Cleveland State Convocation Center Named for Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein
Jan. 24, 2005
Cleveland, Ohio - In recognition of the largest philanthropic gift in Cleveland State University's history - $6.25 million - the University's Board of Trustees today agreed to name the Convocation Center The Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein Convocation Center.
Bert L. Wolstein, who passed away last May, was a 1953 graduate of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. In 2003, he was honored at Cleveland State's Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, receiving the Lifetime Leadership Award.
In October 2004, Iris S. Wolstein, in loving memory of her husband, created the Bert L. Wolstein Building Fund and the Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein Endowed Scholarship Fund at the Cleveland State University Foundation with the commitment of $6.25 million. The funds will support the Cleveland-Marshall Law Building upgrade project and an endowed scholarship fund for law students at the College of Law.
"Words cannot adequately describe the generosity of Iris S. Wolstein or the appreciation we at Cleveland State University wish to express. But actions speak louder than words so today we are proud to name our Convocation Center in their honor," said Cleveland State President Michael Schwartz.
"The Convocation Center is currently one of the more visible buildings on our campus and in downtown Cleveland, with more than one million annual visitors and 36,000 motorists passing by each day. The Cleveland Force, the indoor soccer team that Bart brought to Cleveland in 1979, plays its home games at the Convocation Center. We hope that our naming of the Convocation Center in the Wolsteins' honor in some small way conveys our deep gratitude for Mrs. Wolstein's gift."
At the time of his death, Mr. Wolstein was a major figure in the real estate development industry, a lawyer, philanthropist and former sports team owner.
Bert Wolstein, born Bertram L. Wolstein in 1927 and called Bart since childhood, was the son of Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe who settled first in New York City and then permanently in Cleveland. His father, Joseph, was a cloth cutter; Sarah, his mother, held a variety of clerical jobs.
Wolstein enlisted in the U.S. Navy immediately following his graduation from Cleveland Heights High School and, for the next three years, served as a medical corpsman, primarily in the South Pacific. According to his autobiography, Crossing the Road to Entrepreneurship (2004), his military service was formative, and when he was discharged in 1946, he returned to Cleveland as a First Class Petty Officer with new convictions about the course of a life in which failure was not an option.
One of the first moves he made in the direction of success was his marriage in 1948 to his teenage sweetheart, Iris Shur. Her father had emigrated to America from Lithuania, and she shared with Wolstein not only the immigrant experience but also confidence that the American landscape was filled with promise.
Wolstein's second step to success was earning a law degree, and the night school at Cleveland-Marshall was his door to opportunity. In later years, Wolstein wrote, "I will never forget the four years that I attended night law school at Cleveland-Marshall. To say the education has benefited me in my business throughout the years would be an understatement. The school provided me with tools that I have used every day of my business life."
In 1965, Wolstein founded his first realty company, Diversified Developers Realty Corp., which today, under the leadership of the Wolsteins' son Scott, owns and operates 400 shopping centers in 44 states. In addition, the company built a number of Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course communities including Barrington Country Club in Aurora and Glenmore Country Club in Canton. The company also built the first new building on Playhouse Square in 60 years, the Renaissance office building.
In 1997, Wolstein stepped down from the company's chairmanship and two years later co-founded Heritage Development Co. At the time of his death, he was in negotiations to attract and fund a major league soccer team for Cleveland.
Since its opening in 1991, the Convocation Center has become the most exciting multi-purpose, college-owned facility in Cleveland. Cleveland State's Convocation Center is managed by SMG, the world leader in management of public facilities and venues.
The Convocation Center hosts a myriad of special events - concerts, family shows, rodeos, professional bull riding, motor sports spectaculars, professional and amateur sporting events, equestrian events, large banquets, trade shows, conventions, consumer shows and a vast array of community and civic functions. The Convocation Center also is home to CSU's NCAA Division I men and women's basketball teams, as well as the NPSL's Cleveland Force.
The building has 14,500 seats and hosts some one million visitors annually. The Convocation Center is on the campus of Cleveland State University and occupies the entire block bounded by Carnegie Avenue to the south, Prospect Avenue to the north, East 18th Street to the west, and East 21st Street to the east.
