CHEERS Partnership Receives Nearly $1 Million to Advance Transformative Shoreline Project

The CHEERS Partnership announced today it was awarded $985,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) to advance the Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Study (CHEERS). Through matching funds from the six project partners, the award will support a total of $1.97 million in design and engineering of the first portion of the transformative shoreline project on Cleveland’s East Side.

CHEERS was conducted in partnership with the City of Cleveland, the Port of Cleveland, the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Black Environmental Leaders Association. This award supports project partners in the development of full design for a significant portion of the overall CHEERS project including the shoreline expansion north and east of E. 55th Street as well as the extensive outer structure that would protect the Isle, a proposed 36-acre off-shore island north of the lakefront. Project partners are seeking additional funds for the design of the Isle and additional areas along the shoreline including a habitat loop.

“We’re thrilled by the support to advance the transformative CHEERS project that will protect and enhance Cleveland’s east side lakefront,” said Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian M. Zimmerman. “This project will create a resilient shoreline, improve quality of water and habitat, and eliminate barriers that have long separated Cleveland’s East Side communities from the lakefront.” 

The CHEERS project envisions returning the hardened edge of Cleveland’s East Side lakefront to a natural living shoreline with play spaces, amenities, trails, picnic lawns, fishing areas, habitats and overlooks. The beneficial use of dredge material from the Cuyahoga River will be used to create a more naturalized shoreline of parks and habitat, mitigate the impacts of the lake on existing infrastructure, including Interstate 90, and create a sheltered embayment where visitors can safely access Lake Erie. The estimated 30-year plan envisions a phased development of shoreline and features including creating a new accessible isle along the lake. 

CHEERS was developed through extensive planning from the six partner organizations and refined through community feedback of over 1,500 community members and stakeholders working with community partners and local Community Development Corporations (CDCs) to embrace a long-term vision for the East Side lakefront.

The NCRF restores, increases and strengthens natural infrastructure to protect coastal communities while also enhancing habitats for fish and wildlife. Established in 2018, the NCRF invests in conservation projects that restore or expand natural features such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, forests, coastal rivers and floodplains, and barrier islands that minimize the impacts of storms and other naturally occurring events on nearby communities. For more information on the awards announcement, visit: nfwf.org.