The Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority is in full-court press mode with their plan to turn Cleveland’s waterfront—100-acres of wind-swept docks where the city meets the lake (pictured foreground left)—into a dense, walkable neighborhood where crowds coming for the big attractions will want to linger, take a dip in the water, shop, reside...

The Port is the first to admit it will take decades (and hundreds of millions of dollars) to move their operations to a 'dredge island' north of East 55th Street. Short term they want to build excitement for the idea and set the stage with a smaller project somewhere on Dock 32 (the area north of Browns Stadium) within five years.

Something tangible would solidify plans for a waterfront district, says Port spokesman Luke Frazier. The Port also needs the Army Corps. of Engineers to green light the move in its environmental assessment. The Corps' report is due in September, 2009, and will detail what impact a major port operation will have to ecosystems and wildlife, including an important tropical bird migration stopover at nearby Dike 14 Nature Preserve. Until the Army Corps says 'go', The Port will not begin, in earnest, detailing with key stakeholders, notably, ODOT, how to scale barriers such as the Shoreway and the dysfunctional connection back to the city at E. 55th Street. The Port is interested in improving that north-south connection as well as repairing the east-west movement—possibly with a tree-lined boulevard and uninterrupted, lakefront multi-use path as was first envisioned in the city's 2004 Lakefront Plan. The Port wants to marshal federal dollars to refashion the dismal concrete and chain link North Marginal Road (pictured, right) where few brave cyclists dare to go today (how that movement works with a bustling, international port operation will take a feat of planning and engineering brilliance).

At a recent presentation to young Cleveland leaders who affiliate with the Great Lakes Urban Exchange Network (GLUE), Frazier showed the Port’s current plan which calls for breaking the 100-acre waterfront into three manageable neighborhoods: The River, The Piers, and The Harbor. It is no coincidence that the design team hired by the Port to create a development plan, Ehrenkranz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects superimpose a scale drawing of Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia on top of the Cleveland waterfront. Even though its footprint only covers two-thirds of the space here, it’s hard to argue with intimate feel and architectural significance—Old Town has charm to spare. The Port wants to balance the best urban design elements of classics like Old Town and Baltimore's Inner Harbor (pictured) and infuse it with traits distinct to Cleveland, Frazier says. Building types and tenant mix are to be determined, but presumably the city and a developer would reap the benefit of the Port securing millions of dollars in infrastructure work to prepare the site—just as Scott Wolstein is doing with the infrastructure work currently underway in Flats East Bank—with the goal of bringing the city to the water’s edge.

Realizing it took decades for Battery Park City to develop in New York City, the hottest real estate market in the country, the Port is anxious to build momentum now. Small scale ideas in the first phase that support their catalytic project could include a paddle boat operation in North Coast Harbor and a floating pier that connects the western end of the harbor (pictured, near the Great Lakes Science Center, the Steamship Mather and Browns Stadium) with Voinovich Park. The Port and GLUE’s young leaders discussed a moveable party—from downtown to Brown’s Stadium parking lot—to draw attention to the future waterfront district. It could be like a Pop Up City event. If you're interested in being involved with the party, contact Frazier at 216/377-1355.

Links

The Port’s current plan for the waterfront (14 MB pdf)

The next opportunity to hear from the Port about their plans is a public meeting on August 13, 2009 at St. Ignatius High School.

How do we make Cleveland’s waterfront a livable place?