CLEVELND HEIGHTS, Ohio — It's a story we've been following for months: the fallout between Heights Libraries and the nonprofits that leased out space in the Coventry PEACE Building.
RELATED: 92% of nonprofits inside Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Building leaving by end of January
A quick recap: The nine core nonprofit tenants of the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Building failed to extend their 18-month leases by an April deadline.
Those nonprofits include:
- Artful
- Building Bridges
- Cleveland Heights Teacher’s Union
- Coventry PEACE Inc.
- Future Heights
- Grace Communion
- Lake Erie Ink
- Reaching Heights
Three recently signed tenants include:
- People’s Choice Payee Services
- DanceCleveland
- Do Good Day Hub
Over the last several months, those nonprofits and the owner of the building, Heights Libraries, have gone back and forth over a solution. An 18-month extension was denied earlier last year.
One of the most recent suggestions was allowing Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Inc. to buy the building for a “symbolic” $1. The Board unanimously rejected that.
RELATED: 'Would be massive loss': Heights Libraries Board rejects $1 purchase of Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Building
The original leases were set to expire on Dec. 31, but Heights Libraries extended it to Jan. 31.
Eleven out of the 12 nonprofits now have less than 30 days to vacate the premises.
The co-founder of Artful, Shannon Morris, described the deconstruction of her organization as a whirlwind of emotions.
"It's not only labor intensive but it's quite emotional,” she said.
Artful has 27 art studios located inside the Coventry PEACE Building.
We stopped by Monday afternoon, and what was once a vibrant space now looks like a construction zone. Walls were broken down, and cleaning supplies were strewn around everywhere.
To keep the process moving, Artful has another two volunteer days coming up: Jan. 12 and Jan. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“The artists are being really great about it. They want to be a part of what's next. We lost more artists than we would hope because they have to keep working, and that's how they make their living so they needed to find a space, so they could continue right away,” Morris explained. “People that are moving with us had the ability to take a pause in their work, or they have a place at home they could work temporarily, but not everybody had that situation. Hopefully, there are several people that have signed short term leases so they can come back.”
Another hit Artful is taking is financially and in more ways than one.
RELATED: 'Do not tear that building down': 6-month timer to decide the fate of Coventry PEACE Building starts
Due to the move, Artful is unable to host two of its largest events. One was supposed to be in January, and another in February.
“I personally don't have the energy to pull that together in time and I don't want to do it halfway,” Morris stated.
With slashing two events and having to move, Artful is having to adjust its budget.
Morris said Heights Libraries gave each nonprofit $1,000 to go towards moving expenses, but that it’s not even a drop in the bucket.
“It’s not going to do anything. It’ll be a little, but we’ll have to take on the rest of that,” Morris added.
Although Artful still hasn’t found its forever home yet and will likely have to pack a storage unit full of supplies for the time being, Morris said she’s hopeful this will just be a minor hiccup in a long journey ahead.
“I don't think we'll lose too much momentum in one year, especially because people will be watching and seeing what we're doing and be excited about it,” Morris said.
Also in the realm of the unknown is Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Inc.
“Mixed emotions for sure. Just yesterday I had a moment where I overwhelmingly felt sad, but today I'm feeling overwhelmingly optimistic because with every challenge you encounter, you rise to the occasion and you find the positives on the other side and that's what we're doing,” Artful Board President and Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Inc. Board Secretary, Brady Dindia said.
While Lake Erie Inc. and the Cleveland Heights Teachers’ Union have signed on to new locations, Dindia said the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Inc. is having a hard time due to needing an accessible mobility venue.
“It's a financial burden for our organizations to absorb on what are already nonprofit budgets, so a lot of the organizations have found ways to try and spread those costs out without taking away from their programming,” Dindia said. “We have to do permitting and architectural drawings. It's a huge burden for us to try and figure out how we're gonna come up with the rebuilding costs.”
Although Dindia said there’s no estimate on how much moving costs will incur, she said every little bit helps.
The organizations are seeking private donors at the time.
“Private donations have the greatest impact and the quickest impact. We certainly can go after certain grants, but it's difficult to find grants for capital expenses, so a lot of expenses or a lot of capital costs are brought in through private donations,” Dindia noted.
With Cleveland Heights priding itself as a “home for the arts,” Dindia said she’d like the two organizations she’s a part of to remain in the area, but there’s not a lot of accommodating space that allows that to happen.
“I have no doubt that we will continue to find a home for the arts in the home for the arts. How quickly it can be done, that's sort of an unknown, but we have a lot of really smart dedicated people,” Dindia said.
With the support from residents and Cleveland Heights City Council members, both Dindia and Morris remain optimistic.
If you’d like to donate to any one of these nonprofits, CLICK HERE.
Artful is also auctioning off a variety of items to help assist with moving expenses. CLICK HERE for more.
