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The Music Settlement expansion aims to integrate Cleveland community
Author: Zachary Lewis, The Land
The centerpiece of the expansion work now taking place at The Music Settlement is a new building, the Mandel Music House, but the more significant result of the effort is likely to be a bridge.
A metaphorical bridge, that is. With the new building, and the programming it makes possible, the 114-year-old University Circle institution is hoping to forge fresh and deeper connections to its immediate neighbors and partners across the region.
The new Mandel Music House is “not only about growing our physical footprint,” said Geri Presti, the Settlement’s president and chief executive officer. It’s also about “deepening our role as a community anchor…ensuring that access to music education and cultural experiences is inclusive, visible, and welcoming.”
On a practical level, the $12 to $14 million project – slated for completion next fall – solves at least one major problem: the need for space. By renovating and expanding Gries House (to become the Mandel Music House), one of its three historic structures, the Settlement is expanding its footprint by 17,000 square feet and creating 14 new studios. (The other historic Settlement properties are the Kulas and Burke mansions, which nestle the Gries House.)
Demand for the space is real. In recent years, interest in the Settlement’s renowned music instruction, music therapy, and creative aging programs has skyrocketed in tandem with its highly sought-after Early Childhood program, which has had a wait-list for as long as anyone can remember.
The project also offers an answer to the perennial question of what do with aging structures, in a city that’s full of them. By renovating and expanding rather than tearing down and rebuilding, the school is modeling for others the potential and power of historic preservation.
Elise Yablonsky, chief place management officer at the nonprofit University Circle Inc., said The Music Settlement is one of several major institutions that “define” University Circle and described the Mandel House effort as “a project that respects and enhances the Wade Park Historic District…”
Click below to read the full article, published on TheLandCLE.org on July 21, 2026.
Original Article: https://thelandcle.org/stories/the-music-settlement-expansion-aims-to-integrate-cleveland-community/
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