In May on 1912, Shoeless Joe Jackson stepped up to the plate for the home opener of the Cleveland Naps. Jackson is now known for the Chicago Black Sox Scandal where the Chicago White Sox fixed the World Series by throwing games. In 1912 however, this had not yet happened, and Cleveland was glad to have him. Coming off his 1911 season where he batted .408, good enough for 6th best all time, Cleveland was set for a great year. This wasn’t all Cleveland had to look forward to though, everywhere new buildings were popping up and the city was growing. 1912 was the year of the West Side Market and the Cleveland Municipal Court House. It was also the year that St. Nota opened it’s doors for the east sides Hungarian immigrant population.

Built in the late gothic Revival style, St. Nota served as a landmark for the East side of Cleveland for over a century. As populations shifted in Cleveland, and many immigrants left the east side in favor of the suburbs, the church changed hands. Despite continued patronage from the community, they had to close their doors for good in 2012. They offered some services in the church until 2014 but not at any regular interval. Mounting maintenance costs on the century old building are what finally did it in.

After sitting abandoned for nearly a decade, the building was given a chance at a second life. The state of Ohio granted a nearly $200,000 tax credit to help with repair costs. Now owned by a foundation that has revitalized buildings across the east side, St. Nota was set to become offices and a community center. This was in 2019. Since then, no progress has been made. The building has continued to deteriorate. The organization that owns the building has a great track record for revitalizing historic buildings in the area. We can only hope that, like the west side market, this historic landmark gets preserved.