Brent Eysenbach speaks at a gathering about advocates' efforts to save mature trees in Cudell Commons.CLEVELAND, Ohio – The final wishes of a prominent early 20th-century Clevelander are at the heart of a simmering feud between the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and some residents in the city’s Cudell neighborhood who are determined to stop construction of a sprawling school campus on a forested park.
Judge Nancy Margaret Russo on Tuesday granted the restraining order until Oct. 30, while the parties seek a settlement - provided the plaintiffs can come up with a $25,000 bond by 4 p.m. Thursday. “There was a planning process, it changed, and the community was left out of that change,” Eysenbach said.
In a prepared statement read aloud at Wednesday’s gathering, Rev. Dean Van Farowe, pastor of Calvary Reformed Church in Cleveland, provided more details. He said that during a March 2022 school construction meeting, a site plan was shared that protected the mature trees on the north side of the park and set aside the existing school’s location for new greenspace. But during a subsequent meeting in October 2022, a revised site plan was revealed that didn’t provide the same land protection.
CMSD issued a letter to the Marion Seltzer School community Wednesday announcing the court ruling and the subsequent pause on construction plans.