Curtis Block

The Lakewood Heritage Planning Commission designated the Curtis Block, a building on the southwest corner of Detroit and Marlowe avenues, as historic. It is owned by the Lakewood Hospital Association.

(Bruce Geiselman, special to cleveland.com)

Lakewood Planning and Development Director Dru Siley addresses the Planning Commission about the future of the Curtis Block building and soon-to-close Lakewood Hospital.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- The Planning Commission voted Thursday to add the Curtis Block building to city's list of historic properties, protecting the building's future.



"The big thing is any modification to the exterior of the building will need to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the Architectural Board of Review," city planner Bryce Sylvester said.



Changes to the exterior would need to be appropriate for a building originally constructed in 1913. Any future owner also would need to go to the architectural board before razing the building.



"It's great," said Hillary Schickler, a member of the Lakewood Heritage Advisory Board and the Lakewood Historical Society. "It only makes sense. We're going to be in a position to preserve what makes our community special."

The Heritage Advisory Board earlier this year requested the historic designation.



The Lakewood Hospital Association, which oversees operations of Lakewood Hospital, owns the building at 14501 Detroit Ave., immediately east of the hospital. The association bought the property, which has vacant storefronts on the first floor and apartments above, 28 years ago. However, with the hospital closing, the city will take over ownership of the land about the end of February, city officials said.



Planning and Development Director Dru Siley said the city administration favored the historic designation.



"We are going to take every reasonable effort to either renovate this building ourselves or cause it to be renovated and brought back to life and put back into use in the heart of our downtown," Siley said.



After renovating the building, the city will try to attract tenants or find a new owner.



"Our primary interest is to get the building back to good use," Sylvester said. "The specific use has yet to be determined."



The Lakewood Heritage Advisory Board, which asked the Planning Commission to grant the historic designation, said the Curtis Block building is at one of only a few remaining intersections with original streetcar-era commercial buildings on all four corners.



"The Curtis Block is one of the most architecturally significant and intact buildings in Lakewood," the board wrote in its application.



The name Curtis Block is engraved in stone tablets on the buildings' face.



Adding to the historical significance, descendants of Joseph and Sarah Curtis Hall, two of Lakewood's earliest settlers, built Curtis Block, Schickler said.

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