CUDC Quarterly, 3:2
 (Summer, 2003)

Last fall the UDC was awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts to sponsor a charrette on the future of Cleveland’s waterfront. Back when the UDC applied for this grant, it seemed that a program generating visionary proposals for the lakefront might be just the thing to catalyze the planning and development process. As it worked out, that process got catalyzed all by itself during the long federal grant cycle. By the time the NEA grant was announced, it was clear that the proposed charrette would only confuse the lakefront planning process that the city has pursued so energetically.

This left the UDC with an enviable problem: what to do with a pot of money that would bring Cleveland fresh perspectives from some top designers. Through consultations with city officials (and numerous members of the UDC’s top secret, ad hoc advisory council), it was decided to address an inevitable limitation of any lakefront plan. Waterfront planning, naturally enough, tends to focus on a band parallel to the water. That might not be a problem in some cases, but in Cleveland—where there have always been barriers between city and lake—there is a real danger that a redeveloped lakefront could end up only weakly related to the existing inland city.

In this context, University Circle and the parks that link it to the lakefront made a perfect topic. Additionally, many key Circle institutions are currently engaged in expansion and planning efforts, and the Cleveland Department of Port Control is working on a remediation project for Doan Brook in Rockefeller Park. Combined with the Lakefront Plan, these initiatives would provide an outside designer with plenty of food for thought. At the same time, their sheer number indicated that some encompassing ideas for the area might prove very useful.

With all that in the background, four designers and their associates arrived at the CUDC on Friday, June 20. The roster included three landscape architects—Julie Bargmann, Mario Schjetnan and Matthew Urbanski—each with extensive and varied experience with urban parks and environmental reclamation. The fourth designer was Michael Sorkin, an architect, urbanist and critic notorious for his habit of making provocative "unsolicited master plans."

The group listened to briefings by local planners and designers on Friday afternoon and then presented their work at an evening reception at the Cleveland Museum of Art. They then settled in at the CUDC, working all day Saturday and right up to the final presentation at CMA on Sunday afternoon. Bargmann and Urbanski joined forces to produce a single design concept, but there were still four presentations, thanks to the efforts of a "rogue" team of recent CUDC graduates.

Defining the problem(s): The circle-to-lake link is composed of three related greenspaces: the former Wade Park (University Circle around the junction of MLK Boulevard and Euclid Avenue), Rockefeller Park (along MLK Blvd)  and Gordon Park (at the junction of MLK and I-90). Infrastructure changes have created circulation problems and degraded the park experience at the north and south ends. This graphic (by Mario Schjetnan) shows the major vehicular routes into the are and particularly highlights the strategic placement of East 105th Street.

In addition to the National Endowment for the Arts, "From the Circle to the Lake" was sponsored by the Holden Trust. The UDC also received valuable assistance from the Cleveland Museum of Art, University Circle, Inc. and the City of Cleveland.

related article
Sequel: Freedom for Doan Brook

charrette poster front (pdf)

charrette poster back (pdf)