By: Brittney Corrado, Laila Schwin, and Alisha Bains
May 21, 2021
Over the past few years, many attempts have been made to make plans for the restructuring of Cleveland’s lakefront areas. This time though, the city has found its plan.
The vision for the lakefront comes from the owners of the Cleveland Browns, Jimmy and Dee Haslam and a team they hired for the planning of the lakefront modifications. The plan is also receiving support from city council president and Cleveland mayoral candidate, Kevin Kelley. While there have been numerous plans in the past, Kelley believes that this one may be the best. The reason is because there is a private sector buying into this one rather than just having a public plan, changing the ability to make this new plan occur and to be successful in the long-term.
The Cleveland Browns have worked directly with the city of Cleveland by going through a visioning process that has been in play over the past two-plus years. After research and consultation with city planners, landscape architects, and stakeholders, Cleveland is looking forward to taking the next, big, exciting step with hopes of transforming pedestrian walkways that would increase the number of natural public spaces available to everyone in Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor area.
The city has applied for funding with the Ohio Department of Transportation. This funding will allow the city to conduct numerous studies and assessments before locking this plan in place.
According to Andrew Gribble from the Cleveland Browns: “Under potential plans, a one-of-a-kind land bridge will be constructed to run from the roof of the recently remodeled Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and over Route 2 and the train tracks that currently prevent full connectivity and walk-ability between Downtown Cleveland and its destination spots along Lake Erie, including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Great Lakes Science Center, and FirstEnergy Stadium.”
The walkways will be lined with trees and other green spaces that will include multiple entries and exits. An increased parking lot will also be added which is much needed.
The Haslams are working closely with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Osborn Engineering, AoDK Architecture, and CallisonRTKL to make these plans become a reality very soon.
The plan, once enacted, will also allow for further development and more businesses along the lakefront, and if all goes according to plan, this lakefront vision could become a reality by this August. It is a beautiful layout, and it would greatly-enhance our beautiful city.
For all Clevelanders, it is about time!
{Information for this article was retrieved from Clevelandbrowns.com, Cleveland.com, and WKYC.com.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 