Browse Interviews

In this undated interview, Salvatore Ronald Felice, retired purchasing and stores superintendent of CTS and later RTA, talks about his experiences with mass transit in Cleveland from the early 1950s until the time of his retirement in the late 1980s. Mr. Felice, who was born in Alliance, Ohio, in 1935, came to Cleveland with his family in the early 1940s, living on the east side near the intersection of Cedar and Fairhill Roads. This was an Italian neighborhood and he talks about what the…

Norman Krumholz, Professor of Urban Studies at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, served as Planning Director for the City of Cleveland from 1969-79. As Planning Director, Krumholz helped establish the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) in 1975. In this 2006 interview, he gives his opinion on some of Cleveland's development projects - past and present - as well as the problems that Cleveland faces in remaining a viable city. Urban sprawl, deindustrialization, and…

Allen Ford, current resident of Judson Manor, relates his experiences growing up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, during the 1930's and 40's. Topics covered include the effects of World War II on daily life, the importance of the Rapid Transit system, and downtown shopping. Ford recalls the opening of the Colony Movie Theater at Shaker Square and describes its Art Deco interior. He describes the operations and function of Pickands Mather Company, and the decline of the steel industry in the United…

Joe Calabrese, CEO and General Manager of the Greater Cleveland RTA, discusses the importance of public transportation. Most of the discussion focuses on the Euclid Corridor Project and its impact on urban renewal, both in the short term and the long term.

Mike Schipper, project director for the Euclid Corridor Project, discusses the aesthetic design of the Euclid Corridor Project, technology to help increase traffic flow, and working with local artists to develop the Integrated Art Program. Schipper also discusses the work being done for the Historic markers, work done with Cleveland State University, and the overall impact the Euclid Corridor Project is expected to have, both economically and aesthetically.

Cleveland area personal injury attorney speaks about his maternal grandfather's involvement with Terminal Tower construction as a bricklayer who was killed in an accident on site, his maternal grandmother taking him to see the tower and telling him about his grandfather, and the law offices he eventually opened there. Also speaks to Rapid Transit Authority lawsuit.

James Toman is a photographer and author who has written two books on the Shaker Rapid system. An authority on the subject, Toman continues to give talks and present slide shows on the Shaker line and owns a vast personal collection of around 2000 photographs that he has taken of the trains since the 1970s. In this interview Toman relates the history of the Shaker Rapid from its origins as a capital venture on the part of the Van Sweringen brothers all the way up to the present, relating stories…