MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio – During a meeting of the city council’s full committee on Monday November 8th, councilors heard of the latest changes being made in plans for the city’s expected new community center / swimming pool.
Christopher Trotta from the construction and design company LevelHEADS met the public on October 25th in today’s community center to inform the residents about the plan at the time. On Monday, Trotta informed council members that the new community center building will now be moved 30 degrees so that it will be built further away from the existing power lines at the site, a few meters west of the current DeJohn Community Center, 6306 Marsol Road, and I-271 in the North. The building, which shields the pool area from the freeway, will also run parallel to I-271, allowing developers to maximize the water retention area behind the building.
“We think it’s safer this way,” Trotta said, noting that the gym, whose gabled roof will be the tallest part of the building, would be the closest part of the building to the power lines, and construction workers wouldn’t have to get in are in the immediate vicinity of these lines.
In another change, the designers eliminated the planned splash areas for the pool area, saving the project’s $ 17 million budget by approximately $ 500,000.
“It (the splash area) was the lowest on the list from the standpoint of the community’s needs and wants for the water center,” Trotta said. “But some of the functions (of the splash floor), the water features, will be built into the pool with zero depth so that we don’t really lose this ability.” Trotta said again that removing the splash floor will improve the safety of the water center and an extension of the planned one Playground would allow.
The south side of the community center will have a deck for yoga classes and other activities, and a two-meter high fence will be installed to add proivity to residents of neighboring Sunningdale Road to the west. Trotta said the common room in the new center will accommodate 225 people with tables and chairs and 500 people with just chairs. The gym can accommodate 720 people for events.
At the request of City Councilor Michael Ballistrea, Trotta said the demolition of the current community center would likely happen in the late first quarter of 2022, perhaps in late March. Trotta noted construction costs are increasing and construction manager Albert M. Higley Co. is working to keep the project on budget.
Trotta provides the council with regular monthly updates on the planning of the project.
DiCicco is back
Mayor Anthony DiCicco attended his first council meeting since late August after being hospitalized for treatment for COVID. DiCicco told the crowd that he was “not 100 percent” but that he was glad to be back. During his hospital stay, DiCicco also witnessed the deaths of his mother and father.
DiCicco said he now works his regular time at City Hall and at his family business DiCicco & Sons Funeral Home, 5975 Mayfield Road, using oxygen.
His duties during Monday’s council meeting included an emotional DiCicco reading a resolution praising the late councilor Donna Finney for her service to the city. Finney, a former member of the Mayfield School Board, served on the council from 2006-13 and again from 2016 until her death from cancer on September 9th that year. Finney was President of the City Council in 2018 and 2019. DiCicco read the resolution aloud when several of Finney’s family members stood before him.
Local business news
During the mayor’s report, DiCicco said of companies opening soon or already opening in Mayfield Heights. Heading into the Golden Gate Shopping Center is Ross Dress for Less, a chain of discount department stores headquartered in California. Also, the Guitar Center just opened on November 4th at 1547 Golden Gate Drive, moving from its former location on Mayfield Road within the city.
Meanwhile, the BIBIBOP Asian Grill is opening at the Eastgate Shopping Center on SOM Center Road, and the Barking Broadway Pet Grooming Salon has opened at 5823 Mayfield Road. Barking Broadway was previously located at 5199 Mayfield Road.
Larry Ottino, developer and owner of the Mayland property, 5868 Mayfield Road, also attended the council meeting on Monday. Ottino said Starbucks recently opened on the former Sonic site and construction is slated to begin on Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers this week. At its meeting on Monday, the council approved a canopy for the passage of the Raising Cane.
In addition, Ottino said work is expected to begin on the main street leading to the mall on Thursday (November 11). This main drag is right across Mayfield Road from Mayfield Ridge Road. Ottino said Sheetz, the gas station / grocery store / grocery store, is likely to start construction in Mayland in February.
Election results
Mayfield Heights voters have re-elected four incumbents to fill the four council seats for this year’s election. For the time being, councilors Donald Manno, Robert DeJohn and Michael Ballistrea and councilor Susan Sabetta won after the unofficial results of Cuyahoga County’s electoral committee. A recount takes place as Manno finished with 1,353 votes just nine votes ahead of fifth-placed and Finney’s daughter Jessica Finney Brown.
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