Cleveland History Center — Attraction in Cleveland

CHC is a beautiful venue, including the Rotunda, the gardens for photos, and the library. We booked the carousel for our reception, and it was a memorable part of the day. We loved the central location in Cleveland, and there were good hotel options nearby. The guests loved the classic cars, and lots of guests commented on how unique and cool the venue was. For the most part, the staff members were friendly, especially the folks who ran the carousel. The point person, Brianna, had a good understanding of the space and sent us pictures of other wedding setups at the venue so we could get an idea of the look. Our biggest challenge with this venue (and our biggest challenge planning our wedding reception overall) was working with the point of contact at CHC, Brianna. We had read reviews online prior to selecting this venue that mentioned that Brianna was difficult to communicate with and nonresponsive. We took those comments into account and planned to be proactive in our communications, but we did not realize the extent of the communication challenges we would face. Brianna did not communicate in a timely or complete matter. There were several occasions where it would take multiple attempts over weeks for Brianna to respond. Some of our questions were complicated, so we understood some delay, but she would not even acknowledge receipt of our messages. This seemed to extend to some of our vendors, as our DJ could not get ahold of her until we called and she was very short with the florist, who had also been struggling to get in contact with her. Brianna was also not flexible in scheduling meetings with us and would often arrive late. The most egregious example of bad communication was when we (the bride, groom, and father of the groom) received an email at 9pm the night before the wedding saying that some of the alcohol we had selected was not actually available. We only saw the message by happenstance, so we scrambled and made it work, but that's a serious misstep that suggests that CHC was only verifying their alcohol roster less than a day ahead of a large event. We’re not sure what Brianna’s backup plan would have been if we didn’t answer that email. Was she planning to call us the morning of our wedding? This did not feel professional and was extremely frustrating. During our reception, the Rotunda got uncomfortably hot, despite it being a nice day in April (maybe 70 degrees). The CHC staff weren’t very forthcoming with ideas about how to cool the area down. They at one point said the temperature could not be changed because of some rule against it, and the staff was rude to the mother-of-the-bride when she asked about the temperature being adjusted. It was so hot that we (the bride and groom) had to leave the reception to go outside to cool down. A member of the staff did later apologize for the heat and the rude treatment. He explained that the HVAC had been damaged in the fire so it would take a long time for the building to cool down. In Brianna’s best move of the night, she brought the bride an excellent electric fan. After the sun went down and the air had been running for about an hour, things cooled down. One of the reasons we picked the venue was because of a scenic library we could use for pictures. Well, the library burned down six months before the wedding, and no one told us until we asked about it during our walkthrough a month before the wedding. To be clear, the fire was a tragedy, and we still got great pictures in the other library, but it would have been nice to know that we had to pivot. Okay, let's wrap this up. CHC is a great location that seems to be suffering a bit from mismanagement that introduces additional stress and work when planning a reception there. If you can handle that, it's an amazing venue, especially if you love the idea of a history museum. Keep in mind, it's expensive to hold your wedding reception here. The base cost of reserving the space is high, not including alcohol or the carousel fee. Be prepared to go the extra mile in handling...

TLDR: The museum completely ignores the minority story of Cleveland.

A trip to the Cleveland History Center is a.. complicated experience. Perhaps a more apt name would be the Rich White Cleveland History Center. To be sure, the strength of the collection means that a significant portion of the museum is either cars from the auto collection or a very well preserved mansion, which limits what can be done in the exhibition space.

Buuuuut in exploring we found many large, vastly empty spaces. One, a ballroom, is half-filled with a less-than-enthralling exhibit about Ohio politicians. Another, a NEO "hall of fame" of sorts, looks to be a time portal from the 70s.

Here's the problem: Cleveland has a diverse, complicated, and often gritty history. None of the various ethnic groups (and the lush Cultural Gardens just down the street tell us there are many) are discussed, most critically Cleveland's black population is essentially reduced to the mansion's servant's quarters. The museum needs to undergo a full retelling of the history of Cleveland, one that tells how different people came here, and one that at least scratches the surface on some of the challenges facing the community today and how we got there.

But the...

Me and my buddy went to Cleveland for a metal concert and went to the museum before the concert. The lady at the front desk was super nice and really liked to smile! The lady in one of the two old mansions that the museum just kinda has stitched onto it was very entertaining and told the history of the mansions in a fun way! The museum also has an old carousel (109 years old) and the two guys running it were incredibly informative and you could tell how passionate they were about the Carousel. It was really nice to see someone that interested in carousels talk about them! They saw us come back for our 2ed ride (you get 2 rides for entry into the museum) and got really excited to tell us the interesting history of it, and show us what the engine room looked like! I loved it! The car exhibit that the museum is hosting has a ton of very rare cars in it. Not gonna lie, was a bit surprised to just walk up and see a real Chevy EV1, one of 17 Ferrari California Peniferinas (I cant spell that), and a Mercedes 300sl. All the really old cars were awesome as well. They had one from 1897!

All in all, great museum! We only had about 3 hours, and I feel like there is a bunch of stuff that we missed. Will go again next time I'm...