PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY

August 25, 2023; Rivergate Park, east bank of the Cuyahoga River, across from Irishtown Bend:  Master of Ceremonies Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack kicked off the announcement of the beginning of the Port Authorities’ riverbank stabilization project for Irishtown bend.  A park is planned for the site once the riverbank stabilization is complete.

by Bruce Checefsky

(Plain Press, October 2023) American Courage, a 634-foot, diesel-powered Great Lakes bulk freighter owned and operated by Grand River Navigation, drifted along the Cuyahoga River as dozens of political dignitaries and director-level City of Cleveland employees were about to kick off celebrations for Cleveland Port Authority’s $60 million dollar Cuyahoga River stabilization project at Irishtown Bend. Once the stabilization is completed, plans call for creating an Irishtown Bend Park.

   No fewer than ten people were expected to speak, including Senator Sherrod Brown, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port President and CEO William Friedman. A light rain moved in on the tented event held at Rivergate Park by the Cleveland Rowing Foundation’s facility.

   Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack, master of ceremonies, took center stage. The mood was festive and celebratory. News outlets and journalists from across the city and state were on hand.

   Councilman McCormack acknowledged the appointment of Tom McNair as the new City of Cleveland economic director, replacing the former economic development director, Tessa Jackson. Mayor Bibb fired Jackson on June 15 after she met with City Council earlier this year to outline concerns about how the City of Cleveland has historically handed out millions in taxpayer-funded development incentives. K& D Group CEO Doug Price, a key developer in Cleveland, reportedly complained to her supervisor, Jeff Epstein, Chief of Integrated Development. The mayor took little time to sack her.

   “Tom has been the spine and integral person, the glue that brought these people together for over a decade,” said Kerry. “This is a huge, momentous moment for the entire community.”

   Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port President and Chief Executive Officer William Friedman took the stage to thank his agency and the Coast Guard for their work in securing the economic impact associated with commerce on the river.

   “Today, we add another pivotal marker to the history of Irishtown Bend,” he said. “This project would not happen without extensive teamwork and the financial support of many government and non-profit entities. The danger was real that this hillside could collapse into the shipping channel and impact our $4.7 billion maritime shipping economy and the 22,000 jobs it supports.”

   Friedman added that protecting the shipping channel was critical to the local economy and that balancing tourism, public access, and recreational uses was a priority for the port. “All these things mean economic growth and an improved quality of life,” he said.

   Councilman Kerry thanked Senator Brown for bringing $14 million in federal dollars to the project and securing the Great Lakes Restoration Funding, which funds on-the-ground restoration projects, from wetland restoration to cleaning up toxic hotspots.

   “Irishtown Bend is a historic place, and we will make it better with the efforts of everyone involved,” said Senator Brown. “So many of us have fought for this project, and today, we finally begin this new chapter for our lake and Cleveland.”

   The construction project will stabilize and rehabilitate the hillside along W25th Street and near Columbus Road and the Detroit Superior Bridge after decades of the US Army Corps of Engineers adding fill dirt to the slope and destabilizing the site, increasing the threat of a landslide.

   Irishtown Bend emerged as a residential community for Irish immigrants in the 1850s after the Great Famine of Ireland caused a massive wave of Irish immigration to the United States. But long before the famine, Native Americans occupied the land.

   The Lenape, Oneida, Ottawa, and Wyandot tribes, unable to defend their territories, sought refuge in the Ohio Country, present-day northeast Ohio, as part of the westward migration. They found relatively unoccupied land in the area. The Erie tribe settled lakeside in northern Ohio and, in 1654, lost a war with the Iroquois Confederacy. Survivors merged with the Huron-Wyandot nation.

   Native Americans lost all lands east of the Cuyahoga River when they signed the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which permitted a collective of European settlers to claim Ohio as farmland. In 1805, the United States government took the land west of the Cuyahoga River, and over the next 40 years, they stole Native American lands piece by piece. The West side of the river was historically known as the Native side, with the East side held by the settlers. Indigenous tribes fought the settlers to keep them from crossing the river. Currently, there are no federally recognized tribal communities or nations in Ohio.

   Grace Gallucci. Executive Director & CEO of Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) said breaking ground on the Irishtown Bend project was meaningful to her. “This is not just a city of Cleveland project or a Cuyahoga County project. It is a Northeast Ohio project, regionally significant, and exemplifies the importance of regional cooperation,” said Gallucci. “Economic development relies on the river, and advocating for funding for the project was essential. We are all Northeastern Ohioans. Irishtown Bend will provide equitable access to the river, which for too long has been denied to residents.”

   Jack Marchbanks, appointed Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation by Governor Mike DeWine, acknowledged the history and work of the Carl Stokes administration and George Voinovich. He thanked the collaborative work of departments across the state of Ohio for bringing the project to fruition, expressing the critical aspects of ports and rivers in the transportation and economic health of the region.

   The stabilization and 23-acre public park are estimated to cost $100 million. In addition to $14 million in federal funds, the project includes $14.5 million from the state of Ohio and $19 million from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, the City of Cleveland, and Cuyahoga County. Last year, the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation announced a $5 million matching grant awarded to the non-profit Ohio City Inc. to help pay for landscaping the park and amenities.

   Plans for the park include a 30-foot-wide promenade along the edge of the Cuyahoga River, a 2-acre great lawn for events and festivals, Maritime Theatre amphitheater, and a sledding hill and skating rink. The site will be linked to trails that connect the Cuyahoga River to Ohio City, as well as trails that connect the park to the region, including the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail, the Redline Greenway, the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. There are also plans for a basketball court and 1.5-acre universally accessible playground, a plaza with grills and picnic tables, an adult fitness area, commemorative gardens, and massive improvements to stabilize the riverbank to protect the shipping channel.

   J. Stefan Holmes, the chairperson of the Port of Cleveland, said running anchor as a teenager on a relay team that was a state champion for Lutheran High School East prepared him for the many challenges of this project.

   “The last anchor leg of any project is always tough. You are always a little ahead or behind,” he said. “I am proud to be a leader and anchor for this project.”

   Holmes directed everyone to step outside of the covered tent. He pointed to the hillside across the river, where a construction backhoe loader sat idling. He signaled with his phone, and a foghorn ran loudly. The backhoe dipped its claws into the earth, breaking up the soil. Applause broke out, and the crowd dispersed into the rainy afternoon.