Read the script:
GABRIEL: ANTHONY LEDWELL SEES A LOT OF BAD IN THE WORLD. BUT AS HE WALKS THROUGH THE CLEVELAND CULTURAL GARDENS WITH HIS FIANCEE, HE SEES SOME CAUSE FOR OPPORTUNITY.
ANTHONY: IT’S A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR A PERSON TO BROADEN THEIR HORIZONS, TO SEE DIFFERENT CULTURES AND EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT THINGS.
GABRIEL: AND THAT'S ONE OF THE GARDEN'S MAIN PURPOSES. SHEILA CRAWFORD, THE IMMEDIATE PAST-PRESIDENT OF THE CULTURAL GARDENS, EXPLAINED THE GARDEN'S MOTTO, PEACE THROUGH MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.
SHEILA: WE LOOK AT THE DIVERSITY IN CLEVELAND AS AN ASSET. AND I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND HAS ALWAYS ACCEPTED IMMIGRANTS AND TRIED TO BRING THEM INTO THE CITY CLIMATE AND WELCOME THEM.
CHRIS: WHAT’S ALSO INTERESTING ABOUT THE GARDENS IS THERE COULD BE NATIONS THAT ARE NOT AT PEACE IN THE WORLD WITH ONE ANOTHER AS WE SPEAK, BUT THEY'RE AT PEACE TODAY IN THE GARDEN RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO ONE ANOTHER.
GABRIEL: UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INC. CEO CHRIS RONAYNE IS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOLDEN PARKS TRUST, ONE OF THE GARDEN'S MAIN FUNDERS. HE IS DEEPLY IMMERSED IN THE GARDEN'S 101-YEAR HISTORY.
CHRIS: LEO WEIDENTHAL WAS THE FOUNDER. HE ATTENDED THE 1916 DEDICATION OF THE SHAKESPEAREAN GARDEN, WHICH BECAME THE BRITISH GARDEN, AND WHEN IN THE AUDIENCE OF THAT DEDICATION, HE HAD A THOUGHT AND IT REALLY BECAME A FORERUNNING VISION FOR THIS PLACE. AND THAT WAS THAT THERE WOULD BE A STRAND OF GARDENS THAT WOULD CELEBRATE CLEVELAND'S CULTURAL IDENTITY AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY.
HE PUT HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS AND 10 YEARS LATER, HELPED BRING THE HEBREW GARDEN TO FRUITION IN 1926. WE'D BE REMISS IF WE DIDN'T SAY THIS ALL STARTS WITH JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, BECAUSE WHEN THE ROCKEFELLERS DEDICATED THIS 200-PLUS ACRE PARK TO THE CITY OF CLEVELAND, THAT UNTO ITSELF WAS AN INCREDIBLE GESTURE.
GABRIEL: SHORTLY AFTER 1926, THE GERMAN AND ITALIAN GARDENS WERE CREATED, AND THE PARK GREW EVEN MORE AFTER THE TWO WORLD WARS.
CHRIS: A LOT OF THOSE MIGRANTS FROM THE WARS AND THE COMMUNITIES THAT CAME HERE, AND THEY POPULATED NEIGHBORHOODS JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM HERE, GLENVILLE, ST. CLAIR, BROADWAY, WEST PARK, YOU NAME IT. THE CLEVELAND COMMUNITIES ARE SORT OF A CELEBRATION OF CLEVELAND'S ETHNICITY. WITH IT, THEY BROUGHT THEIR CULTURE AND ULTIMATELY, THEY WANTED TO EXPRESS THEIR CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE PARK.
GABRIEL: THERE WERE 24 GARDENS IN 1985, BUT THE RAPID GROWTH HAD SLOWED AND THE AREA WAS STRUGGLING. CHRIS: THERE WAS A TIME, FRANKLY, DATING BACK TO THE '60S, THE '70S, THE '80S, THAT STATUARY WAS BEING LOST, BEING STOLEN, THINGS WERE BEING DEFACED. IT WAS A VERY SAD TIME. AS OUR NEIGHBORHOODS WERE REALLY IN DECLINE, SO TOO WERE THE GARDENS.
GABRIEL: ACCORDING TO RONAYNE, CLEVELAND MAYORS GEORGE VOINOVICH AND MICHAEL WHITE, HAD A BIG HAND IN THE RESTORATION OF THE GARDENS.
CHRIS: I THINK THEY SAW THE GARDENS AS SOMEWHAT FORGOTTEN AND FORLORN, AND THEY NEEDED TO BE KICK-STARTED.
GABRIEL: BUT RONAYNE SAYS THE REVITALIZATION IS ALSO THANKS TO VOLUNTEER GROUPS REPRESENTING THEIR OWN ETHNIC IDENTITIES, WHO CAME TO THE PARK REGULARLY TO MAINTAIN THE GARDENS.
CHRIS: THAT'S REALLY WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. IT'S ABOUT THE SORT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL EFFORTS OF OUR VARIOUS CULTURAL COMMUNITIES COMING INTO THE GARDEN AND HELPING WITH THEIR GARDEN RESTORATION. THEY'RE REALLY THE GLUE THAT KEEPS THIS TOGETHER TODAY.
GABRIEL: IN 2005, THE PARK DEDICATED THE INDIA CULTURAL GARDEN, A REFLECTION OF CLEVELAND'S NEW IMMIGRATION PATTERNS.
CHRIS: THIS GARDEN IS SPECIFICALLY INTERESTING TO ME BECAUSE IT WAS DEDICATED IN '05. IN '06, THE GANDHI STATUE WAS UNVEILED. AND THE GANDHI STATUE WHICH IS GLORIOUS BEHIND US, A SEVEN-FOOT PLINTH, AND ON TOP OF IT A 10-FOOT BRONZE STATUE OF MAHATMA GANDHI, CAME BY BOAT FROM INDIA, AND WAS DEDICATED IN OCTOBER 2005.
GABRIEL: THIS STATUE RESONATES WITH ANTHONY LEDWELL'S MESSAGE OF BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
ANTHONY: THEY CAN DO THAT, BECAUSE WE ARE ONE PEOPLE. GANDHI ALSO SPOKE ABOUT THAT. WE'RE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE GANDHI STATUE HERE. HE WAS A MAN OF BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
GABRIEL: CURRENTLY, THERE ARE 30 CULTURAL GARDENS WITH SEVERAL MORE ON THE WAY. RONAYNE EXPECTS 40 GARDENS BY THE YEAR 2025. AND SHEILA CRAWFORD, SHE SEES A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR THE GARDENS IN THE IDEALS OF DIVERSITY THEY REPRESENT.
SHELIA: SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS. AND SEEING HOW WE CAN GET PEOPLE INTERESTED ENOUGH THAT YOUNGER GENERATIONS WILL COME UP AND CARRY ON WITH THE MISSION THAT WE'VE DONE, SINCE IT WAS STARTED IN 1916.
GABRIEL: FOR IDEASTREAM, I'M GABRIEL KRAMER.