Hall-Sullivan House

Built in 1887 for Richard Allen, now commonly known as the Hall-Sullivan House was home to Cleveland banker Corliss E. Sullivan, the youngest of three children of Jeremiah J. and Selina Sullivan. The younger Sullivan went on to become chairman of the board of the Central National Bank, the bank founded by his father.

The advent of property tax, the pollution of the steel mills in Cleveland’s industrial flats and, the rising cost to heat and to maintain the mansions that lined Millionaire’s Row resulted in their owners moving further east into smaller homes on smaller pieces of land. Corliss and Selina Sullivan moved to Hunting Valley. In 1935, the mansion was dedicated as the Sons of Italy Lodge, and for many years it served as the Coliseum Entertainment Center. The structure in the rear includes an auditorium to seat 200.

The following poems were inspired by the photograph, and are included in Shattered Dreams Revisited, the story of the Death and Rebirth of the Midwest Industrial City, published by Artography Press.

Mansion
Big and quiet,
Vacant and alone,
Many others like it,
Wooden structures dry as a bone.

They’re all the same,
To most they are lame,
Yet, to a few they plea,
Come inside and see!

Joe McGlenn
Montessori High School
9th Grade (in 2012)

Left Behind
Once the spawn
Of a golden age
Of the past
What once was
Gradually fading away
Memories
A reminder
Of what was achievable
Through perspiration
And determination
The paint may peel
But it reveals
A new era
The next chapter
The rebirth
Sturdy and strong
Through a well fought battle
Hope goes on
Seeping through the cracks
Into the soil
Into the air
And hopefully
Into the people
So that someday
We shall overcome

Gabby Valdivieso
Ruffing Montessori School
7th Grade (in 2012)