It was August 6, 2008. As I sat in the City Club for the first of the two Downtown Dialogues to explore an expanded downtown role for the Jewish community, I remembered that about 100 years earlier Federation (then The Federation of Jewish Charities) opened its first office of its own in that building at Ninth and Euclid. (Many of us still call it the Citizens Building.) Most Jews lived from the East 20's, 30's and 40's, but those who could afford it were in the newest housing around East 55th. Had they wanted to be near their donors and agencies, they should have been at 55th and Woodland. But they chose to be in the heart of the city.

In the CJN report of September 18, 2008 [read story], Federation chair Harley Gross said "The deal to buy the Science Park building, just south of the intersection of Richmond and South Woodland Roads, will close at the end of September." The CJN reporter interviewed Mr. Gross the day after the 9/11/2008 decision. We must then assume that the building had already been selected, all the "due diligence" investigation done and the negotiations concluded, with a contract signed pending Board approval. This, however, was not reported.

Thus, on July 30, 2008, only 19 days after the announcement of the decision to move its operations to Beachwood, a deed was filed [view deed] to record Federation's purchase of the former Lamson and Sessions Building at 25701 Science Park Drive in Beachwood.  Per a story in Crain's Cleveland Business, Federation's Centennial Fund paid $7.2 million for the 68,500 square-foot building. The choice was a simple, impressive looking office building in Science Park in Beachwood, east of Richmond Road and south of South Woodland.

In an October 24, 2008 Cleveland Jewish News story of the purchase quotes Federation Board Chair Harley Gross:

It reports that the downtown presence (part of the 9/11/2008 resolution) will be the Community Relations Committee and Federation president Stephen H. Hoffman and that they will also have offices in Beachwood.  [read CJN story]

In March 2009 budgetary considerations related to the economic downturn of late 2008 caused Federation to cut its staff from more than 130 to about 100 - still twice the number it employed in 1963.

In September 2009  Federation announced that the Mandel Family will be granting $16 million to purchase and renovate the Beachwood building. The announcement stated that "The building, located at 25701 Science Park Drive, was purchased for $7.225 million last October through a Mandel Foundation grant." Source: Federation blog 9/16.2009

In a July 15, 2010 report Federation President Stephen Hoffman noted that the Welcome Center was one of many ideas competing to be the future use of the 1750 Euclid Avenue building. [read Plain Dealer story].



Webkeeper's note
We are unable to find an announcement or news report that mentions the decision for all of Federation's staff (not just the operating staff per the September 11, 2008 resolution), to move to Beachwood, ending its downtown presence. We continue to search.  ●