The Observation Deck

I just moved here in Jan. and lived all my life in NYC where there is an abundance of basketball courts. It seems that the only one is in Lakewood Park?

Why is that?

My grandson who's coming to spend the summer with me here in Lakewood loves to play basketball but he is autistic and would have trouble playing with "normal" teens his age. So usually there is a court available where he wouldn't have that issue where he lives now and in NYC.

Another question: I used to shoot outdoor summer tournaments for NIKE Basketball back in NYC and I find that there are NO outdoor summer basketball tournaments in all of Cleveland?

Why is that?

Alex - All the outdoor basketball hoops were taken down (literally overnight) back in 2006. That was City Hall's best solution for dealing with "unsavory elements" (read whatever you want into that; most of us know the truth) creeping into the fabric of day-to-day life in The Wood.

Check out Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee and what they are doing. (I am a former volunteer on-court mentor/coach.)
http://lobc.org/

Anyone -- What ever happened to the "replacement court" at Wagar Park?

And -- Was the "credible threat to public safety" at Kauffman Park ever dealt with? Or does that one citizen still have hizzoner by the sort ones?

So Peter, if I understand your drift (your implied meaning) it seems that "unsavory elements" can play at the Lakewood YMCA, but not outdoors?

If you didn't know, I keep a blog on this site and on Facebook called "Catching the Light in Lakewood" and I guessed you just shed some "light" on a possibly disturbing issue in this city?

Is the city council aware of this "unsavory element" issue and are they okay with it?

Alex,

It appears that the hoops at Kaufman Park were closed because of a person who lives on Lakeland and their house backs on to the courts. You will also notice that there is no tennis playing there anymore either. I believe that if I were to purchase a home that backed on to a park I would expect noise between the hours of 9AM to 9PM. It is rumored that this person is a friend of the Mayor. It appears that our Mayor is either incapable of handling this so called "threat", or is unwilling to do so.

Here are a couple of links with background.

First, a 2010 Scene magazine article about the greater Cleveland area:

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/whe ... id=1939861

Here's a LO piece I did last year about the Lakewood situation:

http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2014/0 ... -continues

Thanks Mike.

That's really a shame that a few bad eggs/people + blatant racism has shut down outdoor basketball in the Greater Cleveland area and Lakewood in particular.

I'm glad I grew up in NYC. Basketball kept a lot of us poorer minorities off the streets, taught us good sportsmanship, inspired us to discipline ourselves and practice harder and for the select few provided the foundations for a pro career in the NBA.

Guess I'm going to buy a portable hoop and install it in my backyard?

Guess I'm going to buy a portable hoop and install it in my backyard?

I played organized basketball for about 7 years when I was growing up (in the 80s and very early 90s). When we weren't practicing with our team, we practiced/played small pickup games on our driveways or, during the winter, in indoor gyms set up for kids to play basketball in (like the ymca). I don't recall ever meeting up to play ball on a court surrounded by houses. As an adult in Phoenix, I remember a few courts at huge parks where there was a good distance and a major street between the courts and local homes.

I don't think there is anything racist about not wanting a herd of young (and not so young) adults hanging out shouting and swearing till 9PM playing basketball at our elementary schools. This happened across from my house where the brick walls of the school and giant asphalt parking lot cause everything going on to be amplified and echo-ed through all the windows of the neighbors. I never complained to city officials about anything, but that only went on for a couple weeks (maybe a month or so?) before suddenly the hoops were gone.

In my humble opinion, a place like Lakewood Park or Madison Park is exactly where there should be hoops for the public to use in the late evening, no different than the skate park.

I would agree with intelligent placement, but Kauffman Park is a Park, not a school. Proximity aside when you buy a home near a park, parky stuff comes with the territory. Just like I bought a home a few houses from an auto repair shop, so air wrenches are a part of the neighborhood fabric when the weather is warm.

Growing up in Lakewood we would go to the schools to play outdoor basketball. There was a large court up at the old Harding with maybe 6 hoops for multiple games at once. I didn't see any basketball hoops on the drawing s for the new schools so I guess we left with just a couple hoops for a city of 50k. If we don't need a hospital we surely don't need free outdoor basketball...

I agree it is tough to have a court right next to homes but the mayor closed the tennis court as well to appease his old high school friend and lied about him being a threat. If someone is truly a threat there are tools and procedures to protect the citizens rather than just giving in.

Tough stuff. I must say I have sympathy/empathy for kids that can't find a place to play some ball. I got in constant trouble as a teen trying to find places to skateboard.

Adults though... I guess I just feel adults have many options and I am unsympathetic. Buy a 'Y' membership. I have only the anecdotal memories of the crowd across the street from my house, but it seems to me it was mostly adults shouting and swearing in the late evening that ruined this for the kids, who now have no hoops.

Peter Grossetti wrote:Alex - All the outdoor basketball hoops were taken down (literally overnight) back in 2006. That was City Hall's best solution for dealing with "unsavory elements" (read whatever you want into that; most of us know the truth) creeping into the fabric of day-to-day life in The Wood.

Check out Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee and what they are doing. (I am a former volunteer on-court mentor/coach.)
http://lobc.org/

Wow! I just read the stuff on your link. It's mind boggling. When I came to visit my in-laws many summers ago, I used to play at the harding courts with their chain link nets and there was always a good game to be had.

Solved this issue for myself with my own backyard hoop

Bradley, finds Debusschere in the corner. Yes! and it counts.

Just cross the street and we can shoot some hoops! no baseline jump shots though by order of the wife! LOL