Topic: Cleveland: Wendy Park design concepts

[MorningTheft]

^dont over think it.  They won't open til mid may...more than two months away. That place was a cash cow for them...they won't abandon it.

[dergon darkhelm]

^dont over think it.  They won't open til mid may...more than two months away. That place was a cash cow for them...they won't abandon it.

"Overthinking" isn't often something I'm accused of.

But OK, you've calmed me ..... for now.

[TBideon]

Good memories. A little piece of Florida there

[dergon darkhelm]

^dont over think it.  They won't open til mid may...more than two months away. That place was a cash cow for them...they won't abandon it.

Nope -- they're gone - just got my 2012 welcome letter from WIM

Happy Friday!
My name is Kim xxxxxxx and I am the new Event Manager for Whiskey Island & Wendy Park!

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself & send over the 2012 Event Information.

This is the time of year where we start booking all of our prime space, and we wanted to give our past clients & fans first dibs on dates.
We are also happy to announce that Sunset Grille will be coming back for our 2012 season!


I'd be happy to work on proposals for your picnics, corporate events & other special events this summer.

I can be reached at the number or email below. I look forward to meeting you soon.

 Have a great day!

Please check us out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/whiskeyisland 

Out with Cropicana,  in with the Sunset Grille.

[jjames0408]

UGH

[Clevecane]

Not sure where to put this:
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/04/rivergate_in_clevelands_flats.html

[Boreas]

Meanwhile the city, the state and the Metroparks continue to talk about the park system taking over the properties now operated by the state
....
Ohio spent $79.4 million on its 36 parks in 2006, including $4.3 million on the Cleveland Lakefront parks. Total budget for fiscal 2011 was $47 million, with $1.9 million for Cleveland Lakefront. In fiscal 2012, the total budget is $44.8 million, with $2.2 million for the Lakefront.

When Ohioans get to vote on parks, they fund them quite nicely.  It is sad that Ohio can only come up with $44.8 million/year.  Isn't the prison budget about a billion dollars?

[willyboy]

Yes pretty pathetic.  On the brights side the budget for Edgewater went up slightly in 2012 even though the State Park budget continued to go down!   

[dergon darkhelm]

Well. Tomorrow is the grand re-opening for the Sunset Grille.   I was down at the park earlier this week. They are putting in a patio where the tables used to sit on the lawn NW of the bar building. 

They also look to have been doing some nice beautification around the park.

I am crossing my fingers for good food, tolerable music, and a fun but family friendly ( or at least not family-hostile ) environment down at WIM this year.

[Kevin]

Hey, guys. Just a quick heads-up to let you know that the Wendy Park Management Plan 2012 is now online:

http://planning.co.cuyahoga.oh.us/whiskey/plans.html

[jjames0408]

Great to see...thanks Kevin!!

[ClevelandOhio]

Just wondering how the Wendy Park land isnt owned by the port, since it is basically surrounded by their operations?

[biker16]

^  Yes, but it's still a 2 mile walk to cross a 500 ft wide river.  I'm just saying that east-west is route I'd use.

we need an pedestrian crossing across the river, to connect the west bank to downtown.

[Scav]

I am extremely impressed with that thorough, beautiful, engaged study. I really hope for the best here. Connection to the rest of the city can't be understated, however, it needs separation to remain a destination. I think the design is very successful. Lets get it done!

[urbanlife]

^  Yes, but it's still a 2 mile walk to cross a 500 ft wide river.  I'm just saying that east-west is route I'd use.

we need an pedestrian crossing across the river, to connect the west bank to downtown.

+1.  imo, this is the most important crossing, and no matter how difficult or the numerous reasons why it can't happen, should be the first connection that everyone is working on.  it would see tremendous pedestrian traffic and be a true benefit to downtown.

[KJP]

Just wondering how the Wendy Park land isnt owned by the port, since it is basically surrounded by their operations?

It was owned by an industrialist who sold the land to Cuyahoga County at a discounted price......

http://wendypark.org/history.html

There are numerous other private property owners on the lakefront, including the C&P docks just to the west, which was where one group of Hullett unloaders were located. Most of the land surrounding Wendy Park is owned by the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad's successor, Norfolk Southern Corp., not the port authority.

[ClevelandOhio]

Oh I have always thought the port had operations over there as well for some reason.. I know it wouldnt be popular, but if that was true, Id rather have that land given to the port in exchange for additional land north of downtown and west of the stadium. I view that land as much more valuable than the wendy park land.

[KJP]

I just check the city's GIS mapping software, and the land on which Wendy Park sits is owned by Norfolk Southern -- not the county. The NS land extends to the west and curves to the north until a little sliver of land runs along the straight shoreline where the Hulletts stood. South of that is where the port authority land is which is largely filled with piles of iron ore and some railroad yard tracks. South of the railroad yard is the NS mainline, owned by NS. The rest of Whiskey Island is owned by Cargill, Channel Park Realty, and Ontario Stone.

[Kevin]

Just wondering how the Wendy Park land isnt owned by the port, since it is basically surrounded by their operations?

It's a long story, but the short version is that the port was very interested in acquiring the property. It was turned over to the county for preservation as a park in 2004, and the port ended its acquisition efforts in 2005.

I just check the city's GIS mapping software, and the land on which Wendy Park sits is owned by Norfolk Southern -- not the county.

I'm not sure what you were looking at, but I suspect it wasn't the right parcel. Try looking up parcel number 003-04-001.

[dergon darkhelm]

Oh I have always thought the port had operations over there as well for some reason.. I know it wouldnt be popular, but if that was true, Id rather have that land given to the port in exchange for additional land north of downtown and west of the stadium. I view that land as much more valuable than the wendy park land.

Dan Moore's granting of the land to the County was meant to prevent *exactly* that from happening. The City of Cleveland was looking into moving port facilities into the Whiskey Island area.  Environmental interests and the WIM ownership got together and eventually did a quicky deal with the county (with part of the deal being that the land must remain a park in perpetuity and that the marina would be leased back to Mr. Moore's group) before Cleveland could pull eminent domain.

The City sued the County and it became a big a democratic party p*ssing match, but eventually it ended.

[ClevelandOhio]

Oh I have always thought the port had operations over there as well for some reason.. I know it wouldnt be popular, but if that was true, Id rather have that land given to the port in exchange for additional land north of downtown and west of the stadium. I view that land as much more valuable than the wendy park land.

Dan Moore's granting of the land to the County was meant to prevent *exactly* that from happening. The City of Cleveland was looking into moving port facilities into the Whiskey Island area.  Environmental interests and the WIM ownership got together and eventually did a quicky deal with the county (with part of the deal being that the land must remain a park in perpetuity and that the marina would be leased back to Mr. Moore's group) before Cleveland could pull eminent domain.

The City sued the County and it became a big a democratic party p*ssing match, but eventually it ended.

Well that sucks. If land could actually be "traded" id much rather have the land west and north of the browns stadium.

[dergon darkhelm]

Dan T. Moore certainly got over on everyone in that deal.  By playing the County against the City in their squabble over port management, he got to sell the land while still keeping the marina and the bar/tavern plus getting the park that he'd always wanted all at the same time. Not to mention most of the citizen groups and park users think he's a hero for saving WHiskey Island. 

Not bad.

It was interesting to watch over the years (i've had my boat down there since 2001). 

[bumsquare]

I just check the city's GIS mapping software, and the land on which Wendy Park sits is owned by Norfolk Southern -- not the county. The NS land extends to the west and curves to the north until a little sliver of land runs along the straight shoreline where the Hulletts stood. South of that is where the port authority land is which is largely filled with piles of iron ore and some railroad yard tracks. South of the railroad yard is the NS mainline, owned by NS. The rest of Whiskey Island is owned by Cargill, Channel Park Realty, and Ontario Stone.

I think you're looking at the wrong parcel. The land is owned by "Whiskey Island Partners". Parcel #003-04-001

[KJP]

Interesting. If you look on the city's GIS mapping system, you get different parcel info than what's displayed on the county's GIS maps. The city's doesn't show any parcel on Whiskey Island owned by "Whiskey Island Partners." Instead, it shows the property marked on the county's GIS as 003-04-001 as 003-04-002 and owned by Norfolk Southern. It shows that parcel continuing around the south of the marina and extending all the way east to the river and north to the shoreline. But the county's GIS shows that parcel broken up into five separate parcels -- 003-04-001, 003-04-003, 003-05-003, 003-05-006 and an unidentified parcel. All but 003-05-006 appear to be partially or entirely in the lake.

[NapsFan]

Wow! They had me at "beer garden".

Seriously though, those suggestions look fantastic and really seem to cater to a lot of different tastes while not losing anything that exists there now.

I love the reincorporation of the "blue hill" as well.

The illustrations and layout of the PDF is outstanding. All planners and designers with future presentations need to take a look at how it's done!

[KJP]

Hey, guys. Just a quick heads-up to let you know that the Wendy Park Management Plan 2012 is now online:

http://planning.co.cuyahoga.oh.us/whiskey/plans.html

Thanks!

[dergon darkhelm]

See y'all down there for Krusty's today....... to ummmm...... scout out the plan footprint?

[dergon darkhelm]

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/11/metroparks_close_to_lakefront.html

The Cleveland Metroparks almost certainly will take over state-run parks on the lakefront. The question is when? The likely answer is as early as next year.

General chatter about a management change on the lakefront is often accompanied by criticism of the paltry police protection and maintenance by the state.

The Metroparks, meanwhile, has been moving methodically toward the lake as it seeks to connect the Towpath Trail that follows the river with Wendy Park on the lakeshore

Ultimately, a trail system would link the parks and complete the Emerald Necklace.

Brian Zimmerman, the energetic executive director of the 95-year-old park system, acknowledged last week that there are ongoing talks with the state, but declined to identify who is involved.

"As soon as the state is ready to step forward, we are prepared to sit down with the city of Cleveland to discuss how the parks should be managed," he said Wednesday. The city retains title to the parks, which the state has run for about 35 years.


The clearest signals that the Metroparks system is poised to step in occurred last week at the park commissioners' bimonthly meeting. The agenda contained no fewer that four separate items related to such a move:

•The board approved a dollar-a-year lease of a 0.9-acre parcel of county land on Whiskey Island, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River. "The Cleveland Metroparks desires to have an access point at Wendy Park to facilitate public access to the river," the agenda item read. The county owns the island, and its eventual management by the Metroparks is considered a key component of a lakefront plan.
The plan recommended that no fewer than four Metroparks rangers be assigned to Edgewater. Currently, that's about all the state has to cover all of its parks from Edgewater to Mentor Headlands in Lake County.

Within six years the plan estimates that improvements in amenities, special events and programs, facility rentals and sales would be enough to make Edgewater self-sustaining.

Closer and closer

[surfohio]

•The final and most dramatic manifestation of lakeward momentum was the revelation of a plan for the revitalization of Edgewater Park, perhaps the most coveted and promising park in the package.

It was drafted by Leon Younger, former executive director of the Lake Metroparks and now a consultant to park systems around the country. The Cleveland Metroparks paid $25,000 for the plan, which Younger presented after the board meeting

I can't wait to see this plan.

[MyTwoSense]

I think it would be nice if the lakefront parks management is taken over by the Metro Parks.  Just make sure the funding/budget for maintenance and security is increased and they come up with outside funding opportunities for the parks.