CLEVELAND — The decision by the Haslam Sports Group to move the Browns from Cleveland to Brook Park prompted new questions Friday about the impact the move might have on lakefront development.
We’ve seen the renderings, and we’ve heard the plans — all with the stadium still on the waterfront. So how does a move impact the future of the lakefront?
“World class cities have world class waterfronts,” Scott Skinner said.
Skinner is the executive director of the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation, an independent nonprofit that the city started for the sole purpose of “executing on the development of the lakefront.”
“Without a stadium there are new challenges presented, but there are also new opportunities,” Skinner said.
The current master plan with the stadium in place is based on months of gathering feedback from Cleveland residents. Skinner said they want free, public access to the water with green space and a place to drive economic development.
“I don’t think those priorities change without a stadium. I think we still want to use our lakefront land as a tool to drive economic development to our region and, most importantly, we still see well over 50% of that land being free, public space that anyone can access,” he said.
The plan includes a land bridge connecting downtown to the water’s edge. Also, bike lanes and sidewalks and signaled intersections and crosswalks all to turn the Shoreway into more of a "city boulevard." The stadium, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center would all be part of the city grid.
The land bridge is something tourists 3News spoke to could get on board with.
“We were walking and we were like, how do you even get over there?” said Chris Bisgard, who is in town for the Rock Hall induction ceremony. “Such a pretty spot on the water, there’s got to be something they can build to make people want to come to Cleveland.”
The project got a boost this week when the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the city $60 million in grant funds on top of $20 million from the state to help reimagine the Shoreway.
“Now our path ahead is clear. We will continue to execute our vision for the lakefront,” Mayor Justin Bibb said during a press conference announcing the Haslams' decision to move to Brook Park. “The shores of Lake Erie offer unmatched opportunity for economic development and public enjoyment.”
With potential for more empty space on the lakefront, Skinner said they plan to go back to Cleveland residents in the coming months to see what they would like to see in place of a stadium. He said they hope to have shovels in the ground in 2027 to start building the infrastructure they need for the Shoreway.
“This does not slow down the work that we’re doing and it will not slow down the development of the lakefront. And just to be clear—and I’m going to use a double negative here—there is not a world in which we don’t transform our lakefront into something that is vibrant and world class,” Skinner said.