In our little corner of the world, John Kenley is best known for creating a legendary chain of summer theaters that brought big shows and Hollywood stars to small towns. The Kenley players ruled the midwest between 1957 and 1995, giving many a fledgling actor valuable experience from a master of the craft.

Back in February of 2007, Dee Perry caught up with the irrepressible impresario by phone from his home in Florida and he shared some of his career highlights, including a memorable stint with Al Jolson in the show Artists and Models in 1926.

Business is booming at the Gypsy Beans coffee shop at 65th and Detroit, on Cleveland’s west side.  Through the window you can see workers planting trees, installing benches and laying colorful paver stones. The city has sunk three and a half million dollars into this spruce-up job, which has been timed to coincide with the re-opening of the historic Capitol movie theater, across the street.

NIKI GILOTTA:  I think the Capitol being here is huge.  I know it’s going to be huge for my business. 

Niki Gilotta opened Gypsy Beans four years ago when she learned of plans to redevelop this old working-class neighborhood into what’s been christened the Gordon Square Arts District.  The new movie house is the latest piece to the ever-expanding district, which includes the several stages that are part of Cleveland Public Theater and the Near West Community Theater.  The area also includes a number of art galleries, shops and restaurants. Niki Gilotta says her coffee shop has been reaping the benefits.

NIKI GILOTTA:  I think it’s this buzz of the Capitol getting opened, CPT, Near West --- everything’s coming here, so people want to be here.  It’s just been difficult to get here because of the construction (laughs).

John Gest clutches a cup of coffee as he eyes the workers reshaping his neighborhood.  An Admissions officer across town at Case Western Reserve University, Gest moved here last year.

JOHN GEST: I was looking to move into more of an urban environment.  A place where you could walk to shops, walk to cafes.  It could be a place where, on the weekend, I could drop my car off and not have to get in it again until Monday.

He’s also looking forward to being able to walk to his new neighborhood movie theater.  So, is Linda Eisenstein.

LINDA EISENSTEIN: I can’t wait.

She and her husband Bob Schnellbacher have found a two-seat table in the crowded café where they recall the far different neighborhood they moved to twenty years ago.

BOB SCHNELLBACHER:  It had reached its nadir, I think.

Linda nods.

LINDA EISENSTEIN:  We had to shoo away the prostitutes from the cars nearby.  And, for awhile, it was just very dark.

She credits the local community development group for the transformation. 

LINDA EISENSTEIN:  You cannot underestimate how powerful the Detroit-Shoreway Community Organization has been.  Buying up properties.  We had dodgy apartment buildings that they eventually took over, cleaned up.  Now, there’s a lot of new blood with the townhouses and condos.

But, it isn’t all gentrification.  There’s a mix of the new and the old, with upscale lofts being added to a stock of affordable, older homes.  A sly smile slips across Bob Schnellbacher’s face as he considers the long path his neighborhood has taken over the past couple of decades.

BOB SCHNELLBACHER:  Now, we have a problem.  We have to keep the yuppies out.

VALERIE McCALL:  We had the weight of everybody --- the governor was involved, every council member, the General Assembly, our senators, our congress people, and pretty much said, “nothing beats a failure like a try.  And if we don’t try, we’ll never know.”

One of the judges was Darl Schaaff, who headed the site selection committee that visited the three finalist cities, this summer. 

DARL SCHAAFF: I came there without any pre-conceived notion, and I said, “You know, Boston’s a bidder and Washington’s a bidder, and those are big cities that I’ve been to, and Cleveland’s going to really have to live up to some big shoes.” And, I was blown away.  I thought it was the most amazing place.  I loved it.

Dan Williams of Positively Cleveland --- the local convention and visitor’s bureau --- says the Gay Games dwarfs any other sporting event the city has hosted.  Williams estimates attendance will be in excess of 100,000 people. 

DAN WILLIAMS: You know, you’re going to have people here, they’re going to be in our hotels, our restaurants, and this is going to extend down to Akron, go out to all the suburbs.  The people are going to be in our museums --- they’re going to be everywhere

The Cleveland Synergy Foundation, which organized the city’s bid, will now focus on ironing out the dozens of details involved in coordinating sporting venues from Cleveland to Akron for 34 events that will take place over a two week period in the summer of 2014.