City Architecture, Inc.

Scope Of Work

The LEED Gold Collinwood Recreation Center provides community gathering spaces, athletic facilities and a Natatorium within a long-time vacated big-box store. This creative transformation takes advantage of the building’s sound structural system, reducing the City’s construction cost and "recycles" much of the building's elements. This approach has gained national attention in identifying ways to repurpose large retail spaces as they are shuttered in our urban communities, often leaving behind blighted properties. The specific property was identified through an outreach process that included residents, neighborhood groups and City of Cleveland officials.

The resulting imitative fills a void in the community and attracts thousands of multi-generational users. Programming and services cater to the diverse population, and the design aims to provide areas for all to interact as well as private spaces. The central corridor of the center is referred to and acts as a “Main Street,” connecting all the visitors with each adjacent spaces. These connections establish the Collinwood Community and Recreation Center as an anchor of the community and a true gathering space by serving as an extension of people’s living rooms, integrating all residents in this true public amenity.