Turning Cleveland into a freshwater capital: Brent Larkin

Jun 15, 2023

Burke Lakefront Airport, pictured from the air at the 2015 Cleveland National Air Show, is one of the city's impediments to full use of its lakefront. With intensified lakefront planning both by the city and county, that could change. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer) The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND -- Lake Erie’s been floating around our front door for nearly 4,000 years, 127 trillion gallons of fresh water consigned us by melting glaciers.

The failure to provide meaningful access to and to build an economy around all that freshwater has been one of this community’s longest-running failures. Barriers to Lake Erie were first erected more than 150 years ago, followed by brief spurts of meaningful progress (the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Great Lakes Science Center, etc.) and long periods of complacency.

Now that may be changing -- in a major way. Mayor Justin Bibb has made made improved access to the lake and Cuyahoga River one of his highest priorities. A preliminary look at the city-commissioned master plan will be released by the administration later this week with a public forum on its lakefront plan Thursday, July 27, at the Great Lakes Science Center (For more information and to register: https://clevelandnorthcoast.com/get-involved/).

By far the most impressive aspect of the city’s waterfront future is Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock project, a 30-year, $3.5 billion reimagining of the river slated to add 2,000 new housing units and ample park, office and retail space.

In early July, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation delivered more good waterfront news -- nearly $24 million in grants for park and trails projects described by The Plain Dealer’s Steve Litt as “designed to improve access to Lake Erie across Cleveland’s chronically underserved East Side.”

But absent a vibrant economy, Bedrock and any other investments in our waterfront will struggle. And that is what makes Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne’s freshwater initiative perhaps the most vital economic development idea in years.

Using freshwater as an economic engine, at a time when other parts of the country face critical shortages, is hardly a novel idea. But it’s one this community’s leaders have consistently failed to take seriously. The Cleveland Water Alliance, created in 2014, has lacked the funding and clout to fulfill its mission.

Ronayne’s plan would involve education about the importance of freshwater, advocating for more freshwater cleanup, using our universities to research water-based technologies and innovation, then building an economy based on that research. It is precisely the type of thinking Greater Clevelanders like the late venture capitalist David Morgenthaler and former Gov. Dick Celeste told me more than 25 years ago is needed to grow our population and assure the region’s future.

“Our rightful place should be as the freshwater capital,” said Ronayne. “By cleaning up the Cuyahoga River, we’ve already done some heavy lifting …. In the not too distant future, we are going to see real climate migration. We need to be ready. We’re sitting on gold.”

Indeed, but those barriers remain age-old roadblocks that will challenge Bibb’s ambitious waterfront plans.

Among them are a lakefront rail line dating back to the Civil War era, the Memorial Shoreway built in the 1930s, nearly 500 valuable acres occupied by not-so-valuable Burke Lakefront Airport that will prove enormously difficult to close, a well-run port that often gets overlooked in its importance to Cleveland’s economy, and a football stadium with a massive footprint that belongs elsewhere but is going nowhere.

Other challenges include funding for the proposed land bridge over the railroad tracks and Shoreway, and always worrisome soil conditions. Essentially, all the land north of the railroad tracks is landfill created from steel mill slag, assorted construction debris and garbage. What’s more, cold and windy winters can make the lakefront an unfriendly place.

One weather warning came from longtime Cleveland Planning Director Hunter Morrison, a supporter of the new water and lakefront initiative efforts who was deeply involved in planning for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center and NorthCoast Harbor.

“The lakefront climate can be a very harsh environment,” said Morrison. “A lot of lakefront plans look good in June.”

But Morrison and other urban experts agree that what will always look good for Greater Cleveland is the argument for a freshwater-based economy.

“When the Colorado River truly does run dry, the Great Lakes region will have an enormous opportunity,” said Tom Bier, retired director of research and housing policy at Cleveland State University’s College of Urban Affairs. “The question is, will we be ready?”

History doesn’t inspire much confidence, especially since the acceleration of climate change now argues time is of the essence.

Morgenthaler was a brilliant investor and philanthropist who divided his time between Lakewood and Silicon Valley. He died in 2016 at the age of 96. When I asked him 11 years ago about Greater Cleveland’s future, his answer is worth revisiting.

“When I shave in the morning, I look out the window and see 20% of the world’s freshwater flowing past my house,” he said, referring to his akefront home. “I’ve thought for 50 years about how we use that to build an economic future. I haven’t found it yet, but the answer has to be there.”

Someone better find it soon.

Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer’s editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.

To reach Brent Larkin: [email protected]

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