My Absolute Favorite Re-Use of an Old Building: Ray's MTB

Here's one of many clips of someone riding their mountain bike at Ray's MTB in Cleveland.  The story goes something like this.  In 2004, Cleveland area carpenter and mountain bike rider Ray Petro decided he was sick of not being able to ride his bike during the tough Cleveland winters.  So he rented a chunk of an old, abandoned factory, and built weird little wooden tracks and ladder trails to hone his mountain bike skills during the winter.  Lots of other riders thought that was a great idea, and paid to ride there as well.  For those who don't know, "MTB" stands for MounTain Bikes.

Here's a look a Ray's MTB in 2007: Pabst Video Zine #1

The park is open during the six colder months, in the old factory shown in the beginning of that video zine clip.  Last I heard the park is now 92,000 square feet, highly successful, and they rebuild it every summer to keep it fresh.  Here's a bunch more clips from over the years.
My favorite "Odd Couple" Clip  (Pro riders doing things not allowed normally)
 Ray's in March 2008
Women's Weekend at Ray's- February 2009
Riders from Columbia Missouri- Spring Break Trip 2010
Ray's MTB Cleveland 2011
Ray's MTB Milwaukee 2011  It has since closed due to issues with the building owner.
Ray's MTB 2012
Ray's Cross Country Loop in 2013
Ray's MTB 2015
Ray's Old Fools Jam 2017

If you're an old school BMXer, watch that last clip.  If you're an urban planner, commercial real estate agent, mayor or city council person, search "Ray's MTB" on You Tube.  Ray's is profitably using a huge old space, there are people from around the country who actually travel there just to ride Ray's, AND there are dozens and dozens of You Tube videos by everyday people from Ray's.  In addition to showing off their riding and promoting Ray's MTB, all those videos are promoting CLEVELAND.  Think about that.