New Lakefront Plan from Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson Strikes a Tone of Realism – Steve Litt

New lakefront plan from Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson strikes a tone of realism – Steve Litt, Plain Dealer November 15, 2011

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — It would be easy to greet Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s new vision for the downtown Cleveland lakefront with skepticism.

After all, it’s the latest of more than half a dozen plans over the past 25 years that contemplated everything from building a floating hotel shaped like the Titanic to reconfiguring miles of shoreline with new islands made of landfill. Despite all the grand visions, the downtown lakefront remains a half-realized dream – and a chronic wasted opportunity.

Granted, a lot has been accomplished. In a burst of action starting in 1995, the city completed a collection of attractions on the shoreline, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center and Cleveland Browns Stadium.

But lakefront development has stalled since then, leaving the architectural icons of the 1990s standing isolated amid a barren landscape of parking lots and lifeless streets and parks.

Despite the malaise, there are good reasons to take Jackson’s new plan seriously. Most important is that it isn’t so much a cascade of wildly original ideas as it is a collection of the most logical and sensible concepts for the downtown portion of the lakefront that have surfaced in earlier plans.

This is not to suggest that the designers involved, EE&K of New York and Van Auken Akins of Cleveland, have plagiarized their predecessors.

On the contrary, the designers this time around appear to have arrived at their recommendations independently. This gives all the more credence to their conclusions, the most important of which is that there’s plenty of room for private development and ample public space on the waterfront.

In fact, the numbers sound impressive. The designers believe there’s ample space for 3.5 million square feet of development on 55 acres of waterfront land along two linear miles of shoreline that weave in and out from Dock 28 north of the stadium to the west end of Burke Lakefront Airport.

The plan also includes miles of bike paths connecting the waterfront to the downtown core and roughly two miles of public promenades on the water’s edge. Public spaces of high quality could be woven throughout three distinct waterfront zones from the Port of Cleveland to Burke.

All of this is good news, because it means the city could finally realize a greater degree of private-sector payback from the massive public investments lavished on the shoreline attractions in the ’90s.

What’s different about the new plan is that the city and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority have clarified the ownership and management of key parcels around the harbor, which could facilitate development.

In addition, the new plan is emerging amid a greater sense of certainty about what’s possible, and what’s not possible, on the lakefront.

The port, which had contemplated moving its downtown cargo operations east to East 55th Street, has decided to stay put on the lakefront acres west of the stadium. This settles, for now, one of the biggest questions affecting waterfront development by limiting

possibilities and allowing the city to focus first on the strong opportunities around North Coast Harbor.

Also, Jackson has come down firmly against the idea of closing Burke Lakefront Airport and either turning it into a park or a vast real estate development.

That position also makes sense. With millions of square feet of vacant office space in the core of downtown, it doesn’t seem like the best time to open up a huge new area for development along the lakefront at Burke.

It makes more sense, instead, to capitalize on the investments already made in the ’90s, such as the Rock Hall.

In many ways, Jackson’s plan represents a continuation of the ambitious lakefront plan completed in 2005 by his predecessor, Jane Campbell.

But while the Campbell plan provided an important framework for future decision-making about all nine miles of city lakefront, it was less specific about how to get things started in discrete locations.

Under the new plan, Jackson has a more plausible road map about how to get started and keep moving on the downtown waterfront.

Small but important pieces of the new vision have a decent chance of happening within three to five years, either because the projects are already funded with federal money or could attract private investment.

These include a pedestrian bridge at North Coast Harbor designed by Boston architect Miguel Rosales (another legacy of the Campbell plan), a pair of waterfront restaurants, more on-street parking on the East Ninth Street Pier and a marina for pleasure boats north of the Rock Hall.

If those elements come into being relatively soon, the city could create a sense of forward motion around the Rock Hall, which could attract bigger pieces of proposed development, such as office complexes proposed for chunks of land west and east of North Coast Harbor.

To be sure, obstacles exist. One is that the city simply doesn’t have tens of millions of dollars to pour into the infrastructure needed to trigger large-scale development on the

waterfront. It’s counting on the federal government for an $80 million grant to pay for transportation improvements at the port and for a pedestrian bridge from the north end of Mall C to North Coast Harbor and the Rock Hall.

Chris Warren, Jackson’s chief of regional development, described the process of winning such a grant as “enormously competitive,” which sounds daunting.

But other parts of the plan sound eminently doable, such as creating new parking spaces on the East Ninth Street Pier as a way to make the area more accessible on a casual basis and more like a regular city street.

The computer graphics created by EE&K and Van Auken Akins for Jackson’s lakefront plan look deceptively smooth and polished. The reality is that the plan will take two decades or more to complete and will undoubtedly evolve over time. New plans will probably emerge as the city’s circumstances change.

For now, Jackson’s plan provides a good framework for steps the city can take in the near term. It’s crucial that the mayor and his team deliver on what they’ve envisioned. If they can’t, the city’s lakefront will continue to stay frozen, largely as it was at beginning of the last decade.

Mayor Frank Jackson Tries to Change History with Lakefront Plan – Plain Dealer

Mayor Frank Jackson tries to change history with lakefront plan – Plain Dealer November 15, 2011

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port-authority-lakefront-plans-looking-west.JPG
Cleveland’s lakefront is getting new attention from Mayor Frank Jackson.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The development of Cleveland’s lakefront is a century-old story of piecemeal action and broken promises, but Mayor Frank Jackson thinks he has strategy that could put all that in the past.

Jackson presented a plan(pdf) Monday for developing the downtown waterfront from the Port of Cleveland to Burke Lakefront Airport. Drawings show 90 acres laced with offices, restaurants, shops and marinas. (Read the earlier version of this story.)

The plan, drafted by EE&K architects of New York and Van Auken Akins Architects of Cleveland, could unfold over many years and eventually reach $2 billion in value. Most of the money is expected to come from the private sector.

Skepticism came quickly at the City Hall news conference, not only from reporters but from John Onacila, a 67-year-old boater who lives on the city’s West Side. From the rear of the room, he listened as proponents declared this plan to be The One.

“I’ve heard that before,” Onacila whispered.

But Jackson and others say the latest vision can become reality because it has the backing of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, the Cleveland Browns and other lakefront interests and answers two lingering questions.

Will the port move? Will the airport close? In both cases the answer is no.

Another key is a series of ordinances, given to the council Monday night, that make clear which sections of the development area the city will control, and which will be managed by the Browns or the port authority.

Council President Martin J. Sweeney said the council should pass the legislation by February. He and downtown Councilman Joe Cimperman said they are excited about seeing mixed-use waterfront development become a reality.

“I think it’s a real shot at making something happen,” Cimperman said. “There’s going to be such a demand for this.”

The city, which owns all of the development area, will lease land to developers, just as it does with the Browns. Chris Warren, Jackson’s chief of regional development, expects some developers to commit to projects within six months, though financing and other hurdles could push construction out two or three years.

A marina for temporary docking and a pedestrian bridge over North Coast Harbor, paid for by the city with grants, will open in 2013. Warren says those projects prove Jackson’s plan is not “pie-in-the-sky.”

When other publicly financed features will arrive is not as certain. The city needs $100 million for other work, including a second pedestrian bridge linking the lakefront to downtown. Cleveland has asked the federal government to pay $80 million of that expense.

Skeptics can be forgiven. A number of grand plans for the lakefront have been floated over the years; Jackson’s is just the latest.

A 1959 plan called for a recreation center with a sports arena and aquarium. In the 1960s and 1970s, proponents pushed for an international jetport five miles offshore, along with new parks, beaches and marinas.

In 2000, then-Mayor Michael R. White proposed a $750 million plan that included a Ferris wheel, children’s museum, band shell, theater complex, aquarium, ferry dock and marina for pleasure boats.

