Demolition Begins on Lakewood Office Building, Garage; Land Cleared for Emergency Department

LAKEWOOD, OH - Demolition of the professional office building and adjacent parking garage at the corner of Belle and Detroit Avenues has begun. That land will make way for the Cleveland Clinic's new Family Health Center, which includes a 24 hour Emergency Department.

Fencing at the site recently arrived, and the interior work in the office building — including asbestos abatement, which began several weeks ago — is nearing completion. Demolition crews have begun to tear down the parking garage. Nearby business owners and residents were alerted to the shifting parking and traffic patterns. The demolition of the parking garage and office building is expected to last approximately three months.

“These are important steps for the transformation of our local healthcare delivery system, focused on the overwhelming trends toward early detection and prevention of health-related issues,” said Mayor Michael Summers. “We want the residents nearby to be aware of these changing temporary traffic, parking, pedestrian shifts during demolition and construction.”

How Will Traffic Be Impacted:

• Most of the truck traffic will be managed using Belle Avenue entrance and exit into and out of the site. The city will remove or bag the meters on the east of Belle just south of Detroit Avenue.
• There will be a “No Left Turn” sign at Belle and Detroit. A “Left Turn Detour” sign will be placed at St Charles to route traffic using St Charles and Center Way North.
• The city is coordinating with the contractor the final dates for demolition of bridge over Belle Avenue, requiring Belle Avenue to be closed for approximately three days.
• The crosswalk across Detroit Avenue from the northwest corner to the southwest corner will be closed. Jersey barriers will extend across the crosswalk to maintain safe pedestrian access on the south side of Detroit Avenue.
• Hours of work are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday; no work will occur on Sundays.
• A marked crosswalk on Belle south of the site will be provided.
• The site fencing will go back over the parking along the north edge during construction of the new garage beginning in May 2017.

Watch the demolition below:

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch