Cuyahoga River Fly Thru • Cleveland Flats

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• published: 26 Apr 2016
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The Flats is a mixed-use industrial, entertainment, and increasingly residential area of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The name reflects its low-lying topography on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. In the mid-1980s, the Flats saw a resurgence as an entertainment destination, a focal point of the renewed attention given to Cleveland's deteriorating downtown. Underground music venues appeared on the East Bank, while mainstream development first took place on the West Bank. The Powerhouse, built to power the city's cable cars, was renovated to include multiple bars, restaurants, and an outdoor music venue. Other warehouses and buildings were also renovated into nightlife destinations. At its peak in the early 1990s, the Flats had the highest concentration of bars in the Midwest, with both locally owned bars and national restaurant chains lining both sides of the river from the mouth to the Oxbow bend. The Flats and Cleveland had soon become an entertainment mecca and destination for the region. The Flats Oxbow Association was formed to help redevelop the Flats, and housing development soon followed on both sides of the river, with new construction and warehouses being converted into condominiums and apartments. The Flats' heyday as an entertainment destination was short-lived. Three drowning deaths in one month in 2000, along with a city crackdown on fire and health code violations led to the closing of many bars. Patrons becoming scared off due to safety concerns led to a sharp decrease in business. While this was a boon for the redevelopment for the Warehouse District, the area just up the hill from the East Bank, it sent shock waves through the Flats' redevelopment from which it has never fully recovered. Most of the East Bank has gone "dark" due to the number of businesses that have closed. Plans unveiled in the summer of 2005 include leveling most of these buildings and creating a new "neighborhood" that includes mixed use live/work spaces, a movie theatre, shopping, a grocery store and riverwalk. The developer, Scott Wolstein, has been able to settle with most of the property owners. However, some are refusing to settle, which has hindered some of Wolstein's development plans. The West Bank has fared better than the East since 2000. While not anywhere near its pre-2000 peaks, it still has many establishments open, and has been home to the majority of housing developments in the Flats. New upscale condominiums have been constructed along the old Irishtown Bend and at the remains of the Superior Viaduct, which was the first high rise bridge to span the river. New shopping destinations have been constructed, like the Steelyard Commons, which is located on lands previously occupied by the steel mills and the new East Bank Redevelopment project which has begun demolition work. The canal's towpath, part of the Ohio and Erie Canal Corridor, is also being restored to provide jogging and bike trails for city residents and to preserve part of the Flats history. Whiskey Island has also been purchased by Cuyahoga County in hopes of making it more accessible to residents in the form of a lakefront park. The water quality of the river has also improved since 1970, with fish populations returning increasingly each year. This is largely due to the unintended importation of zebra mussels from Asia in the ballast of ships in the Port of Cleveland or some other port on Lake Erie, as well as less dumping of waste into the river. After delays due to the Great Recession, the Flats East Bank is presently undergoing Phase 1 of this mixed-use waterfront neighborhood. Phase 1 includes a 150-room high-tech boutique hotel, an 18-floor office building, and a number of restaurant and entertainment options. In September 2010, Cleveland Rowing Foundation closed a deal to reclaim 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of vacant, industrialized land to create Rivergate Park, a public park devoted to rowing, canoeing, kayaking and dragon-boating. The acres on Columbus Road Peninsula were formerly the Commodore's Club, a powerboat marina and boat storage center. Officially opened May 2011, Rivergate is home to Western Reserve Rowing Association, Cleveland Dragon Boat Association, the planned Cleveland Skatepark,[citation needed] the Ohio City Bike Co-Op and others. The Greater Cleveland Aquarium opened its doors on Jan. 21, 2012 in the FirstEnergy Powerhouse. The 70,000-square-foot building was constructed in the late 19th century to generate electricity for the city’s cable cars. The aquarium is part of a development that is promising to bring new life to the west bank of the Flats.