Cindy Barber, Owner of Beachland Ballroom

2007 Martha Joseph Prize

Cindy Barber opened her club in a neighborhood with which the vast majority of Clevelanders were not familiar, in a building that needed a lot of work, in an area – North Collinwood – where nothing else was happening. But Barber – who had formerly served as editor of Cleveland’s Free Times newspaper and Northern Ohio Live magazine – believed in the neighborhood and she believed in the club. And she has persevered through the inevitable rough times, offering musical acts every night of the week – in the club’s two separate rooms, the Ballroom and the Tavern – that play practically every kind of music there is (even classical, at least once), until the Beachland became a household word to all potential club goers in the region. And in the process, she also went to work on her neighborhood; doing everything she could to spark economic development. Now several other businesses have opened nearby, and no one is afraid to venture into that area.