anyway and sought preliminary approvals from the city later that summer for a new site plan that took away additional parkland, the basketball courts and potentially the mature trees. CMSD finally shared it with the community in October 2022. When their tree plan was revealed this summer, the community learned about the loss of the trees.

We are asking the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to work together with neighborhood residents surrounding Cudell Commons to:

• revise the Marion C Seltzer site plan to protect park space  
• keep the two remaining basketball courts
• preserve mature trees
• and build a new school

Our efforts seek to honor the legacy of the namesake of our community, Frank Cudell, who was a visionary ahead of his time identifying the need for protected green spaces within our urban environments. A new school can be built now while preserving park space and mature trees for generations to come. 

The Friends of Cudell Commons Park are incredibly grateful for the guidance and support of Honorable Dennis Kucinich, who came to our aid and stood by our side when no other public officials would.

Thank You!