I want to share something I have been working toward, and to invite all of you into the conversation as it takes shape.
Our village hall is over a century old. It was last meaningfully renovated in the 1960s, and the spaces our police officers and firefighters work in no longer meet the needs of the people who serve our community. At the same time, some of the most beautiful land in the village, the river frontage along the Chagrin, is presently given over to a salt shed and a waste dump. We have, in other words, both a real need and a rare opportunity sitting side by side.
I believe we can address both at once. Picture a single, well-designed home for our police, fire, and village hall, built in a style that belongs in Gates Mills. Picture that waste dump and salt shed gone, and the riverfront returned to the people who live here. Picture a wellness center with an indoor pickleball court, so that residents no longer have to leave the village to play through our long winters, along with accessible space for activities such as yoga and tai chi, and a walking path of a mile or two beside the river. This is the kind of future I believe is within our reach.
To help us see what is genuinely possible, I have engaged an architect whose name many of you will recognize.
Dick Kawalek has been a registered architect for 52 years and has worked on many projects in Gates Mills over the last 40 years. He has been a member of the Architectural Review Board for 29 years, during which time he was instrumental in the revitalization of the downtown commercial district and additions to municipal facilities.
Dick is preparing a preliminary conceptual plan that will show, in clear visual form, what could be built and where on village property. This is a starting point for discussion, not a finished decision. The goal is to give all of us something concrete to look at, react to, and shape together.
I am funding this initial concept personally, as a donation, so that the village can explore the idea at no cost to taxpayers before any larger conversation about funding takes place.
I will be posting here regularly as the work develops, sharing the plans and the thinking behind them as they come together. I hope you will follow along, ask questions, and tell me what you think. This is our village center, and its future is worth building together.