Centenarian's legacy could bolster district
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Tom Breckenridge
Plain Dealer Reporter
A giant in industrial design wants to cast his shadow over Cleveland's nascent design district.

Fresh off winning a National Medal of Arts from President Bush, Viktor Schreckengost, 100, and his family say they want his legacy to be a building block in the Cleveland District of Design, a job-generating cluster of consumer product design studios and showrooms proposed east of downtown.

Schreckengost's nonprofit and retail ventures want space in the district, says Chip Nowacek, Schreckengost's stepson and executive director of the Schreckengost Foundation in Cleveland Heights.

Schreckengost -- sometimes called the "American da Vinci" adds credibility to the district's effort to draw design-related talent and business.

Edward "Ned" Hill, vice president of economic development for Cleveland State University, and Dan Cuffaro, head of the industrial design department at the Cleveland Institute of Art, are pushing the design-district concept.

Key to the district's success is to "preserve and build on the wonderful legacy that Viktor has given us," Hill said Monday at a CSU gathering to honor Schreckengost.

He is considered a master of modern, consumer product design. His accomplishments include crafting the first mass-produced dinnerware and designing the cab-over-engine truck, which revolutionized truck transport.

His students at the Cleveland Institute of Art became top industrial designers, with products ranging from the Ford Mustang to the Crest Spinbrush.

Last week, Schreckengost was among 11 recipients of the 2006 National Medal of Arts. Bush said Schreckengost's "fusion of elegance and practicality in industrial design led to remarkable innovations that have helped improve American life in countless ways."

Schreckengost's massive archives could find space in the district, possibly at CSU. His work could also be put on display for educational research, Nowacek and Hill said.

Schreckengost wants to "add fuel to the fire of growth," Nowacek said.

Since announcing the design-district venture in late October, Hill and Cuffaro have gathered an eager core of property owners, neighborhood development corporations, business movers and city development officials.

That includes officials from the American Society of Materials, known as ASM International, which recently opened a satellite office at the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.

The trade association, known for the distinctive, geodesic dome at its Russell Township headquarters, counts thousands of materials engineers and scientists among its members.

ASM recently launched an effort to educate art and industrial designers in the properties and uses of various metals. ASM's expertise could be a strong asset to the design district, which hopes to open consumer product showrooms just east of Playhouse Square, officials said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

tbreckenridge@plaind.com

 216-999-4695

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