Cleveland has big plans 鈥� and potentially 500 acres 鈥� for redevelopment of its Downtown lakefront. Between the impending Browns stadium demolition and potential closure of Burke Lakefront Airport, Mayor Justin Bibb is promising to transform the city into a "world-class waterfront destination."
But those plans are years 鈥� if not a decade or more 鈥� away.
So in the meantime, the city is starting with a single-acre parking lot.
"We're talking about construction projects for the North Coast Connector, the land that the Brown Stadium sits on, Burke Lakefront Airport; all those things take a lot of time," said Scott Skinner, the executive director of the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation. "And I do not think Clevelanders should have to wait to be able to access publicly controlled, publicly owned land on the lakefront."
Skinner's nonprofit is bringing back the North Coast Yard in June for its second summer. City Council on Monday approved the temporary land use for the public space pop-up, located on a city-owned parking lot just north of the Browns stadium. North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation plans to offer daily recreational activities on the lakefront, from live music to fitness classes to sports leagues.
"I'm very excited that we're opening this back up again and getting folks back out to the site because it is just a fun, safe, family-friendly way to experience Cleveland's lakefront," Skinner said.
Skinner boasted about a successful pilot year: last summer, the North Coast Yard attracted 25,000 visitors from every city ward for happy hours, birthday parties and daily programming. The North Coast Yard also offered special events like a Fourth of July party and Air Show viewing.
The site is relatively simple: a paved lot that includes a bar, food from local businesses, picnic tables, some shipping containers and pergolas for shade. But that makes the site easily adaptable 鈥� and cost-effective, Skinner said.
Skinner did not provide exact figures, but said NCWDC 鈥� not the city 鈥� will pay for operations. Cleveland used $3 million of its federal pandemic relief dollars ($1 million a year over three years) to kickstart the nonprofit in 2023. The organization is tasked with long-term planning for the Downtown lakefront, including community engagement and site planning for the 50-acres the Huntington Bank Field now sits on.
Skinner said the North Coast Yard is a good way to "test out" what Clevelanders want on the lakefront for permanent uses.
"This is a way to try out new concepts and show Clevelanders that we are activating our lakefront right now," Skinner said. "We're not waiting to see all the permanent development 鈥� we're creating ways for folks to get down on the water this year."
It's not yet clear if the North Coast Yard will operate every year, as Skinner confirmed the pop-up is meant to be temporary.
"Temporary activation is not something that is unique or innovative to Cleveland," Skinner said, citing similar pop-ups in cities like Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. "Seeing people down on a site does attract new development. It really starts to set a vision for people for what it could be in the long-term."
