Michael Zone Recreation Center at W. 65th Street and Lorain Avenue in the Cleveland EcoVillage neighborhood includes 22 acres of greenspace. This large open space offers an opportunity to become a national demonstration of how an urban park can best contribute to sustainable living. 

Besides improving and adding to play and activity areas, new concepts include state-of-the-art green technology to maintain most of the stormwater on site, and re-introducing natural elements such as gardens and wetlands.

Goals of Zone Recreation project:

• Provide a national model for ecological urban greenspace design
• Incorporate comments from community design session
• Improve quality and diversity of community active

recreational needs and integrate with ecological design

• Create low-impact stormwater management practices by filtering and detaining on-site runoff
• Establish areas of natural habitats with diverse vegetative communities
• Demonstrate principles of permaculture, sustainability, and natural habitat restoration
• Improve connections for the neighborhood residents and businesses including EcoVillage, RTA Station, Barbara Booker Elementary School, and the new Urban Community School

Timeline of planning activities:

• In 2006, fundraising to remake the greenspace at Zone Rec into a highly functional and enriching space continues. Efforts are underway to find a partner to help develop a wetland and bioswales that will capture all the stormwater and keep it onsite.
• Draft design concepts for the Michael Zone Recreation Center greenspace were presented at a community meeting May 5th, 2005 from 6-8pm in the Zone Rec gym. More than 35 community residents attended and offered suggestions and comments.
• In March 2005, the consultant team of McKnight Associates, Davey Resources, and artist Stephen Manka was chosen to help create the park design.
• On September 21, 2002, a community meeting began a dialogue about defining more uses of the center's expansive, mostly unused green space. How could grassy fields be reshaped to accommodate more recreational activities, resting places, spaces that invite people to stay awhile, and areas that create a beautiful natural setting while offering environmentally and socially positive change?