Sister Anne Maline, Director of Metro Catholic School in Cleveland, used to gaze at the property adjacent to the school and dream of a garden to provide fitness opportunities and green space for her students. Instead, she had to look at an abandoned, deteriorated eyesore of a house.
That is, until the Cuyahoga Land Bank stepped in and helped Sr. Anne make her dream space a reality.
First, the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization appraised the property and determined that the house could not be salvaged for any future use. The property was then acquired by the Cuyahoga Land Bank, who turned it over to Metro Catholic School, and the house was demolished to make way for healthier pursuits.
“We already have a number of green efforts,” Sr. Anne says, citing the Metro Catholic School’s garden club and plantings at other sites. “This new garden and green space will be an extension of those aims. Our teachers have been trained for this-they’ve attended American Horticultural Society symposiums on youth gardens-and students will grow both produce and decorative plants.”
The progress doesn’t stop with one garden, though. The new property is spacious-about 3,400 square feet-and Sr. Anne is having an outdoor stage built there, where students will present shows surrounded by their own plantings.
“We’re aware that other properties near us are in the process of moving toward acquisition by the Cuyahoga Land Bank,” she says. “We’re landlocked right now, so we’re keeping an eye on those developments. We’re hoping to acquire more properties.”