Grocery store considers former Cleveland school site

By Denise Dick

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

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A deal is in the works that could bring a full-service grocery store to the city’s South Side.

At a special school board meeting Tuesday, members authorized the board’s attorney to have the site of the former Cleveland Elementary School appraised, said Anthony Catale, school board president.

“We’re offering the land to the city by way of sale,” he said.

Catale said a grocery store is interested in the site on Princeton Avenue near Indianola Avenue and Glenwood Avenue.

“My understanding is the name is confidential, but a chain is looking to bring more than one store to the area,” the board president said.

Mayor Jay Williams declined to comment about the sale or the prospects for a grocery store.

The school was demolished as part of the school district’s rebuilding program. Only playground equipment remains on the property.

Aside from a few minor elements, the district’s 10-year, $187 million rebuilding program is winding down. Cleveland, razed in 2008, was among several school buildings knocked down.

If a store opts to locate on the site, it would be the first full-service grocery store on the city’s South Side since Sparkle Market, formerly at Market Street and Midlothian Boulevard, closed in 2004. A Giant Eagle had also been at that location but closed in 1998.

The Sparkle had lasted only about a year at Market and Midlothian. The store’s owners cited per-transaction receipts that were much lower than other Sparkle locations as part of the reason for closure.