🍻 15 Years of Market Garden

Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop: Cleveland’s biggest light show of the summer is saving its best for last. Just look up and don’t be shocked when your phone makes the whole thing look like a blurry streetlight ✨👀📱

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John Petkovic & Jude Perez

For decades, West 25^th Street was a strip where little happened – unless you consider drivers speeding through it to get somewhere else.

“It was sketchy and had a bad reputation,” says Sam McNulty, co-owner of Market Garden Brewery. “It took a lot of convincing to get people and businesses to come here.”

This weekend, the gastropub will celebrate its 15^th anniversary – and, more than that, the transformation of a neighborhood.

Located next to what was once a dark alley next to a dead spot on the street, Market Garden helped jumpstart Cleveland’s craft-beer scene.

“We started with only 10 beers and it feels like we unlocked something for West 25^th  Street,” says co-founder and brewmaster Andy Tveekrem.

The story begins with Bier Markt, which McNulty and partner Mark Priemer opened in 2005.

The Belgian beer bar played a key role in making West 25th a destination for brew hounds.

It paved the way for Market Garden. Together — and with Great Lakes Brewing — they brought critical mass to the neighborhood.

“People could see that the neighborhood was safe,” says McNulty. “We’d have first-timers coming who would become regulars and then they became residents.”

An area that once had a vacancy rate of 34% attracted more than $1 billion in investments over a decade – resulting in a rush of apartments, townhouses and businesses, from Mitchell’s to Town Hall, Nano Brew and, most recently, Anthology Cask House.

Of course, there’s also the Market Garden brewing facility and Irishtown Bend Taproom.

The latter boasts the old bar from beloved DIY space Speak in Tongues. It follows a belief in repurposing old wood and parts for their projects.

More broadly it’s about sustainability— from making adjustments to survive COVID as many other places perished to leading a West 25^th  revival.

The Trump administration has drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lows not seen since 1983 in an effort to drive down oil prices.

But there’s no reserve to tap for diesel, which has screamed higher to a record $102 a barrel this week.

That’s the goo that powers trucks, tractors, ships and factories. And it hits Ohio, the sixth-biggest user of diesel, and the Cleveland area.

Cleveland Federal Reserve president and the country’s most vocal inflation hawk has pointed to high fuel/diesel prices as headwinds for the manufacturing-oriented economy.

Higher prices impact:

Exit the dragons? Nope, it’s drones away.

The biggest light show of the summer stays plugged in – and it’s going out with a finale that will paint the night sky with a glowing spectacle.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has extended its Asian Lantern Festival until Sept 12 due to popular demand. Info.

The zoo will celebrate the closing of the ninth year of the event with a choreographed drone show.

The fest features themed food, performers and displays to go with 40 large-scale, illuminated creations – from walk-through tunnels, flowers and oceanic settings to interactive parrots, lizards and snakes.

WEDNESDAY

Django Festival Allstars: For over two decades, they’ve embodied the spirit of Gypsy Swing — a joyful, high-octane style first ignited by guitar legend Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli in 1930s Paris. 7 pm. Cain Park. Info.

Secret Movie Night: Midnight Rental movie host Lenora will roll out the best – or worst – in VHS campy classics at the Grog Shop. There’s a themed menu to boot. 8 tonight. Info.

THURSDAY

Drop the Needle: The Visible Voice series stars Jason Burchaski (a.k.a. DJ Grandbag) -- founder of the Northeast Ohio Vinyl Club and one of the best lip-synchers on Instagram. He’ll be playing (and hopefully lip-synching to) R.E.M.’s Monster album. 6 p.m. Info.  

Dave Landau: The Detroiter has become one of the country’s most popular comics. He’s recounted dark, acerbic spiels on Joe Rogan and was a finalist on Last Comic Standing. 7:30 p.m., Hilarities. Info.

Roast Battle Cleveland: Fight Club for Comedians pits the world’s best roasters against one at the Happy Dog. 8 p.m. Info.

👉 View Listing on Zillow

Big Fun embodied the counter-cultural roots of Coventry. Its closing in 2018  dealt a blow to the neighborhood and its spirit.

Despite seasonal pop-ups by Big Fun founder Steve Presser, the spot has remained empty.

Here comes Critical Hit.

The tabletop game shop and venue that has operated on Cedar in Cleveland Heights since 2014 will move into the old Big Fun space come November.

“The new building will more than double our current play space,” says owner Grant S. Hoskins.

“The main room will be able to seat tournaments of well over 60 players and still have tables for other games.”

He also plans to host merchant markets, artist showcases and crafting nights.

Gordon Square Arcade on West 65th and Detroit, 1946. It once housed offices, a hotel, theater and roller rink. It’s now the home of a revived Capitol Theatre and Superelectric Pinball Parlor.

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80 °F 🌡️ 67 °F | ⛅➡️⛈️ (PM Thunderstorms) | 20% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 14 mph SSW (≈ 12 knots)

72 °F 🌡️ 62 °F | 🌧️➡️⛅ (AM Showers) | 20% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 12 mph NNW (≈ 10 knots)

75 °F 🌡️ 64 °F | ⛅ (Partly Cloudy) | 20% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 9 mph NNE (≈ 8 knots)

_{Please note that weather conditions can change rapidly. For the most up-to-date information, consider checking a reliable local weather service.}

Home vs. Giants, 6:40 PM August 19 (Wednesday)

Home vs. Giants, 1:10 PM August 20 (Thursday)

Away vs. Rockies, 8:40 PM August 21 (Friday)

Away vs. Rockies, 8:10 PM August 22 (Saturday)

Away vs. Rockies, 3:10 PM August 23 (Sunday)

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