We had a water main break in the middle of downtown last night, at the intersection of E. 9th St. and Rockwell. E. 9th is the main street in town for connecting to I-90, I-71 and I-77, and the main busted in the middle of rush hour.
When I left work at 5:15 last night, and pulled out of my parking garage, there was already almost six inches of standing water on St. Clair from E. 12th to almost E. 6th. I had to drive through it, and it was getting higher and higher, washing up over the sidewalks.
There is now a big hole in the middle of the street, all the Cleveland public and parochial schools are closed, and there is no water pressure to speak of for about 50 blocks. All this, and a bunch of new snowfall. Wheeeee!
“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather
Yes Homeboy,I hate it here! Though you know in our suburb,its okay.Except for the blizzard.And you wonder why I want to move south?Do you like it here Phil?The weather?The mayor(ha ha).
Well, at least that nasty Cuyahoga River fire has been extinguished. How much snow you guys getting? We got about 3 or 4 inches last night over here in Toodleyville.
What do I believe in? Not much that isn’t explained by logic and scientific experiment. And, you better believe, I want to see the logic and the laboratory equipment.
–P.J. O’Rourke–
Any of you guys remember Bond’s, the men’s clothing store on East 9th and Euclid, NW corner? They tore it down around 1979, to build the big fucking ugly building currently on the site…Bond’s was a STUNNING example of Googie-style architecture, a real jewel on the downtown landscape. Looked like it had just beamed down from Mars.
There used to be a burlesque theater just north of it on Ninth, and, a little further up, the first head-shop I ever patronized. The proprietor taught me how to roll single-paper joints…
Ahhhhhh, '70s Cleveland memories. What I wouldn’t give to be able to spend an afternoon wandering around the old Kay’s Books on Prospect Ave…the Arcade before it was renovated all to hell…the hookers with the platform shoes and HUGE Afros…
Now if only you guys lived in the best city in Ohio- Cincinnati. No snow, no rain, just a nice windchill of 25 degrees.
“People must think it must be fun to be a super genuis,
But they don’t realize how hard it is
to put up with all the idiots in the world.”
– Calvin and Hobbes
(__) /
Unfortunately, Uke, I’m only 30 (please don’t hit me), and lived outside of Ohio from 1974-1982 anyway, so I never saw a lot of the old Cleveland architecture. Needless to say, it’s only getting worse, with the skyline now dominated by the Bank One building, the BP building, and Key Center.
I’ve got bad news for you, though: The old Arcade will soon be no more. It’s being turned into a 294-room Hyatt Hotel. And the Euclid and Colonial Arcades are becoming a 192-room Marriott.
“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather
Holy SHIT! The Colonial Arcade…with that little occult bookshop…the place I bought all my copies of Aleister Crowley’s books…and the comix shop where I got R. Crumb’s CARLOAD 'O COMICS in 1977…
Still got my old copy of HOWL (price: $.75) from Kay’s…and the Schirmer editions of Bach’s preludes and fugues, edited by Schweitzer and Widor, from the old music shop in the BIG Arcade…
…they’re making them into HOTELS???
Blecch. I went back to Ohio, and my city was gone.
I think I’ll take your broken water main. There’s a major haz-mat spill on the freeway between me and work right now, which has the whole thing shut down, so I’m still home, trying to figure out how to get to work by surface streets.
The Arcade is toast?! Curses, wailing and spit. Spent a fair amount of time in Cleveland during the 2nd round of grad school. Neat city, and it doesn’t deserve the joking it gets.
Of course as a Cincinnatian, I have to agree w/ Imthecowgodmoo about the manifest superiority of Cinti in terms of beauty, vitality and graciousness. (insert the smiley of your choice here)
Saw the flood coverage on the news and it looked wicked. I couldn’t imagine the city streets flooded knee-deep. The shots of people staggering in suits through the water were boggling. And in winter…::shiver::
