For Sale: Cuyahoga County Public Library Branch

The Telling Mansion is for sale.

The Telling Mansion has been home to the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library since 1952. Quoting directly from a Library webpage, “Mr. Fiske (Library Board President from 1946-1954) recognized the potential of the Telling mansion, knew it was for sale, and felt the unique building should be preserved for use as a public library”.

On October 30, 2012 the current Library Board President, Robert Varley, and the Library Director, Sari Feldman, put Telling Mansion on the market. Mr. Varley was appointed by the Court of Common Pleas and is the registered lobbyist for Dominion Gas Company.

Most people think that because Telling Mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places that it is protected.  Is this true?

No. We asked the Cleveland Restoration Society about this; Telling has no protection as federal funds were never used to renovate it (please see the attached document)

Is Telling Mansion being sold because it is not ADA compliant?

 No. The Library is currently considered in compliance with ADA . But the Library has needed an elevator for many years. If the Library administration were concerned about the people who use the building, particularly people with disabilities, why didn’t they install an elevator in Telling Mansion many years ago? Installing an elevator costs $400,000 vs. $12.5 million for a new building.  

CCPL administration is co-opting people with disabilities in order to force a new Library on a community that does not want one. (That sounds silly, doesn’t it? Forcing a new library on a community that wants to keep their historic and beautiful library.)

Everyone reading this has a friend or family member who has a disability. Any of us can become disabled and that won't mean that we will no longer want or need beautiful and interesting public spaces.

The proposed new library site is further away from the high school, bus routes and the city of Lyndhurst. And, it will rip up 5 acres of greenspace along Nine Mile Creek, contributing to further watershed management problems, less wildlife habitat and degradation of water and air quality.

If the community's well being mattered to the Library board, why didn’t they choose a site that had vacant or unsightly buildings and build there?--that would have contributed to the area’s economic vitality.

If the Library abandons Telling Mansion, years from now people will ask: “Why didn’t the people in the community save this historic building—didn’t they care?”

”Why didn’t they prevent their own demise?”

Now is the time to act to save Telling Mansion.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP? The community must display a show of force.

You can help by attending a public meeting convened by Councilperson Sunny Simon on Monday, November 19th at 7pm at the South Euclid Community Center; 1370 Victory Drive; 216-291-0771. 

Please bring as many people as you can to help our community demand that Councilperson Sunny Simon and other elected officials save historic Telling Mansion.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

You can contact the group Save the SE-L Mansion Library by emailing savethemansionlibrary@gmail.com or by calling 216-694-8304.