CUDC Quarterly, 3:2
 (Summer, 2003)

Gordon Park and Dike 14
In spite of improvements in the last 25 years, Gordon Park has never really recovered from destruction wrought by freeway construction in the 1950s, so it received a lot of attention in the charrette. The city’s Lakefront Plan proposes using fill to enlarge a number of parks, but all of the charrette plans propose the opposite in this particular case, excavating to enlarge the marina, create a south-facing peninsula and bring the water dramatically close to the proposed lakefront boulevard. (This inlet might also receive Doan Brook from a stream bed, instead of the current drain pipe.) On Dike 14, there was similar consensus. The Dike was created over the last few decades from river and harbor dredgings, and its future use will be determined soon. The site has "naturalized" and become a valuable bird habitat, and most of the charrette participants proposed leaving it much as is, while monitoring soil and water contamination from the river and harbor sediments that have been dumped there. Sorkin excavates further, turning the dike into an island as part of a lakefront "inner passage." The alumni group would alter its topography, adding a dune to the west and replacing a tangle of Shoreway service roads with a velodrome at its southern edge.

Gordon Park and Dike 14 plans by Mario Schjetnan (top) and the CUDC alumni group.

Bargmann and Urbanski explore the possibility of a more dynamic shoreline in these "before" and "after" montages.

Michael Sorkin integrated his proposal for Gordon Park into a larger lakefront system. Drawing on aspects of the city's current plans, he proposed linked islands forming an "inner passage" along the lakefront, shown here in its most radical form (without Burke Lakefront Airport).

Rockefeller Park and Doan Brook
The original purpose of the parkway along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was to provide the wealthy with a pleasant route between their mansions on Euclid Avenue and their lakeside "cottages" in Bratenahl. While the participants were concerned about the lack of active uses in the park, none wanted to alter its beauty or historical character. They sought, rather, to protect it, and to help it reach out to more active uses nearby. Protection involved reducing heavy traffic at the northern and southern ends of the parkway by diverting traffic to East 105th Street (see below) and resolving the hideous mess at the East 105th intersection, what Sorkin referred to as "cutting the Gordian Knot."

Fishing in the pond near the former Mount Sinai complex. Participants sought to extend the active use that are now concentrated at the southern end of the park.

The alumni group proposed breaks in the tree wall that would give views to recreational amenities on the hillside above. This example shows a lit basketball court.

Neighborhood Connections
Rockefeller Park is surrounded by the Glenville neighborhood. In spite of its close proximity to University Circle, this historically working class community is in dire shape, and the Circle-to-Lake link is not, by and large, made very available to it as an amenity. In addition to adding recreational uses within Rockefeller Park, the Schjetnan, Sorkin and alumni plans also identified sites that might be added into the park system, particulary to the west. Sorkin takes the idea a step further. In proposing a "Parkapelago" for Glenville he writes, "The availability of large areas of banked land makes possible the overlay of a new system of pedestrian and bicycle movement that would supplement rather than replace the street grid. Passing across the (Rockefeller) park, this system could help unite the two sides as well as make the area of the Circle more accessible to its surrounding neighborhoods. In addition, the system might facilitate easier and more extensive connections between neighborhoods and the lakefront. And, by promoting amenity and focus, the new park space could aid in redressing the terrible economic imbalances in the area."

Schjetnan's proposal includes neighborhood recreation, job training and day care facilities on vacant land to the west of Rockefeller Park

University Circle
Given the complexities of the problem, some of the participants didn’t do as much as they hoped with the approaches to the museum and other institutions. The problem, of course, is the traffic pattern, a "gordian knot" that actually needs to be unraveled with some care. Bargmann and Urbanski did suggest a bold stroke that merits further study (below). They show the pattern of Rockefeller Park continuing all along the edge of the district, with bridges over MLK Boulevard at East 105th and Euclid Avenue. This parkway extension is also the setting for a series of stormwater reservoirs, which help control flooding and stream velocity without altering the historic configuration of Doan Brook and Rockefeller Park quite as extensively as is projected.

East 105th Street
In a proposal that shows the value of fresh perspectives, all of the out-of-town guests identified East 105th as a crucial connection that ought to be developed. At present, the street doesn’t cross I-90, so a lot of attention was given to the north end of the street and the possibility of connecting to regional transit networks. Bargmann and Urbanski solved (or maybe dramatized) the problem with a sweeping connection through the Bratenahl enclave and out into the lake, while Sorkin proposed a trolley line. Economic forces and racial politics have led to the atrophy of this major street, but the charrette proposals make a strong case for an effort to reverse the process.

Schjetnan proposes making East 105th a one-way street heading north. This creates ample space for new streetscape amenities and redevelopment opportunities.
Existing conditions on East 105th

return to charrette overview