Whom Does a Community Park Serve?
The author is a Sophomore at Laurel School in Ohio. Laurel School is YEPT’s first-ever state Chapter. To inquire about becoming a YEPT Chapter, contact our adult advisor at Jim@earthcharterindiana.org
“When you build a public park, who does it serve?” asks Glen Valentine, a landscape architect working to restore a park in Shaker Heights, OH. “This seemingly simple question lies at the heart of complex issues of justice, involving factors like location, sense of safety, funding, design, and maintenance—which all intertwine to shape who uses a park and whether it succeeds.”
The Horseshoe Lake was created in 1852 when the Doan Brook, a Lake Erie tributary, was dammed by a group of Shakers in order to power a woolen mill. The neighborhood lake had long been held as a cherished community gathering space, but in October of 2021, an emergency controlled breach was performed on the failing dam.
Eighteen months earlier, an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) assessment had determined that the dam was structurally deficient. Due to the location and size of the structure, the ODNR calculated that a sudden rupture of the dam could result in significant property damage and loss of life downstream, requiring a controlled breach to prevent a spontaneous burst. After years of slow deterioration, this became an opportunity to reassess the dam’s necessity in the community and its true ecological impacts.
Drained Horseshoe Lake, photo by Anya Ustin
Dams alter the natural ecology of bodies of water, changing water temperatures, water chemistry, river flow characteristics, and silt flow. This can change which species of plants and animals call the area home. Dams such as the Horseshoe Lake dam can also have disastrous downstream effects. Issues with the Shaker Lake dams mostly affect the less-well-resourced, primarily minority communities in the city of Cleveland. These downstream effects are due to how dams function on the most basic level.
Dams create large pools of stagnant water which build up sediment and organic matter and accumulate heat. These conditions make the water inhospitable for some native organisms and far more hospitable for others, namely bacteria. In addition, by altering stream flow, dams diminish the watershed’s capacity to absorb and filter water. During heavy rains, these man-made reservoirs quickly fill up and rapidly overflow, resulting in extreme flooding. The lower regions of the Doan Brook in Cleveland Proper suffer from diminished water quality and plant and animal health, as well as major chronic flooding. [See here for a timeline.]
As Emily Kao, Watershed Program Manager with the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership, stated in an interview, “Stream restoration is so important not just for increasing ecological resilience and restoring native biodiversity, but also as a way to educate our watershed communities about the importance of building resilience into our ecosystems and working to reverse some of the harms done by colonialism and environmental exploitation.”
Since the greater Cleveland area was first taken from Indigenous American peoples for Western occupation by colonist Moses Cleaveland in 1796, there has been a repeating history of ecological degradation and social discrimination in the region. The lasting effects of such harm can be observed throughout Cleveland from its combined sewer overflow system to its redlined neighborhoods, the very neighborhoods which experience the brunt of the damage caused by the Shaker dams.
After much community deliberation, the Doan Brook Horseshoe restoration project was set into motion in June of 2021. The restoration project is being organized and carried out by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) in conjunction with the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership, with a project cost of more than $14 million being covered by the NEORSD. The restoration aims to restore the natural Doan Brook ecology of the area, as well as create a community space for all, with an extreme-weather and flood resistant design.
A proposed rendering of the Outdoor Classroom near North Park Boulevard, courtesy of STIMSON
But not every resident is excited about the project. In late spring of 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the City of Shaker Heights and the City of Cleveland Heights by a group called Friends of Horseshoe Lake. Tony Coyne, attorney representing the group, said that the project “wants to improve stormwater management in the Doan Creek tributary watershed, which we agree needs to be addressed … but we believe it can be done without destroying one of the great Shaker Lakes, which is Horseshoe Lake.” By November of 2024, the group dropped their appeal to the verdict, which had found the cities not liable.
Despite this resistance, the project is set to be completed by fall of 2027. The plan aims to integrate stream restoration with parkspace, and includes a wide variety of native habitat types from floodplains to wetlands to groves and meadows. There will also be open lawn parkspace for recreation. With a multifaceted and dynamic layout, the space will have a myriad of nooks, crannies, and engaging activities for all ages. Beyond a place for public gathering, the new parkspace will provide a means of connection to and engagement with the water, and a reminder of our bond to our environment.
As Glen Valentine stated at the community release of the project design plan, “We designed a series of different ways for people to interact with the restored brook itself.” He said that this was a main objective for their design because “this was one of the things we heard most loudly in our public engagements … people wanted to get down to the level of the water and really engage with the restored brook.”
Throughout the design process, the NEORSD created opportunities for community feedback, and for hearing the voices of those who inhabit the watershed, both human and otherwise. This project aims to show how we can realize sustainability and restore our ecosystems while building community and inspiration.
