Code,911096
Subject,Bruce Hennes 
Date,8/29/18
Interviewer,Sarah Nemeth
Abstract,"Bruce Hennes first heard about Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights as a teenager living in Canton, Ohio. Soon after high school he moved to Coventry, planted his roots, and became heavily involved in the community. He shares his experiences with and perspectives on Coventry Neighbors Inc., Coventry Community Development Organization, Coventry Village Special Improvement District, and the Coventry Street Fair. "
Tags,"Coventry, Cleveland Heights, counterculture, civic engagement"
Special Notes,Periodic background noise. 
minutes:,
0,"Introductory statements. Bruce Hennes born 1954 in New Jersey. Moved to Ohio in 1959. Lived in various Ohio cities. Attended high school in Canton, Ohio.  "
1,"Noticeable, although small, Jewish population in Canton and at his high school. 1968/69 started hitch-hiking to Coventry to hang with hippies. "
2,After high school moved to Toronto. 1973 got his first apartment in Coventry. Hitchhiking experiences. 
3,Hitchhiking experiences. Notes what he used to dress-like as a teenager. 
4,Hitchhiking experiences. 
5,Hitchhiking experiences. 
6,Learned about Coventry as the counterculture mecca through local coffee house in Canton.  
7,"Coventry had cool stores, a good vibe, and a ton of ""hippie freaks."" "
8,"Hung out with his friends at restaurants, shops, and parks. Chose Coventry over going to a mall.  "
9,"There was a generational mix on Coventry. Today there are many urban outlets for people to hangout at, not so in the late-1960s/1970s. There was only Coventry. "
10,"Influenced by Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco) and individualism. Even though they all dressed the same, it was a stark contrast to parents' generation. "
11,Describes a typical hippie wardrobe. 
12,Expresses the guilt of how his generation treated those that served the country in the 1960s/70s. Shows and describes a 1960s/70s picture of him and friends. 
13,"Continues to describe the picture. Mentions Coventry character, ""Ticket-man Ernie."""
14,"Youth/hippies clashed with the Cleveland Heights police. Petty drug dealing, little to no hard drugs. Dynamic with police changed after settling into the community.  "
15,"Unsure how older generations felt about the influx of youth in Coventry. Mentions the abundance of street performers, who are still common today. "
16,Married young. Starts to explain how/why he joined Coventry Neighbors Inc. 
17,Joined Coventry Neighbors Inc. (CNI) in 1976. Each elementary school district had a neighborhood organization. 
18,All the neighborhood groups had a diverse membership that cared about the community. CNI was unique because it had exceptionally active members. Lists some members. 
19,"Through CNI, Hennes got involved in the local political scene, published the CNI newsletter, and worked on the Coventry Street Fair and Alan Rapoport's political campaigns. "
20,"Those events brought CNI members into close contact with the community, often giving them a false sense of power. CNI members were younger, civic-minded residents. "
21,It was common for his generation in their youth to be civically engaged because the US culture was different from today. Every generation is different than the one previous.  
22,"Previous generation was involved in fraternal groups, in contrast to his generation that was involved in neighborhood groups. CNI was a civic organization. "
23,"CNI did not try to make societal change, but focused on improving the quality of the community through residential representation. Merchants lacked a solid infrastructure of their own. "
24,1975 Chuck Owens proposes that they should start a Community Development Corporation (CDC). 
25,"Explains the purpose of creating the CDC. The Coventry CDC was the first in Cleveland Heights, but signified the beginning of the end for CNI. "
26,CDC gave way to the creation of the Coventry Village Special Improvement District (SID) in the 1990s. Explains how the Coventry Village SID started.
27,Explains how the Coventry SID started.  
28,Explains how the Coventry SID started. 
29,"Explains what a SID does for a community. Wanted to extend the SID into the apartment district, but apartment owners rejected the idea."