Four years later, his successor, Jane Campbell called for five marinas, five beaches, 3.9 million square feet of office and commercial space and 7,500 housing units. Planners also spoke about building an 18-hole golf course and turning Burke Lakefront Airport into mixed-use development.

Follow Thomas Ott on Twitter @thomasott1

“A Quiet Crisis” Important 2001 Plain Dealer Series About Northeast Ohio

“The Quiet Crisis”. An important series of articles created in 2001 by the Plain Dealer
Most of the links below have been disabled. Some new versions are here

The link is here  (disabled)

Some of the links from the articles below can be found here

Here are some of the article links:

» Roundtable: Regional cooperation key to survival

» Brent Larkin: Quiet Crisis not so quiet anymore

» Doug Clifton: Region’s needs won’t wait any longer

» Joe Frolik: Northeast Ohio must shape up to contend again

» Roundtable: Where are the new paths to prosperity?

Chattanooga vs. Cleveland: Comparing the comebacks

» On the waterfront

» Dick Feagler: Cleveland not hip? Perish the thought 

» Letters: Hip city makeover would attract workers 

» ‘Comeback City’ fights old-shoe image 

» St. Louis learns, leapfrogs over Cleveland in efforts to market itself 

» Losing our lifeblood

» Cleveland vs. other cities

» Mark S. Rosentraub: Make the city family-friendly

» Joe Frolick: Who’ll lead the region out of its crisis?

» Edmund Adams: Don’t let DeRolph derail the future

» Brent Larkin: Ohio and this region need Taft to find his nerve

Letters: It’s time to get growing again – but not only in Cleveland 

» Brent Larkin: Airport deal in peril

» Cleveland economy growing, but barely

An untapped industry could give Cleveland the vibrancy it needs 

» Panel discussion: Getting down to the arts business

» Panel discussion: The fine art of taxing to support culture

» Panel discussion: Bridging arts and enterprise

» Joe Frolik: The arts & the future

An untapped industry could give Cleveland the vibrancy it needs 

» Panel discussion: Getting down to the arts business

» Panel discussion: The fine art of taxing to support culture

» Panel discussion: Bridging arts and enterprise

» Joe Frolik: The arts & the future

Joe Frolik: Crossing the town-gown gap | Building ties | Building trust

» Greater Cleveland’s cloudy future

» Joe Frolik: Making business feel at home

» Editorial: Light ahead?

» Joe Frolik: A role model for homesteaders

» Joe Frolik: A leap of faith

Panel discussions:

» Finding the right people

» High-tech strategy

» The foundation for success

» First, region must learn

» Making success happen

» Editorial: A helpful push

» Donald T. Iannone: Regional cooperation isn’t enough

» Brent Larkin: The port in a storm

» Policies that cross city boundaries can spur economy

» Richard Shatten: The picture of a losing region

» Joe Frolik: Turn an asset – diversity – into an economic catalyst

» Editorial: The chronic crisis

» Northeast Ohio drives toward uncertain future

Dave Lazor: Nurture upstarts

» Joe Frolik: NE Ohio appeals to entrepreneurs, but can do more

» Reversing the Quiet Crisis with a business buzz

» Beginning the buzz

Joe Frolik: The high-tech route to City Hall 

Biosciences: The next big thing or one of many

» Biotech incubator sets high standards

» Panel discussion: Commercial research inspires the classroom

» Panel discussion: Getting ideas out of the ivory tower

» Joe Frolik: Research links science with economic impact

» Panel discussion: A key strategy: Go for the research stars

» Universities need to court top-tier researchers

Panel discussion: Failure is easy to spot

» Panel discussion: Public vs. private

» Panel discussion: Like a corporation, only better

» Richard J. Scaldini: A legion of liberal arts grads

» Brent Larkin: Unappreciated, a native son packs his bags

» Brent Larkin: Losing by degrees

» Planning always pays off

» Penny-wise Ohio is not playing to win

» Short-changing Ohio’s future

» Ohio’s economy is losing by degrees

» Joe Frolik: Higher education’s slippage throws Ohio into a vicious cycle

 

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