New Ideas for 9 Cleveland Metropolitan School District Sites: CLE Daily
Plus, things to do this weekend in and around Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.
by Ron Ledgard | Sep. 30, 2026 | 5:00 AM
Photograph courtesy NEOtrans
🎤 Cleveland Comedy Festival Kicks Off Today: The 19th annual fest takes over Forest City Brewery in Duck Island through Saturday, with more than 30 comedians hitting the stage. SNL alum Chris Redd headlines Thursday night, and a festival pass runs $100.
☀️ Two Old Cleveland Landfills Are Becoming Solar Farms: The city and Cleveland Public Power broke ground on a combined 10-megawatt solar buildout atop the shuttered Kolthoff Drive and Bradbury/West 11th Street landfills. Kolthoff's roughly 7 MW will help power Hopkins Airport, while the West 11th site's 3 MW goes to CPP customers, with pollinator plantings and a parklet included. An EPA climate grant is covering $14.8 million of the cost, with power expected to flow by January 2028.
ICYMI: Remember the Cleveland Orchestra that shut down performances last week? The Musical Arts Association and the players' union ratified a new three-year contract Sunday, ending the walkout. The orchestra departed Tuesday for a three-week European tour as planned.
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Today's Trivia
What Cleveland philanthropist and poet endowed book awards in 1935 in honor of her father and husband?
Development: New end users are identified for nine Cleveland Metropolitan School District sites.
By Ken Prendergast, NEOtrans
The city has picked new futures for nine shuttered CMSD school buildings, with developers lined up for senior affordable housing, social services, arts space and elder care. The selections cap a request-for-proposals process that began in May and included community meetings on how each site should be reused.
The Big One: Collinwood High School, the largest building in the RFP at 345,000 square feet, will become affordable apartments for adults 55 and older, redeveloped by Boston's WinnCompanies and Lyndhurst-based First Interstate Properties.
Elsewhere: ThirdSpace Action Lab will turn the former Michael R. White School into a racial-equity hub, CMHA will redevelop Dike School of the Arts, and Canopy Child Advocacy Center is relocating into Bolton School in Fairfax.
Worth Noting: Three schools from the original 12-site RFP — Adlai Stevenson, Louisa May Alcott and Alfred A. Benesch — weren't included in this round, with no word yet on their fate. Next up: the city and CMSD negotiate the land exchanges.
Talk of the Town
Ohio lawmakers return to Columbus today to vote on a 90-day gas tax suspension. The pause would cost the state an estimated $640 million to $700 million in lost revenue, and GOP leaders scheduled the special session specifically to get it done before the fall.
A new Ohio House bill would send $360 million to schools struggling with special education costs. House Bill 1012, from Reps. Andrea White and Cindy Abrams, aims to reimburse districts once their special-ed spending crosses a set threshold, as disability enrollment continues climbing statewide.
Cleveland City Council held its second public hearing on data centers Tuesday at City Hall. It's part of a three-meeting series — with one more set for Oct. 7 at Gunning Rec Center — gathering resident input while a three-month pause on new standalone data center projects stays in effect.
Cleveland is putting $1 million toward bringing a modular home manufacturer to the Central neighborhood. MMY US plans to set up in a vacant industrial property at 7000 Central Ave. as part of the city's Midline District push.
CMHA is redeveloping the Olde Cedar site in Central with 62 new multi-family units. The project, spread across 12 buildings, comes from a partnership between The Finch Group Housing Resources and RDL Architects.
Things To Do: Comedy, Browns-Steelers and art shows are available this weekend.
By Jeff Niesel
Bert Kreischer at Rocket Arena | Comedy | Oct. 3
Not many comedians have fought a grizzly bear. In his 2005 TV movie Hurt Bert, Bert Kreischer not only comes face to face with a ferocious (yet ultimately harmless) bear but lives to tell you about it in his nationally successful comedy act. Kreischer makes his way to Cleveland this week for a stand-up show at 7 p.m. at Rocket Arena. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketarena.com
Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field | Sports | Oct. 1
The Browns go up against their longtime rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in this nationally televised matchup that takes place at 8:15 p.m. at Huntington Bank Field. 100 Alfred Lerner Way, 440-891-5000, huntingtonbankfield.com
MIX: Noche de Ritmos at Cleveland Museum of Art | Arts | Oct. 2
This special monthly party at the Cleveland Museum of Art celebrates Latin Heritage Month with a performance by local musician Son Gitano. It begins at 6 p.m. 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org
Cleveland Pickle Fest | Festival | Oct. 3
From sweet and spicy to dill, all shapes, sizes and flavors of pickled cucumbers are included in this free, family-friendly event. Restaurants from around Cleveland are set to offer up all kinds of pickle-themed dishes at this event that also includes live music. Gates open at 11 a.m. Mall C, off Lakeside Avenue, clevelandpicklefest.com
Michael Franti Trio at House of Blues | Music | Oct. 4
The lanky singer and rapper brings his trio to House of Blues. Franti uses his inspirational concerts that draw from reggae, rock and hip-hop to spread positive vibrations, so you can expect this to be a rousing good time. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com
For our full list of things to do, visit clevelandmagazine.com/things-to-do.
Yesterday's Trivia Answer
This Cleveland Heights apartment complex, designed in the Spanish-Moorish style, was originally built in 1923 as a hotel. The Alcazar
Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question.
From the Editor
Cleveland has a rich scene of food festivals throughout the year — whether it's pickles, garlic, tacos, meatballs, espresso martinis, margaritas or macaroni and cheese. I've attended quite a few, but Pickle Fest is one I haven't made it to. As crazy as it sounds, I only started eating pickles about a year ago, and even still, I'm pretty picky about what kind of pickles I will actually eat.
My favorite kind of food event is simply trying a new restaurant on any available Saturday night I have. Perhaps that will be my weekend plans. If you'd like to follow in my footsteps, check out our roundup of Cleveland's best restaurants. I use it as a checklist.
— Julia Lombardo, Associated Editor
Let us know what is on your mind at conversation@clevelandmagazine.com.
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Ron Ledgard
Ron Ledgard is Cleveland Magazine's managing editor and a Pittsburgh native who has made his peace with Cleveland (except on Sundays). He's a University of Pittsburgh graduate, a veteran of The Athletic and the Akron Beacon Journal, and was there for every chapter of LeBron's Cleveland story. After two decades of chasing deadlines and box scores, he's happily landed in magazines. He's a sucker for a long story done right, the kind you save for a Sunday morning (before kickoff, of course). When he isn't editing, he's out on a trail, trying a new restaurant or hunting for the next great thing to do. Sports is his subject of choice, and coffee is his fuel. Most Starbucks baristas in the area greet him like the Cheers crowd greeted Norm.