30,"Remarks on his efforts to get the apartment owners to agree to the SID. Today, there are more ""For Rent"" signs than ever before. "
31,"The decline of CNI. Mentions the last meeting of CNI, around 5 years ago. "
32,Became CNI president in the 1980s. Describes the Coventry Village Street Fair. 
33,Describes the Coventry Village Street Fair. 
34,"Describes the Coventry Village Street Fair. After 10-12 years of the fair, residents and merchants started to question its community benefit. "
35,Describes the Coventry Village Street Fair and its decline. 
36,Describes the Coventry Village Street Fair and its decline. Two neighborhood factions developed on whether or not take a break from the fair. 
37,The fair ended for around 5 years. Then it came back only to be finally squashed by the flash mob incident. 
38,Coventry in the 1980s. 
39,Mentions a famous columnist's thoughts on the clash of generations. Coventry is a place for kids to congregate. 
40,"Cleveland Heights has diverse enclaves of people, similar to other cities. "
41,"Coventry's commercial district has changed, but the surrounding residential areas have not. Thoughts on tribalism. "
42,Thoughts on urban tribalism. A place retains its character by either its architecture or the people. 
43,Appreciates Cleveland Heights architecture because the houses have front porches and it is older. 
44,Speaks to the 1980s Coventry fires. 
45,It took  a long time to rebuild after the fires. Remarks on Lou Zipkin's rebuild choices. 
46,Remarks on Zipkin's rebuild choices. Comments on the rumors surrounding the fires. 
47,The Tommy and Zipkin feud. 
48,Thoughts on Zipkin and his relationship  with the local community. Lists some of the few other places that people could go to other than Coventry. 
49,"Coventry offered something different, which made it a destination. It is less of a destination today because of urban competition. Thoughts on the opening of Verizon on Coventry Rd.  "
50,The perils of properly merchandizing a place like Coventry. 
51,The perils of trying to properly merchandize a place like Coventry. 
52,"Describes the gentrification process of South Beach, Florida. "
53,"Continues to describes the gentrification of South Beach, Florida. "
54,Gentrification in Manhattan. Something similar could happen in Coventry. 
55,"Coventry characters, George Fitzpatrick and the Heights Art Theater. "
56,"Coventry characters, George Fitzpatrick and the Heights Art Theater. Mentions those that went to the theater to watch porn. "
57,"Coventry characters, George Fitzpatrick and the Heights Art Theater. "
58,"Coventry characters, George Fitzpatrick. "
59,"Coventry characters, Peter Goldsmith. "
60,"Coventry characters, Peter Goldsmith and being a ""red diaper baby."" "
61,"Coventry characters, Ben Berkey used to walk his cat on a leash. Fran and Al Lustig, an old Jewish couple. Mentions Fran coming to say good-bye to Coventry. "
62,The SID sold commemorative leaves as a fundraiser. Hennes bought a leaf as a tribute to all those in Coventry that have passed. 
63,Shares further why he purchased the remembrance leaf. Suggests that every place is unique and special in its own right. 
64,Detroit Shoreway and gentrification. Coventry never gentrified. The SID started in the 1990s. 
65,Does not have much to say about Coventry in the 1990s. Personal changes. Coventry lost its draw to him and he started getting more involved other activities. 
66,"In the 1990s he was drawn away from Coventry, although he stilled lived there. "
67,1990s his involvement in Coventry lessened. Opened his company's office at Cedar and Fairmount. 2000s he drew even further away from Coventry. 
68,Defines the boundaries of Coventry Village. 
69,Defines the boundaries of Coventry Village. 
70,"Coventry is not just a geographic location, but a state of mind. Thoughts on Coventry's future. "
71,Thoughts on Coventry's future. Apartment sector will continue to suffer because of nearby competition. Collision Bend in The Flats. 
72,Collision Bend in The Flats will become the new hot spot and draw people even further away from places like Coventry. 
73,"Coventry will stay relevant because of CWRU, a love of older things, and the value of diversity. People will want the Cleveland Heights experience. The interview ends. "
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