Project team

Head: Slavic Village Development (SVD)

Partners: Third Federal Savings, Friends of Morgana Run Trail, the Union/Aetna Model Block Club.

Project description and goals

The project proposes creating a pseudo-Prairie/Savannah complete with prairie grasses, sedges, and scattered oak trees to reconstitute the soils of the Brownfield site. The project enables not only aesthetic values, but ecological diversity through the creation of a habitat meant to attract wildlife. The goals, then, include both long-term ecological value to a once-fallow site, and the extension of sustainable community development in that the current project supplements the existing Morgana Run Trail as well as the nearby Mill Creek Waterfall.

Existing conditions

The 21,000 ft lot (parcel 132-03-008) is located adjacent to the current Morgana Run Trail at E. 71st in Cleveland’s Broadway neighborhood. The old industrial site is considered a Brownfield, and the site has recently received a federal grant for remediation. Currently, the site is strewn with invasive plantings, including Japanese knotweed.  Spatially, the space is open creating for the potentiality of a park-like feel, and this nicely compliments the plans currently underway for a housing development located on the other half of the lot in question. 

Proposed interventions

The intervention specifics include: site preparation and plantings of grasses, sedges, and trees (Year 1); and late-fall brush hogging and control of uninhabitable vegetation (Year[s] 2 and 3).  

Site maintenance

SVD is in charge of the long-term management of the Savannah, with scheduling detailing tasks and workdays on an as-needed basis. Watering will be maintained through gaining the use (via permit) of a city-owned water source along E. 71st.