Imagine the possibilities of the synergies! Hot Sauce Williams Bar BQ and Hough Bakeries. Young and Old. Organic and Soul. Cyber and Cafe. University Circle and East Cleveland. Neighborhoods and networks. The Inner Circle and you. The owners of the old Hough Bakeries complex and Hot Sauce Williams and a collaboration of NEO social hackers are building a star, and invite the community to join in the fun. On Wednesday, May 23, 2007, from 10 AM - 1 PM, we are hosting on open house at the Inner Circle, featuring some fresh baked goodies and Hot Sauce Williams BBQ. RSVP, please. Read on...

This open house is your chance to tour the old Hough Bakeries complex and discuss plans for its future, while checking out a unique space we plan to operate as a cybercafe, and enjoying some BBQ. We'll be open from 10 AM - 1 PM - formal discussion at 11 AM - BBQ at 12 PM. We will appreciate a donation to help cover the cost of food, and you will receive an original Hough Bakeries box as a momentum. The property is located at 1519 Lakeview Road - see map links below. There is parking by the bakery building and across Lakeview in our parking lot.

This is the home of great NEO entrepreneurial spirits - Hough Bakeries' Pile family and Hot Sauce BBQs' Williams family - right in the home of the world's first Billionaire (J.D. Rockefeller)... there are reasons to expect greatness in the future here. Help make that happen today and for the next seven generations. This NEO Excellence Open House is the next way to get involved, and a great excuse to spend a few beautiful Cleveland spring hours touring a historic landmark and enjoying some of the world's best BBQ and baking.

So far, the collaboration working on this community transformation initiative is all the realneo folks (us), the Hot Sauce Williams family, the cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Kent State Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, University Circle Incorporated, The Intergenerational School, Joe Stanley of NEO Mainstreet, and many other good people and organizations dedicated to rebuilding the neighborhoods of Northeast Ohio through innovation with arts and culture, economy, education, environment, health and technology.

The Inner Circle is the first of many innovative transformations happening in this complex and neighborhood. The things that make sense for the complex and that we are planning right now are:

• The Inner Circle cybercafe - that is already open in another form and so is being redefined to include daily service, probably from 7 AM 9 PM or later depending on the concepts developed. Food will start out pretty limited - baked goods, salads, soups, and some collaborative dishes with Hot Sauce Williams - all as natural, local and organic as possible - all prepared and served as cooperatively with the community, with as much entrepreneurship as possible. There will be free wifi access and some free computers for use in the back. There will be art gallery space with art for sale, changing frequently. I'm communicating with Steve Cagan about being one of the first artists to show - a great photographer who has shot a lot in Forest Hills Park. We will hire staff and focus services in the immediate neighborhood - we are seeking collaborators. There are three large rooms that can be made available for meetings - very cool spaces.
• An intergenerational preschool - we have a good space for that on the first floor of the smaller building and it is needed. This is being developed by the founders of The Intergenerational School and is certain to be one of the most innovative and exceptional preschools in the country. A preschool based on this model just opened in Japan. We want to have the East Cleveland preschool (ages 2 and up) open this Summer. We are actively seeking collaborators on this, including a director - we will hire staff and work with senior volunteers from the community, and expect a large portion of the student and parent community to come from the immediate neighborhood. All parents must volunteer at the school and be active in their children's educations..We would like to have daycare for younger children, as well, but that may not fit this facility - TBD.
• We will keep the commercial kitchen and canning line on site and use them for food prep for the complex and for a culinary arts incubator. The kitchen may be moved and consolidated more with the Inner Circle and canning line. The canning equipment is for making sauces, preserves, etc., and can be made available to others in the community, encouraging entrepreneurship and locally grown and prepared foods.
• We hope to see The Intergenerational School relocate or expand to the newer part of the main Hough Bakeries building, facing Auberndale. That would provide world-class education from K-8th grade, providing a unique, exceptional anchor for redevelopment of the entire neighborhood - this will be a great place to live and raise your children.
• The future of the Historic front portion of the Hough Bakeries building is still to be determined. It is in good condition - needs very basic renovation. One possibility is a high school. Other concepts include a community technology center and media arts center, with collaborative studios, and an incubator for related businesses - there are lots of offices of all sizes on the second floor. These could also be used for art studios, and be available nearly immediately. We'll determine all these details as we drill down into the project, from the Inner Circle.

We are holding this open house to share these plans with you, at the facility, and learn your input and ideas. If anything happening here is of interest to you, whether preschool or media arts, we hope you will join us in this collaboration. To learn more about the planning for the Hough Bakeries complex and surrounding neighborhood, please browse through the information posted on realneo in this book, and at 7GEN here. We hope you can join us Wednesday - even if just for a quick visit - and look forward to sharing this cool space and scene with you, as we grow the Inner Circle and the Star. Please let me know if you will be able to join us at norm [at] realneo [dot] us.

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