Joint Letter – May 2024
Joint letter from the nonprofits of Coventry PEACE Campus.
May 28, 2024
On the evening of Monday, May 20th, 2024, the board of Heights Libraries voted to place the tenants of the Coventry PEACE Campus on 6 month leases beginning July 1 of this year. The 6 month leases will be followed by month-to-month agreements that begin January 1, 2025 and both landlord (Cleveland Heights – University Heights Library) and tenants will have the right to terminate with 60 days notice. They also voted to give the Library Director (Nancy Levin) permission to conduct a study on the future use of the building, including one public feedback meeting, which is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2024. They have also directed the Library Director to “reject any unsolicited offers to purchase any Library-owned real property” and to terminate business with their leasing agent for the Coventry PEACE Building. With these developments it will be critical that the Library and their representatives communicate with us in a clear, timely and transparent manner.
The nonprofits of Coventry PEACE have been in constant discussions regarding these developments and are working together on next steps and what we can do to help each other. This affects every organization differently and it is our hope that there is a path forward that makes all of our transitions as smooth as possible, and ensures the continued success of each of our organizations without jeopardizing critical funding and scheduled programming. For just ARTFUL and Building Bridges, this could mean relocating the approximately 40+ artists that work in their spaces who all have spent money and resources outfitting their studios.
The love and respect our organizations have for each other and for our community cannot be undermined or broken. And, for as long as we can, we will continue to bring you free events open to the public like PEACE Pops, Open Mics, our Juneteenth Exhibit, Lantern Festival, and more.
As things progress, we will share all that information with you. If you have interest in volunteering to help us with our relocation search, or want to join either our communications team or advisory committee, or even if you want to help make our last events at Coventry as special as possible, we welcome your support. And, of course, sharing information about our organizations and events on your social media is always a huge help. We just released a series of short videos we’d love for you to watch and share:
To say we are heartbroken is an understatement – we have cried, yelled and everything in between. But we are already catching our breath and looking to the future. As artists, educators and creative community collaborators, we are also eternal optimists, and what we do, what we add to our community is too important to be stopped. We will persevere, and with your help and support, we will continue to thrive in ways that bring love, creativity and joy to those that we serve. You have our deepest gratitude for all that you have done for each of our nonprofits over the last many years. We hope you will stand up for us and this special building again when the Library hosts their public meeting to gather input on what you want them to do with the building.
Thank you most sincerely,
The Nonprofits of Coventry PEACE Campus
How you can help right now...
If you have ever had some connection to any of our member organizations or events, we really need you to inform the leadership at the CH-UH Library and City Hall that you are concerned about our welfare. They have heard directly from those of us who work for these organizations or serve on their boards over and over again, but you are the ones they simply cannot ignore.
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What is Coventry PEACE Campus?
When the school district sought to divest itself from the former Coventry Elementary School building in 2017, leaving its future uncertain, the leaders of all the tenant organizations and a broad base of community supporters came together in a grassroots movement to propose ways to preserve and grow the thriving culture and service ecosystem that had organically taken root there. From this effort, the Coventry PEACE Campus came into being. Coventry P.E.A.C.E., Inc. is the non-profit overseeing the maintenance, sustainability, renovation and development of the Coventry PEACE Building, which houses several local nonprofits. It is our goal to provide an accessible, sustainable, more efficient, and affordable home for these nonprofits, and to attract new organizations to the building.
