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Davey Resource Group
September 2015
In 1975, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
drafted a plan to further expand the existing
8-acre landfill into Lake Erie using additional
retaining walls in an effort to create a safe,
contained area for dumping dredged materials
from the river. In 1979, the site became Dike 14,
a CDF accumulating approximately 5.7 million
cubic yards of dredged materials over the next
20 years.
After the final fill was placed in 1999,
USACE discontinued use of the site, which
quickly became naturalized with vegetation
and wildlife.
In 2001, Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port
Authority began managing the site, which was
open to the public only a few days each year for
special events.
The site was also used for environmental
education and stewardship opportunities by
Dike 14 Environmental Education Collaborative,
which formed in 2003 to educate the public on
environmental issues and the importance of the
site to migratory bird populations.
In 2006, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
awarded a $200,000 grant to the Cuyahoga
Soil and Water Conservation District to conduct
an environmental assessment of Dike 14. This
assessment, completed in 2007, evaluated
the soils and other environmental conditions
to determine whether the site was safe to be
opened to the public for passive recreational
use. Results from the study ultimately supported
opening the site to the public. In early 2012, the
Port Authority officially introduced and opened
the site to the public as Cleveland Lakefront
Nature Preserve. In 2013, The Garden Club of
Cleveland (GCC) donated resources to complete
a new public overlook plaza at the westernmost
point of CLNP, which offers unobstructed views
of Lake Erie and the Cleveland city skyline.
Today, Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve
is thriving, with diverse wildlife inhabiting the
preserve and other wildlife using it as a migratory
stopover. A little more than half of CLNP is
forested habitat. The remaining areas consist
of open grassland and wildflower habitats
scattered throughout the site. The forested areas
are dominated by early successional species
common to the Cuyahoga River Valley, including
tree species such as Acer negundo (box elder),
Acer saccharinum (silver maple) and Populus
deltoides (eastern cottonwood). The understory
vegetation consists primarily of species that
benefit from disturbed sites such as Alliaria
petiolata (garlic mustard), Hesperis matronalis
(dame's rocket), as well as some native species
such as Impatiens capensis (jewelweed),
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper),
and Viola spp. (violet).
The open areas exist primarily around the
perimeter of the peninsula, along the trails, and
in the center of the preserve where a wildflower
habitat was created in 2013.
FIGURE 2
A photo of CLNP in 1987.
(Photo Credit: U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers)
FIGURE 3
The Overlook, featuring three
benches and a decorative railing
designed by Brinsley Tyrrell, was
donated by the Garden Club of
Cleveland in 2013.
