As plans for Canal Basin Park take shape along the Cuyahoga River, new drawings show a water-themed playground, a curving boardwalk and a tribute to the hand-dug waterway that once linked Lake Erie to the Ohio River – and the national economy.
Those designs won conceptual approval Friday from the Cleveland City Planning Commission. Now the city and its partners hope to start construction on the first phase of the ambitious project in 2026.
It will take years to fully realize the vision for more than 20 acres stretching from the Center Street Swing Bridge to Old River Road in the Flats. The entire project could cost $30 million to $40 million and require significant funding from federal and state governments.
But you’ll start to see smaller – and much less expensive – changes to the site in the spring, from murals brightening up blank bridge pilings to events designed to bring people down to the water.
“When you see the freighters come up the river, there’s just nothing like it,” said Jim McKnight, a senior landscape architect and section chief of site development in the mayor’s office of capital projects at City Hall. “So we see it as a very special place and certainly want to make it a destination for all Clevelanders.”