The first look at the redesigned concepts for Shaker Square will be unveiled during the Common Ground series this weekend.
The square's new common areas will incorporate input from the more than 2,200 interactions with the community through on-line surveys, five public meetings, stakeholder interviews, focus groups and 30 neighborhood meetings, said Tara Turner, Senior Director of Development & Communications with the non-profit LAND studio.
The design concept will include a re-routing of Shaker Boulevard to make the area more inclusive to pedestrians.
“We think the only way to make this be a truly transformational project that's going to make this place different for the next 100 years is to make it more of a green space,” Turner said. “And we can't do that unless we do some re-routing. So, what we want to do is we want to make improvements to the layout to landscaping, security and of course almost more importantly from the onset of this project is to look at the peripheral parking.”
The plan also calls for improvements to the plaza area surrounding the RTA station, including enhancements to sidewalks and an expanded tree canopy.
The redesign is meant to bring the surrounding neighborhoods together, Turner said.
“We want to encourage unity through this new space,” Turner said. “The catalyst of this area is for growth in all sorts of ways not just in Shaker Square but on Buckeye Road and certainly in Larchmere and all the way down the Doan Brook.”
Turner emphasized this weekend’s unveiling is still just the beginning of the process that kicked off nine months ago when the two nonprofits tasked with the redesign, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and LAND studio, began asking for public input. The concept is fluid, she said, and the partners will be asking for even more public input once residents see the first draft of the new look.
