Sale of 2.4 acres to the Cleveland Metroparks Final!

Cleveland Rowing Foundation is proud to announce the sale of 2.4 acres to the Cleveland Metroparks has been finalized! This parcel is located up-river/East of the CRF boathouse and includes the building near the river and the Quonset hut in the back of the property. 

In September 2010, the Cleveland Rowing Foundation, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, purchased the entire 6.5-acre site for $3 million. Donations from The Cleveland Foundation, the Gund Foundation and the MetLife Foundation were restricted to create public access. This deal will allow Cleveland Rowing Foundation to focus on its core rowing mission, while the Cleveland Metroparks will transform the 2.4 acre parcel into a public park for all to enjoy.

Metroparks’ plans for the site:
The Cleveland Metroparks has been hard at work renovating the building on the site. It will be used for their Institute of the Great Outdoors (IGO), and will include a canoe/kayak launch facility, concessions, including liquor, and public restrooms. Contact the Cleveland Metroparks for more details on the site and Kayaking information.

Cleveland Metroparks will replace the concrete and gravel on their land and replace it with grass, trees and other park amenities. A Green Corridor and multi-purpose trail will be established along the river beginning on the Metroparks property and will extend into CRF’s property. The Metroparks will develop, maintain and patrol their property and the entire Green Corridor. The Green Corridor and trail will not interfere with our rowing operations, rowers and shells will always have right of way at all times.

CRF’s new entrance and address:

The Metroparks will begin working on their portion of the property in August, so access to the Merwin Avenue entrance to the CRF property will not be available, they will also change the electronic gate access code. Rowers must now use the gate near the back of the boathouse. The boathouse address is 1003 British Street, click here for directions to the new entrance.

We are very excited about welcoming the Cleveland Metroparks as our new neighbor. We realize there will be a lot of changes in the coming weeks and months. There will be increased activity on the site which means it will affect our operations, please be patient as we work through the details.

Q&A Session:

If you would like to learn more about the details of the agreement between CRF and the Cleveland Metroparks, you are invited to a Q&A session at the boathouse this Friday, August 3rd at 5:30pm with Kevin Roberts and Theresa Gang. 

Special Thanks: 

Cleveland Rowing Foundation would like to thank the Board of Directors, Rivergate Foundation Director Jon Adams, and Executive Director Theresa Gang for their tireless work on the acquisition of the property and the sale of the parcel to the Cleveland Metroparks. It was a genuine team effort!

Special recognition goes to Dave Vasarhelyi and The Trust for Public Land for their partnership and expertise over the last several years, and Board Member Kevin Roberts for his tireless efforts on all of the contracts and negotiations.

Thank you!