Cleveland’s Lakefront Development
In addition to the federal funding cuts I wrote about in my last post, there is an additional cut that I fear: funding that had been awarded to Cleveland in support of a lakefront redevelopment plan.
Cleveland is the largest city on Lake Erie and is incredibly lucky to sit on the shores of an endless expanse of fresh water. There was the infamous past of extensive water pollution and consistent fires on the Cuyahoga River, when Cleveland wasn’t as lucky to sit on the lake. But while still fragile, as I’ve written about before, Lake Erie is a story of ecological rehabilitation.
However, in many parts of the city, it’s still hard for people to access or spend time on the lakefront, enjoying water, sand, grass, and associated recreation and fun. There are individual parks and stretches like Edgewater Beach and the Cleveland Lakefront Preserve, but there are also large swaths of land inaccessible due to Interstate 90 running right next to the water, Burke Lakefront Municipal Airport, and industrial infrastructure.
Cleveland has been making efforts to develop and better leverage its lakefront since the dawn of the 20th century. The first official plan was developed in 1903. “The Group Plan”, as it was called, was going to develop a hub of government buildings with central green space and a promenade leading down to the water. The beaux-arts civic buildings were were constructed around a park, an area now referred to as “The Mall”, but the promenade never happened after attention moved to the development of Cleveland’s Union Terminal and Terminal Tower on the other side of Cleveland’s Public Square in the early 1920s. The Great Depression then arrived and all plans were set aside.
After World War II, Cleveland was one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, much of which was due to rapid expansion of industry and manufacturing. Given access to the waterfront and railways, it was understandable that many factories and structures were built along the mouth of the Cuyahoga River and the lakefront. However, that infrastructure trapped the lakefront in specific uses and functions that would not be revisited for many years.
By the 1980s, for both good and bad, Cleveland’s industrial sector was no longer growing. There was renewed interest in the lakefront, due in part to the waterfront redevelopment project in Baltimore that at the time revitalized the Inner Harbor and downtown. In the 80s and 90s, individual lakefront projects were completed including the iconic Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center, but no comprehensive plan emerged.
The current redevelopment effort launched in 2021 with a plan from the Haslam Sports Group that included improvements to the Browns’ Stadium that currently sits on the lakefront. The role of the stadium in downtown Cleveland has been a roller coaster in the years since. At this time, it looks likely that a new stadium will be built outside of the city of Cleveland.
Regardless, it was the early stadium plan that launched renewed interest, investors and efforts. In 2022, Cleveland’s mayor, Justin Bibb, announced the North Coast Master Plan. Central to the plan is a land bridge and greenspace that will connect the Mall to the North Coast Harbor.
In October 2024, Cleveland received a $60M federal grant to transform part of a secondary highway into a pedestrian-accessible boulevard. In January 2025, the city was awarded a second federal grant of $70M that seemed to put the project on the cusp of realization.
While I did not find any concrete news that any of this federal funding has been clawed back, there is simply nothing certain at this time about federal funding. Clevelanders are good about keeping the hope alive though. So we’ll just do that for the moment.
Much credit to the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s posting “Bridging the Divide: Cleveland’s Lakefront Story”
