This was the fifth run of the North Collinwood neighborhood.
Map: Run 1
Distance This Run: 6.5 miles
Distance So Far: 605.9 miles
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| R&D Sausage (15714 Waterloo Rd) has been a staple in North Collinwood for decades. The business was owned forever by Joe Zuzak but was recently purchased by Colin Brown of Gifted Grass Farms. Brown kept a lot of Zuzak's recipes (e.g. smoked Croatian and Slovenian sausages) while incorporating some of his own farm-raised meats. He's a fan of Youngstown and has some good friends there. So, he hooked me up with some homemade sauerkraut to go with my bounty of goods and made me a forever customer by doing so (actually, he had me at 'fan of Youngstown'). |
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| Northbound pachyderm on Ridpath Ave. |
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| The former Immanuel Presbyterian Church (326 E. 156th St.) was built in 1906. It was designed by Cleveland architect Herman Maurer who was also a chemist, designed 10 other churches in the city (and invented the double accordion folding walls used in churches and schools), and died at the age of 99 in St. Luke's Hospital. The building is designated Cleveland landmark. However, the state took possession of the property through forfeiture in 2018. It was transferred to a (legit?) Egyptian fine linen business named after a Tony award-winning actress this past September but the building remains in significant disrepair. |
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| Statley-looking house on Grovewood Ave. |
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| The Shorewood Apartments (15500 Lakeshore Blvd) was built in 1961 and offers 151 units about two blocks from the lake. |
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| In 2018, the Praxis Fiber Workshop (15301 Waterloo Road) leased two parcels from the City Land Bank and turned abandoned soil on this lot into an indigo garden. Through exploring indigo, they seek to "examine a troubled history of discrimination and racism in our country, connect with our neighbors, and acknowledge harmful environmental impacts of synthetic dyes". They offer classes, an open studio and even a digital weaving lab. |
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| Loved the stacked-style design of this house on Grovewood Ave. |
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| Cleveland’s Community Gardening program, Summer Sprout, has been in existence since 1976. This garden is located on the corner of W. 156th & Corsica Ave. |
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| Jan Dean was ultra-dedicated resident of the neighborhood. According to her obituary, she was a member of the Cleveland City Club, Cleveland Police Auxiliary 5thDistrict, Co-Chair of the Fifth District Safety Committee, a precinct committee person for the Democratic Ward Club, and was a on the Board of the Golden Age Center. Also received the Collinwood 'Hall of Fame' award in 2012. She passed away in 2015 at the age of 93. |
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| The owner of this barber shop on E. 156th St. saw me take this photo and apologized for not repairing the bottom portion of the mural, which a car hit. I told him it still looked pretty cool. |
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| These guys - located at 325 E. 156th Street - were installed when the former Northeast Shores Community Development Corporation owned this building and parcel where they are located (it was their HQ). It was also the founding home location of Twelve Literary Arts, an organization that offers literary arts programming for youth and writing workshops for adults while operating as a small performance venue for emerging poets, hip-hop artists, and playwrights (they later moved to Glenville). Northeast Shores merged with the neighborhood development corporation south of I-90 to form Greater Collinwood CDC. They sold this property in 2019. Note: the mural in the background was done by Cleveland native Dan Isaac Bortz. |
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| I'm not sure what was going on here. My guess is that it's either a very elaborate kid's playhouse or the tiniest ADU ("mother-in-law house") ever, which is cool either way. The lot was fenced off so I couldn't get a close up inspection. |
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This mural - along with many others - were installed around 2015 as part of the Zoetic Walls exhibit which brought both local and international artists to North Collinwood. This one was painted by Canton artist Steve Ehret, who describes himself as "The Man Behind the Monsters."
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| The Slovenian Workmen’s Home (15335 Waterloo Road) was opened in 1927 as a social, cultural, athletic and civic hub. In the 1930s, a school and gymnastics program was added. Over its 90+ year existed, it has hosted countless polka parties, weddings, fish fries and special events. The basement still contains ballina (bocce) courts but also once had bowing alleys and an archery range. Today, it’s currently owned by a group of investors including Cindy Barber and Eric Hanson from Beachland Ballroom. It’s popular ballroom will soon become a jazz club called the Treelawn. Here’s a good article on the new plans for the building. |
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| Old school chillin' curbside (literally, it was on the sidewalk) on Waterloo. |
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| The intersection of E. 152 & Daniel Ave is also known as "Frankie Yankovic Square", named in honor of "Cleveland's Polka King". Yankovic grew up in Collinwood and would go on to become a Grammy-award winning polka musician, selling millions of albums with Columbia Records. The location of this intersection is near where Yankovic owned a night club which was eventually demolished to build I-90. |
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"If Cleveland is the home of 'rock and roll', then Waterloo is the basement rec room where we turn the music up." That's how the Waterloo Arts & Entertainment District - which spans from E. 152 to E. 161 on Waterloo Ave and includes numerous art galleries, music venues and bars and restaurants - describes itself. Art programing in the neighborhood began as far back at the 1960s as a way to address racial tensions. By the 1990s, the neighborhood had reached rock bottom but became an attractive location for artists given the cheap rents. Starting in the early 2000s, the art community began to have a more formal presence along Waterloo. It's now become a cultural and entertainment destination in Cleveland, with signature events such as the 'Walk All Over Waterloo' first Fridays and the Waterloo Arts Fest each summer. You can read on the neighborhood and district at Cleveland Historical here.
