For immediate release
Contact: Anthoyn Flint 617-503-2116
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (July 16, 2010) – Kathryn J. Lincoln, chair of the board of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, has been named to a task force examining ways to enhance downtown Cleveland.
She was appointed by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson to the Group Plan Commission, a 21st-century successor to the commission of the same name led by architect Daniel Burnham of Chicago in 1903. The Burnham-led initiative led to a collection of formal open space, gardens, lawns, and walkways anchored by neoclassical government buildings such as City Hall.
The original plans called for a grand view leading to a train station by the lakefront, but ultimately enclosed malls and the development known as Public Square were built instead. Now the city would like to re-engineer the downtown-civic center area once again, as plans proceed for a new casino and convention center including permanent exhibit facilities for the medical and healthcare industries.
The Lincoln Institute, the Lincoln family, and Kathryn J. Lincoln have deep roots in Cleveland. Her grandfather, John C. Lincoln, an acclaimed inventor and industrialist who founded the Lincoln Electric Company headquartered there, established the Lincoln Foundation in 1946. Her father, David C. Lincoln, had long service on the Lincoln Electric board, and established the Lincoln Institute in 1974. She also serves on the Lincoln Electric board and in her early years lived in Shaker heights.
In 2006, the Lincoln Institute released the documentary film Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City, the second in the trilogy Making Sense of Place. Representatives of the Lincoln Institute also sponsor and participate in the annual Cleveland Design Competition, which promotes ideas in urban design for downtown and the lakefront.
The challenge for the Group Plan Commission, which met for the first time Thursday July 15, 2010, will include creating an environment that is “lively, populated, safe and beautiful,” according to Cleveland Plain Dealer architecture critic Steve Litt.
Other commission members include Cleveland Caveliers owner and casino developer Dan Gilbert; developer Albert Ratner, co-chairman of Forest City Enterprises; Ronn Richard, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Foundation; Jennifer Coleman, an architect who serves as chairwoman of the city's Design Review Committee and vice chairwoman of the Landmarks Commission; Paul Clark, regional president of PNC Bank; Paul Dolan, president of the Cleveland Indians; Mike Holmgren, president of the Cleveland Browns; Eugene Sanders, chief of Cleveland schools; Henry Meyer III, chairman and chief executive officer of KeyCorp.; Don Misheff, Northeast Ohio managing partner of Ernst & Young; Douglas Miller, executive vice president of Jacobs Real Estate Services; and Felton Thomas, director of the Cleveland Public Library.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a leading resource for key issues concerning the use, regulation, and taxation of land. Providing high-quality education and research, the Institute strives to improve public dialogue and decisions about land policy.
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