Unanimous Vote on Updated Schematic Designs for Park Renovation
The Cleveland Planning Commission approved plans Friday for the schematic designs for Canal Basin Park, located in downtown Cleveland on the east bank of The Flats.
The approved designs will transform the 20-acre, city-owned greenspace into an interpretive park that honors the location’s important history as the terminus of the 1832 Ohio & Erie Canal, connects the community to the Cuyahoga River and the area’s growing trail network, and creates a cohesive gathering space for community use.
“Cleveland’s historic success, growth and cultural makeup are directly connected to the Ohio & Erie Canal. By transforming the historic site of the canal’s basin into an interpretive park, we will be embedding and honoring this history in the physical essence of downtown Cleveland,” Mera Cardenas, executive director of Canalway Partners, said in support of the plans at Friday’s meeting. “The plans crafted by the Merritt Chase team and presented today will transform a simple city-owned greened-space into a community park that focuses on Cleveland’s industrial and environmental history while creating connections to the Cuyahoga River and the Towpath Trail and fostering connections through the Flats on both sides of the river.”
Once completed, the park will include a Cuyahoga River-themed playground, an accessible riverfront edge with boardwalk, and an ecological interpretation of the historic Canal Basin featuring a stormwater filtration system that will highlight the Cuyahoga River’s role in the creation of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The proposed designs also include the reallocation of Merwin Avenue from vehicular traffic to pedestrian and bicycle promenade.
The City of Cleveland engaged Merritt Chase Landscape Architects to develop the schematic designs. The planning process began in early 2024, and the schematic designs were first circulated to the public in October 2024.
The unanimous vote on Friday speaks to the years-long collaboration by community partners including Canalway Partners, Cuyahoga County, Downtown Cleveland Inc., Cleveland Metroparks, the National Park Service, Trust for Public Land and the City of Cleveland Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects. The vision of Canal Bain Park has been developing since 2001, when Mayor White approved the donation of three acres of land to the park. In the last four years, more than 30,000 square feet of asphalt in Canal Basin was turned into greenspace and sidewalks and a Towpath Trailhead with seating, bike racks, a water fountain and a direct link to more than 90 miles of trail was added.
With the conceptual approval of the schematic designs, park partners will begin additional environmental review and the preparation of construction documents ahead of an unrelated public mural and art project scheduled for completion in early summer 2025. View the full Planning Commission meeting here.
About Canal Basin Park
Located in downtown Cleveland on the east bank of The Flats, Canal Basin Park is the historic site where the 1832 Ohio & Erie Canal met the Cuyahoga River. Today, it is the northern terminus of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, and in the future it will be an interpretive park that honors the location’s important history, connects the community to the Cuyahoga River and trail network, and creates a cohesive greenspace for community use.