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Waterloo Arts (15605 Waterloo Road) is the non-profit engine behind the arts district and the Waterloo Arts Fest. The building (acquired in 2004) features the Waterloo Art Gallery, the (former) Callaloo Cafe, artist studios, and a large community center space for classes, rehearsals and performances.
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This building at 15515 Waterloo Road was redeveloped in recent years and opened as art gallery space. It is currently home to experimental exhibition studio KINK Contemporary.
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| Six Shooter Coffee (15613 Waterloo Rd) is Collinwood's coffee shop. Owner Peter Brown started Six Shooter Coffee in 2014 out of the basement of his house on his free time while teaching during the day. In 2015, he and his fiancée Tara decided to making coffee a full-time endeavor. In March of 2016, 3 months after getting married; Peter and Tara opened Six Shooter Coffee at their first location near E. 161st and Waterloo. In 2020, they moved to down the street to 15613 Waterloo. For a short period of time, they also had a spot in the West Bank of the Flats and recently announced plans to open on Pearl Road in Old Brooklyn (former Coffee Coffee Coffee spot). Additional facts: Peter travels to the Dominican Republic with local non profits to help run medical clinics and other community building work. Six Shooter also pledges a portion of their proceeds to organizations empowering people reentering society from incarceration. The name Six Shooter comes from President LBJ who used to serve coffee on his ranch in Texas. His coffee was said to be so strong it could float a revolver. As the coffee shop notes: "While Six Shooter Coffee may not actually float a revolver, it will certainly float you through your day". |
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| The iconic Beachland Ballroom & Tavern (15711 Waterloo Road) officially opened its doors on March 2nd, 2000. Owners Cindy Barber and Mark Leddy (who was the booker for the iconic Cleveland venue Pat’s in the Flats) worked together to convert the old Croatian Liberty Hall on Waterloo Road in the Collinwood neighborhood into the eclectic live music venue that the Beachland is today. Keeping key original details and maintaining the vintage vibe and authenticity of the building was a priority. Most nights the Beachland operates two separate shows - in the main ballroom (500) and the tavern (150) - a full kitchen featuring homemade and locally sourced menu items, an extensive beer selection, and even a vintage shop in the basement called This Way Out. The Beachland is the anchor of the district and a massively important venue for live music in Cleveland. |
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Waterloo 7 Studio/Gallery (15315 Waterloo Rd) is the working studio of Jerry Schmidt his son Tyler Schmidt, and his grandson Nathan. Jerry’s father Fred Schmidt was a well-known metal sculptor in Cleveland, Ohio. Jerry and Tyler create indoor and outdoor sculptures for private collectors and corporate collections. They create large and small works in steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and copper. Jerry’s work is held in the permanent collections of Hilton Cleveland Downtown, Hotel University Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, the Peter B Lewis Building on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and at the Cleveland VA Medical Center.
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This vacant lot on Waterloo was the site of the house bombing of notorious gangster Danny Greene in 1975 (photos and story here). Incredibly, Green survived the blast. The mural is a bit of tongue-in-cheek reference to the incident.
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| Citizen Pie (15710 Waterloo Road) was founded by Lithuanian immigrant Vytauras Sasnaukas who began making pizza for friends back during the Cold War era. When the war ended and his country received its independence, Vytauras attended culinary school to enhance his skills. He moved to Cleveland in 1996 and learned English by reading cookbooks. He first opened a restaurant in nearby Brantenhal but narrowed his focus and opened up his first of three Citizen Pie shops on Waterloo in 2016 with partners Paulius Nasvytis (of the legendary Velvet Tango Room) and Claudia Young (who is also an investor in Cleveland Chain Reaction). It's consistently named one of the best pizza joints in Cleveland. |
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| Blue Arrow Records (16001 Waterloo Rd) features a wide ranging selection of vintage vinyl, cassettes, music memorabilia, books, pulp fiction, vintage magazines, rock t-shirts & vintage posters. Owner Pete Gulyas personally renovated the 1300 square foot space, creating the iconic floor that he covered entirely with vintage album covers. The shop also helps spearhead the Waterloo Alley Cat Project. |
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Pop Life (15619 Waterloo Road) opened a few years ago and serves as a yoga and wellness studio, art gallery, juice bar and crafty apparel/art/homeware shop. It is the creation of owner Jack Mueller, a Shaker Heights native, who previously lived in California as a vintage furniture and art shop owner while also teaching yoga. The building was built in 1927 and served as a bank for most of its existence. It's easily one of if not THE most colorful buildings in Cleveland thanks to the work of London-based artist Camille Walala.
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Also installed as part of Zoetic Walls, this large mural is best visible from the Sunoco gas station parking lot at the corner of Waterloo and E 156. The mural is the work of Argentinian artist Ever, who has created murals all over the world.
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| Even water conservation efforts are artistic on Waterloo. |
