Cleveland residents celebrated a new, accessible park and greenspace Friday in the heart of the Hough neighborhood.
The 2.6-acre site is now called Thurgood Marshall Green. It was once home to John W. Raper Elementary School, next to Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center on East. 85th Street. The park now features accessible walking trails, two playgrounds, a pavilion and more than 120 newly planted trees.
"Everybody doesn't have access to healthcare and all of those things, but there is something that the outdoors and Mother Nature provides to us," Councilmember Stephanie Howse-Jones said. "This is going to be a place that is going to help rejuvenate, restore, and just give real joy to many community members who are long overdue for getting that."
Cleveland's Hough neighborhood is one of several historically disenfranchised communities with limited tree canopy. Less than a quarter of the neighborhood is covered by shade trees, according to Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Urban Tree Canopy Assessment. Though the neighborhood's canopy is several percentage points higher than the city's 18% average, it has the potential to more than double its canopy, according to the assessment.
"As days are getting hotter that can provide shade and cool and then also the calming effect, the healing effect of trees and breathing fresh air," Howse-Jones said.
The city of Cleveland aims to reach 30% tree canopy by 2040.
Cleveland's Department of Parks and Recreation will manage the park moving forward, but Western Reserve Land Conservancy's Reforest Our City team will be responsible for long-term maintenance of the trees. The team will look to ensure the trees can contribute to the city's canopy overall, according to the conservancy's Matt Zone.
Community-focused design
Prior to construction, the land sat vacant until 2021 when the the City of Cleveland issued a request for proposals to redevelop the site.
"While the main focus of the RFP was on real estate development, Western Reserve Land Conservancy identified an opportunity for development of a high quality park space to support and enhance the real estate and infill development efforts underway in the Hough community," Zone said.
Western Reserve Land Conservancy worked with the City of Cleveland and several community partners including Village Family Farms, Little Africa Food Co-op and Famicos Foundation to identify exactly what residents wanted to see in the space.
Hough resident Leonard Tanks lives on East 84th Street, around the corner from the park. He said he's most excited to use the calisthenic exercise equipment he requested early in the public engagement process, and for his two sons to play on the playground. But Thurgood Marshall Green will also raise community spirits.
"Especially for my neighbors right here on 85th," Tanks said "To be able to look outside and see something beautiful ... I think it gives you a sense of pride in your community, and that alone has the ability to raise continents."
City Architecture and digital design firm Layer Cake created the final product, factoring in residential need, and using nine trees on the property to pay special homage to the park's namesake.
"The first one, which is a purple red bud at the entrance of the park, will signify Thurgood Marshall himself, and then variegated trees [representing] the other Supreme Court justices at the time," Layer Cake Landscape Architecture Firm Lead Drew Sargent said. "At each of these nine trees will also feature signage that talks about Thurgood Marshall's life in a timeline, as well as coinciding information about civil rights in Hough as well."
Now that the park is completed, Executive Director of Village Family Farms Jamel Rahkeera already has ideas for how to best use the space through farmers markets, family days and nature lessons for kids.
"This space still is going to be a place that serves the community, but just in a different capacity," Rahkeera said. "At one point in time, it was used for ... elementary school for students. Now we're educating students on nature."
