$156,666.10 Cy Pres Directed By Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A.

The Gordon Square Arts District

The Gordon Square Arts District (GSAD) is a unique collaboration of three non-profit organizations: Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT), a 30 year-old cutting-edge professional theatre company; Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO), owner of the Capitol Theatre and an advocate for urban neighborhood revitalization; and Near West Theatre (NWT), a 34 year-old community theatre focused on transforming youth. It is a national model of how the arts can be used as a catalyst for economic development and job creation through preservation and renovation of historic buildings and complimentary new construction. GSAD’s five capital projects are: 1) renovation of the Capitol Theatre into a three-screen art and independent film cinema, completed in 2009; 2) streetscape improvements along Detroit Avenue, completed in 2009; 3) preservation and renovation of CPT properties, phase I complete; 4) new construction for NWT, ready to break ground; and 5) additional surface parking.

Cy Pres Award Donation

This donation will be used to further the work of Near West Theatre through the construction of a new theatre at West 67th Street and Detroit Avenue, where NWT estimates that the number of young people involved in productions will grow from 310 to at least 500 per year. With the ability to produce on a year-round basis and create after-school educational programs, workshops, coffeehouse performances and other projects with low overhead, NWT will increase its transformational impact on the young people of Cleveland. NWT will also, because of this donation, be able to continue to conduct technical theatre workshops held throughout the season to train teens with hands-on experience in set building, stagecraft, electricity, and painting. These are ambitious, finite activities with real, hard deadlines requiring responsibility and commitment. The training sessions also allow youth to be seen as resources, providing opportunities to take on important roles of leadership and responsibility through such activities as resource development and publicity for NWT productions, and allowing them to develop constructive interaction with adults.