According to Conway, the city feels the best use of the Coast Guard Station would be as a multifunctional facility for public recreation, water research and education. He envisions the station as a terminus for the Towpath Trail, a phenomenally complicated project that starts in Zoar and ends – for now – at the Metroparks Canalway Reservation at Harvard Road. Plans and fund-raising are under way to extend it from Harvard Road to the future Canal Basin Park in the Flats by 2015. An extension of the Towpath, the Lake Link Trail, would connect it to Wendy Park and the old Coast Guard Station, using an abandoned railroad right-of-way through the Flats. The Lake Link Trail would use an improved pedestrian walkway on the Willow Street Bridge, currently being designed by the city of Cleveland, along with a planned Lakefront Connector Bridge designed by Cuyahoga County. Among the entities involved: the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Parkworks, the Trust for Public Land, Cleveland Public Art – and social drivers like Conway and Hipsley. [pictured left: Patrick Conway]
According to Ken Silliman, chief of staff for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, the city wants the station to be a “mixed-use venue where the primary use is public recreation and special events and secondary uses would be research and education.” A refurbished station – more than $500,000 spent on refurbishing the boathouse roof should be done in time for the Fest – would be ideal for wedding receptions, class reunions and business retreats, says Silliman.
For now, all the city has to spend on the site is that $500,000 in state lakefront planning grant money, he says. However, the Jackson administration hopes the roof renovation, besides preserving the integrity of the structure, will make the station “more marketable as far as funding proposals go.”
Silliman has been to Burning River multiple times, he says. He’ll be there this year, too. “It’s a great summer event that combines the sustainability theme, an appreciation of historic culture, and the convergence of the river and lake in a beautiful location,” he says.
“Besides the event, we’re looking at it because we care about the land, we care about the location, we care about the coast guard station, whether it becomes the starting point of the towpath” or an educational facility, Conway says. “We want the event to be a success, but we’re also very committed to the location.”
Saturday hours for Burning River Fest are 6 pm to 11 pm; Sunday hours are noon to 5 pm. The only access is from the Edgewater Beach exit off the Shoreway. Tickets, which are available at the gate or online, are $10 per person per day of the event; kids younger than 12 will be admitted free. All proceeds go to environmental causes via Conway’s Great Lakes Burning River Foundation. Check out burningriverfest.org for more information.
