CLEVELAND — Developers of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn’s Memphis and Pearl Revitalization Project sent News 5 an email update on Thursday, which said 90-day notices to vacate were sent during the week of May 20 to the nine existing tenants of the Greenline Building in preparation for its demolition.
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We circled back on Saturday and asked Maria Rodriguez of Maria’s The Barberette Barbershop if she received a 90-day notice to vacate from her building, but she told me she didn’t receive anything.
“I’m trying to get a bunch of people together, so we can try to stop this because they’re doing something not right. I feel it in my heart,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said it makes her break down even more at the thought of having to say goodbye to her shop of 17 years in Old Brooklyn’s Greenline Building.
“The last thing me and my mother did before she passed away, she wanted to make sure I had a spot or whatever. I had this spot. It was established. She passed away. Then I hear about this stuff,” said Rodriguez.
Constance Ewazen, Rodriguez’s next-door neighbor and the President of the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn Museum, said she didn’t receive a 90-day notice to vacate, and her first time hearing about it was when I told her.
“This is going to ruin the integrity of Old Brooklyn, and nobody knows about it to protect it,” said Ewazen.
The only notice Ewazen said she received is a 90-day notice to look for a new place, which she told me about in March when we first started reporting on this story after getting mixed reactions from the community about the changes ahead.
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Meanwhile, the redevelopment team sent the following statement:
Since acquiring the Greenline Building in 2019, Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) has provided tenants with subsidized rent and will continue to do so through the date of vacation. In accordance with the federal Uniform Relocation Act (URA), tenants have received significant financial assistance and individualized relocation support. We remain committed to assisting each tenant through this transition and are hopeful that others in the community will help carry that support forward by welcoming these businesses into new spaces throughout Old Brooklyn.
Ewazen said she has tried looking for a new home for the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn Museum, but nothing is available in the historic business district. She said she doesn’t know where it will go, which museum visitors like Tony Zemla said is upsetting.
“We have a building being knocked down. We need help from the west side of Cleveland,” said Zemla.
