University Circle, Incorporated

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.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for University Circle, Inc.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for University Circle

From the guide to the University Circle, Incorporated, Records, 1952-1979, (Western Reserve Historical Society)