Remembering Hunter Morrison and his many contributions to Cleveland: Brent Larkin

A coveted constituent of activity is an expertise to look years into nan future. Hunter Morrison’s imagination of that was champion measured by decades.

Morrison, who died unexpectedly connected Dec.16 astatine property 77, was nan longest serving Cleveland readying head successful nan city’s history. He was besides the astir influential since Cleveland’s glory years early successful nan 20th century. Cleveland has agelong been well-served by immoderate outstanding readying heads. In Morrison, voters sewage nan epitome of a good nationalist servant - honest, bright, thoughtful and committed to making Cleveland a amended spot to activity and live.

After serving arsenic readying head for Mayors George Voinovich and Michael White, Morrison wisely stepped speech erstwhile his woman astatine nan time, Jane Campbell, was elected Cleveland’s first female politician successful 2001. Campbell replaced him pinch Chris Ronayne, now Cuyahoga County executive. “Hunter was a big-picture feline who was ever existent to his imagination for Cleveland’s downtown and nan neighborhoods,” recalled Ronayne. “Not erstwhile did he buckle to extracurricular influences. It was a blessing conscionable to beryllium astir him.”

As erstwhile Plain Dealer architecture and improvement newsman Steve Litt wrote successful 2020, nan years Morrison spent overseeing readying “were enormously consequential,” including caller skyscrapers, nan North Coast Harbor museums and park, preservation of nan Warehouse District, improvements successful Playhouse Square and Tower City, and building of nan Gateway sports complex. All this came successful nan aftermath of nan default years that had turned overmuch of downtown into a wasteland.

Morrison’s decease came astatine a clip erstwhile Mayor Justin Bibb has nan metropolis connected nan brink of a monolithic lakefront improvement task which, if done right, galore judge tin toggle shape downtown and beyond. It is simply a worthy but extraordinarily difficult extremity successful a non-growth market. For much than 150 years, railroads, a road and airdrome person impeded entree successful Cleveland to 1 of nan planet’s largest bodies of caller water. Voinovich and White made incremental advancement successful undoing mistakes made successful nan aftermath of nan Civil War. Bibb’s connection would supply nan connectivity betwixt nan city’s existing downtown and nan lakefront that has ever been lacking.

It is that very aforesaid connectivity that Morrison and immoderate of his peers (the precocious Bob Bann, a Morrison protégé who directed nan North Coast harbor task successful its early years, comes to mind) began advocating 40 years ago. When Bann died young successful 1993, he was replaced by David Gilbert, now nan talented caput of Destination Cleveland.

Recalled Gilbert. “Starting successful nan 1980s, George Voinovich, Michael White and Hunter Morrison were by acold nan astir influential figures successful nan first awesome translator of our downtown lakefront.”

Later, erstwhile he was governor, Voinovich expressed certainty that Morrison will beryllium remembered arsenic “the top planner” successful nan city’s history. After Morrison died, White wrote maine Morrison was “one of nan city’s finest citizens…. Hunter consistently sought to make imaginable what others thought intolerable for nan city. He brought arsenic overmuch zeal to readying for ample downtown projects arsenic he did successful readying inner-city lodging projects, aliases protecting neighborhoods from debilitating quality-of-life issues. Many group person had nan title of head of readying for nan metropolis of Cleveland. Very fewer person filled nan occupation pinch arsenic overmuch love, courageousness and determination arsenic Hunter.”

(Disclosure: my woman worked successful nan readying section for each but a twelvemonth of Morrison’s clip there).

Morrison grew up successful nan eastbound suburbs. He had degrees from Harvard and Yale – not because he was an elitist, but because he was smart. After college, he spent clip successful Africa, wherever he learned to speak Swahili. He and Campbell raised 2 accomplished daughters. In different revealing portion by Litt, written successful 1996, Morrison described nan value of vicinity readying by noting, “Urban creation does matter to nan measurement successful which a thoroughfare lives aliases dies. Changing nan motion code, changing nan parking batch code, changing nan rulebook does person an effect connected nan measurement nan metropolis delivers services to its citizens. It prevents nan plundering of nan city.”

Bob Brown, who succeeded Ronayne arsenic readying director, said his longtime friend was perpetually driven by what Brown described arsenic an “indisputable emotion of Cleveland.” That emotion ne'er near him. People who neglect to admit Hunter Morrison’s contributions to nan metropolis person nary existent knowing of it.

Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer’s editorial head from 1991 until his status successful 2009.

To scope Brent Larkin: [email protected]

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