Whiskey Island is a 60-acre peninsula at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River (on its west bank). The land is owned by Cuyahoga County. Besides having the natural, 20-acre Wendy Park and a rare natural shoreline, the property contains a 10-acre marina and 30 acres of adjacent submerged land.
After considering a sale of Whiskey Island to the Port Authority, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners decided in spring 2007 to keep and enhance its natural areas on the eastern end. The County Planning Commission issued a Whiskey Island Concept Plan that enhances parkland and beachfront areas of Wendy Park, and upgrades the public access marina.
"It may be 100 years late, and a few miles short of downtown Chicago's famous Grant Park on Lake Michigan, but this can be...our front door, our downtown playground on the Great Lakes," says Whiskey Island enthusiast Peter Griesinger.
Cuyahoga County's goals for Wendy Park are to:
- provide the public with clean and safe access to a natural Lake Erie shoreline and to the Cuyahoga River;
- support redevelopment in the Flats by providing residents with nearby access to trails, fishing, picnicking, kayak launching and bird watching;
- provide a place to learn about natural area restoration, local history, renewable energy and green-building technologies.
Updates
July 2007—County Planning Commission creates a new section on its web site for Whiskey Island, signaling the formal adoption of its plan to secure and enhance the natural areas of Wendy Park, and improve the connections from the city through the extension of the Towpath Trail and a proposed bike/pedestrian bridge over the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.
July 2006—The Port Authority withdraws its eminent domain lawsuit to acquire the county's Whiskey Island property. The county commissioners and the mayor of Cleveland agree that the Cleveland Metroparks should operate Wendy Park and Whiskey Island Marina, according to Friends of Whiskey Island. The Cleveland Metroparks agree to operate the county's Whiskey Island property when the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail Extension is completed to Wendy Park and the U.S. Coast Guard Station.
- See Friends of Whiskey Island for a complete collection of officially proposed plans, and a citizen's vision
- Whiskey Island photo gallery
- An illustration of the proposed bike/pedestrian Whiskey Island aka “Hands Across the River Bridge”.
Contact Ed Hauser for more information at 216-870-9206 - edhauser@ameritech.net or Peter R. Griesinger, 440-423-1601 – peterg@griesingerfilms.com
Bridge to Whiskey Island closed to cars until 2008
Marc Lefkowitz Says:Starting Tuesday, October 16, 2007 through April 15, 2008, access to Whiskey Island, including Wendy Park and Whiskey Island Marina will be closed to vehicles. This closing is due to the construction project that will raise the bridge over the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and widen the bridge to two-lanes and adding a pedestrian / bike lane. During this construction period, there will be a 4-foot wide bridge that will allow pedestrians and bicyclists access to Whiskey Island. The bridge will reopen to vehicles on April 16, 2008.
Citizen Hauser succeeds in saving Whiskey Island
Susan Miller Says:On March 2, 2006 Citizen Hauser got the County Commissioners to call off the Port Authority dogs! Whiskey Island saved again! Congratulations are in order!
Garbage on the beach!
Matt Russell Says:I agree, a congratulations is in order! Whiskey Island is a wonderful green space in Cleveland. However, as a frequent visitor, I must admit that the garbage problem on the beach is overwhelming and unbecoming. Time permitting, I am aiming to organize a garbage clean-up "party". That said, who is currently in charge of this duty? I will post more information soon!
Whiskey Island: Will it be Bulk or Beautiful?
Peter R. Griesinger Says:Whiskey
Island: Will it be Bulk or Beautiful?
With the Port Authority once again declaring that they intend to purchase (or take?) the Whiskey Island Marina from Cuyahoga County for bulk stone storage, we are faced with yet another counterintuitive, myopic attempt to wrest away from the citizens of Northeast Ohio one of the best chances that we have had in decades to define ourselves as one of the great freshwater destinations in the nation.
In an age of profoundly competitive and dedicated international efforts to improve and restore any one region’s natural capital assets, it is inexcusable to pretend that the Port’s ‘expedient’ industrial plan to bury an existing lakefront marina with piles of stone trumps the aesthetic, recreational, social, environmental, and economic values that all three Whiskey Island properties, together, bring to our region. The 500 boat Whiskey Island Marina, the uniquely spectacular 20 acre Wendy Park, and the historic art-moderne Coast Guard Station are for real, not pretend. They are the VERY place in downtown Cleveland where we can escape to the lake; where we can relax, picnic, and play; where we can sail, motor, or paddle a boat; and where, most of all, we can simply refresh and recharge in an atmosphere of spectacular scenic lore and beauty.
For the estimated 30 million dollars that the Port would have to spend to convert the marina into an industrial bulk stone facility, we could restore ALL of the properties on
Whiskey
Island AND do a bold,
Cleveland first. To access the multiple treasures at Whiskey Island and to satisfy the current and future need for recreation on and along the lakeshore from the Rock Hall to Edgewater Park, we could build a signature, “Hands Across the River”, 90 foot high pedestrian and bicycle bridge that would gently arch across the mouth of the river just north of the existing rail bridge, symbolically crossing and finally uniting the great East/West divide that has plagued Cleveland for so many years.
By joining both sides of our great city at the mouth of the
Cuyahoga
River, we could, for the first time, actually celebrate our diversity, our maritime heritage, and our internationally coveted environmental resources at
Whiskey
Island. To provide even greater public access to the waterfront, the new ped/bike bridge could configure with the elevated loop of the RTA Waterfront Line so that families could travel by rail, get off at the new ‘Whiskey Island’ rapid stop, and walk across the river for a Sunday picnic at Wendy Park; a boat ride from the Whiskey Island Marina; or a tour of the restored Coast Guard Station.
There are millions of dollars of investment opportunities at our fingertips as the residential and commercial development proposals at the harborfront and along the riverbank get under way. With wisdom, an eye to the future, and the Port Authority’s partnership, we could, together, transform our city, our county, and our region by investing in what already stands before us – a magnificent lakefront gateway to the on-going restoration projects in downtown
Cleveland, the Flats, and the
Cuyahoga
River valley to the south.
The Tow Path Trail is coming to Whiskey Island; the Cleveland Metroparks is looking to permanently secure the property; the 5th Annual River Day event will return May 20th; the Burning River Festival will make its permanent home there beginning with this year’s celebration on August 12th; and the Great Lakes Restoration Conference is coming to Cleveland and touring the properties September 23rd. The world beckons for the restorative health, economic opportunity, and well-being a project like this brings to a waterfront community like ours.
We can do it because we have this very special, irreplaceably beautiful spot on the water we know as
Whiskey
Island. The Coast Guard Station, Wendy Park, and the Whiskey Island Marina are unsurpassed, world class freshwater recreational resources, whose future, simply, and gratefully, need not be darkened by piles of stone.
Whiskey
Island: Will it be Bulk or Beautiful?
You decide…it’s your money and our future – where the river meets the lake.
Peter R. Griesinger - April 20, 2006
Gates Mills, OH
440/423-1601
Ohio Environmental Council Board Member