Main Street Play & Café serving up fun
by Dan Holland
Broadview Heights resident and business owner Hayley Weiss has been busy in recent months with the opening of two businesses located within the same complex at One Eagle Valley Court.
In addition to the newly-relocated Creative Movement Center, which was celebrated with a grand opening/ribbon cutting event on Aug. 28, Weiss unveiled Main Street Play & Café on Oct. 9.
The two adjacent businesses, totaling a combined 11,000 square feet, were intended to complement one another.
“This business came from an idea about five or six years ago with Wendy LiPuma, who is now our chef,” Weiss said. “She wanted to have a smaller, boutique meeting place as the workers were beginning to get to know the families at Creative Movement Center. It feels like a community, where you can sit and see your child playing from every seat in the house, while also having a place to sit down and connect with a friend.”
The space is described as a boutique indoor play space for children ages 7 and under and their caregivers. In addition to a kitchen/cafe area and banquet room, the business features a two-story-high interactive miniature city where children can engage in imaginative play. Buildings include an animal hospital, pizzeria, market, auto shop, fire station and a campground complete with a slide extending down from a treehouse.
A wall mural featured in the space depicts a number of renowned Cleveland-area landmarks.
“We wanted the walls, which rise up 20 feet, not to feel so overwhelming to a young child,” explained Weiss. “So, I commissioned local artist Joe Day to create a landscape that is all Cleveland-related. It’s fun for parents to come in and pick out all of these well-known landmarks. We even have a mini-Broadview Heights Fire Department Station and fire truck.”
Weiss, whose background is in early childhood education, established the Creative Movement Center dance studio 16 years ago at a smaller space in Broadview Heights.
“I was a preschool teacher, so everything kind of intertwined into early childhood and providing spaces for children and families,” she said. “The dance studio is due to my lifelong background in dance and theatre, and I’m so proud to bring this new business to my home city, which has been so awesome to me over the years.”
The cluster of businesses at One Eagle Valley Court have become a hub for health and wellness.
“I think this happened organically, where this space [has become] a one-stop destination for families,” said Weiss. “There’s tennis, swimming, an exercise studio, sand volleyball courts out back and MetroHealth Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy right next door. It’s a great space for families to come to and for children to grow. If someone has a child playing tennis, while a younger child plays at Main Street, they may want to get a coffee while another child is in the dance studio.”
The facility is available for rent to host birthday parties and other events.
“If you’re looking for a place that is focused on the whole child and whole person, then we want to get to know you,” said Weiss. “When they say that it takes a village to raise a child, we hope that Main Street will be part of your village, because we want to get know families and have them come in, take a breath and relax while they watch their children play. We just want people to know that when they walk in here, it’s cozy, warm, clean, and their kids are going to have a lot of fun.”For information, visit mainstreetplaycafe.com.
photo caption: Manager Jenny Mulhorn, Owner Hayley Weiss and ChefWendy LiPuma are dedicated to providing an indoor space where children can play and parents can relax and recharge. Photo by Dan Holland.