University Circle, Inc. (UCI) of Cleveland, Ohio, is the outgrowth of its predecessor, the University Circle Development Foundation. The University Development Foundation was created in 1957 as the result of a planning study funded by Mrs. William G. Mather (Elizabeth Ring Mather), who was concerned about the need for future collective planning by the Circle's institutions. That same year the University Circle Development Foundation created a land bank whose purpose has been to buy and assemble properties to make them available to existing institutions for expansion, to new institutions, and to private developers for retail, commercial, and residential projects that benefit the Circle and community.
In 1970 the University Circle Development Foundation was reorganized as University Circle, Inc., with the mission of providing for the orderly growth of the area and of creating a unified and beautiful environment for the University Circle institutions. By 1985 UCI had 60 member and associate member institutions. In addition to land banking and land use planning, its programs and services included parking, transportation, public safety, community education, neighborhood partnership, and enhancements of the locality's natural beauty. Over the years some of UCI's actions have been questioned. For example, local protest groups helped delay the construction of a circumferential road around the University Circle area, with the result that the road, now known as Circle Drive, was only completed between Adelbert and Mayfield roads. The recycling of some residential areas for institutional and athletic uses has also been controversial.
In 1990 UCI completed, with the assistance of Circle institutions, a second University Circle Master Plan which is designed to guide the orderly economic and physical growth of University Circle over the next two decades. The Plan includes over 100 recommendations for improving University Circle, covering the issues of parking, traffic, pedestrian circulation, open space, lighting, transit planning, public safety, and neighborhood partnership programs. By 1994 UCI had 45 member and 37 associate member institutions located in University Circle, or immediately adjacent to the Circle's boundaries, that served the educational, cultural, medical, social service, and spiritual needs of the Greater Cleveland community. UCI's mission continues to be providing a quality environment in which these diverse institutions are able to thrive and to be responsive to the needs of their constituents.
The University Circle, Incorporated, Records, 1952-1979 and undated, consist of articles of incorporation; records of the board of trustees and the executive committee (consisting of members' files, correspondence, minutes, operating policies and plans); officers' records (consisting of presidents', vice-presidents', and executive vice-presidents' files, files of the Circle development director, and correspondence); organizational records (consisting of affiliated and member institution files, correspondence, reports and proposals, property files, UCI police dept. files, and miscellany); special project records (consisting of Community Circle Inc. records, Cleveland New-Town-in-Town project records, housing files, general files, including correspondence, reports, blueprints, speeches and purchase orders, University Circle files, architectural and design review consultants' files, and Euclid-Mayfield Triangle Development Project files); and miscellany. Various document types are present, including news bulletins and brochures, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history and development of the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, during the twentieth century. Those interested in the people who served in leadership positions with University Circle, Inc., and the programs and services provided by the organization will also find this collection useful. Those studying issues of urban planning, neighborhood development and stabilization, and the unique organizations and relationships that exist in University Circle will find this collection particularly useful.
The collection has been retained in original order and is arranged in five series. Each series, sub-series, and sub-sub-series is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
This collection has been minimally processed. This finding aid is a guide to the contents of the collection, but its accuracy and completeness has not been confirmed.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3900 University Circle, Incorporated Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of University Circle, Incorporated, in 1975.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.