Park Plans

Canal Basin Park is transforming into a unique 22-acre urban riverfront park in downtown Cleveland that represents its historical significance to the City of Cleveland and the State of Ohio.  

The future of Canal Basin Park will include a continuous riverfront boardwalk with a Towpath Trail Mile Zero riverfront terrace and an ecological interpretation of the historic Canal Basin as the stormwater management system for the park.

Additional amenities include a Cuyahoga River-themed playground, a renovated dog park, native plantings, public restrooms, and open spaces for both community gathering and relaxation.

Park Designs and Renderings

Created by Merritt Chase on behalf of the City of Cleveland in 2024, the design plans for Canal Basin Park enhance the site by leveraging its historic features and its central riverfront location. The schematic designs were approved unanimously by the City of Cleveland Planning Commission in January of 2025 and are a step forward in the completion of a vision for Canal Bain Park has been developing since 2001.

Partners including Canalway, Downtown Cleveland Inc., Cuyahoga County, the National Parks Service, and Cleveland Metroparks have been supporting the City of Cleveland to create a gathering place, interpretive park, and connective hub at the northern end of the Towpath Trail.

The design team's archival research revealed key historical narratives integral to shaping both the city and the site:

• The Cuyahoga River was pivotal in the settlement patterns of indigenous peoples and colonial settlers. Historically, wetlands lined the riverbanks, while the higher bluffs allowed for urban development “on the hill” in downtown Cleveland.
• Constructed in 1827, the Ohio & Erie Canal established the Canal Basin as Cleveland’s industrial hub, facilitating regional connectivity via waterways using local materials like Berea stone and timber.
• The late 1800s saw railroads supplant canals, reinforcing the area’s industrial significance. The subsequent industrial boom led to environmental challenges, such as river pollution, that incited environmental reforms in the 1960s, including the creation of the EPA.
• Recent decades have seen a revitalization of the city’s riverfront, with improved park spaces, trails, and recreational water access.

Each of these historical periods is recognized in the features of the park designs which include a continuous riverfront boardwalk, a reinterpretation of the Canal Basin featuring a stormwater management feature, a Cuyahoga River-themed playground for families, community lawns for diverse activities and events and enhanced connectivity to link to nearby trails and parks.

Riverfront Boardwalk

The first phase to be completed at Canal Basin Park will be the addition of a riverfront boardwalk that will allow pedestrians to move along the river’s edge from West Street to Old River Road, and improve the connections to Settlers Landing.

This boardwalk will create a more direct river connection, similar to the connection that historically existed in Canal Basin.

The Basin

The historic outline of the Canal Basin will be reinterpreted as a stormwater collection system for the park.

This new “clean water” feature celebrates Cleveland and the Cuyahoga River’s role in inspiring the modern environmental movement, specifically the creation of the Clean Water Act, after industrial pollutants caught the river on fire multiple times in the late 1960s.

The Canal Basin stormwater system will collect surface runoff from the park and the bridges overhead, treat the water in cisterns, and recirculate the water into the Basin “Pool.” Berea stone walls and native plants will reference the canal’s cultural, ecological, and industrial history.

Cuyahoga River-Themed Playground

During the Public Engagement period of the park development, community members expressed interest in the creation of a playground at Canal Basin Park. This will be only the second public playground in the downtown neighborhood.

People from more than 28 area zip codes engaged in the survey, and 26% of those respondents were from downtown Cleveland neighborhoods. Of the designs proposed, the majority of survey respondents favored the river-themed playground that would further the community connection to the Cuyahoga.