Back in 2002, when Jane Campbell was mayor of Cleveland, the city began piecing together a new vision for its lakefront. There would be development along the lake downtown and more connections to the water across the Shoreway.
Debbie Berry headed up that effort. She’s currently Vice President of Community Development for University Circle, Inc.
BERRY: “It was the first time in 50 years we had looked comprehensively at our lakefront, and really went out to the public to find out what they wanted to see out there.”
But some big questions remained. Should the Port of Cleveland’s shipping facilities be moved to the East Side? Should Burke Lakefront Airport be closed and bulldozed? The public debated these ideas after Frank Jackson unseated Campbell in 2005.
Now, 10 years after the lakefront plan was hatched, city development chief Chris Warren says it’s finally beginning to pick up speed.
WARREN: “We are diving in. We’re actually moving. We are probably doing that through a lot of singles, not one grand slam home run. But that’s what it takes.”
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority decided not to move, and Jackson decided to let Burke continue to serve small commercial fliers.
So where does the project stand now? Just last year, the city approved a lease with the developer Geis Cos. to begin preparing land adjacent to Burke for an office park.
Warren says the next step is to develop the land around the Browns’ FirstEnergy Stadium.
WARREN: “What we are now trying to attract is a world class developer – not a new plan, the plan’s been done – to execute the plan on the docks north of the stadium.”
The city says developers will have until the beginning of next year to submit proposals for projects around the stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Cleveland Metroparks will also be instrumental in the waterfront’s future. It is close to finalizing a takeover of lakefront parks, like Edgewater, from the state. University Circle’s Debbie Berry is also head of the Metroparks' board.
BERRY: “They’ll be cleaned, they’ll be safe, we’re really going to put a lot of effort into them right at the beginning to get them up to our standards, so that when you come there, you know you’re in a Metropark.”
Other parts of the plan are waiting on funding. A bridge connecting the Mall to the harbor would have been funded by a port levy, but voters shot it down last November. The city is looking for other funds.
And the plan to turn the Shoreway into a boulevard is waiting for approval from the state transportation department. The city proposes beginning construction in 2015.
Dennis Keating has studied the lakefront for years as a professor at Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs. He suggests one reason the project has taken so long is that there’s no powerful citizen interest group dedicated solely to lobbying City Hall on the lakefront.
KEATING: “I don’t think there’s any great pressure—at least public pressure—to do it. And therefore I think the city, in good faith, with very limited resources is attempting to do what it can.”
And even though the city is moving forward, Chris Warren says, these are big parcels of land. He says it could take as long as 20 years for the lakefront to fill up with the stores and restaurants people have long dreamed about.
