Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Study (CHEERS)

The Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Study (CHEERS) sought to transform Cleveland’s Lake Erie shoreline by leveraging nature-based solutions to improve the environment, reconnect communities to the waterfront, enhance public health and wellness, bolster the economy, and improve Lake Erie’s natural resources. A year-long feasibility study, completed in 2022, evaluated the feasibility of several proposed alternatives for the re-development and ecological enhancement of a former industrial waterfront space.

Great Ecology provided ecological guidance to WRT for this feasibility study on the conceptual design, engineering constraints, and permitting strategies. Specific project tasks undertaken by Great Ecology included an environmental/ecological data gap analysis, participation in community-based shoreline visioning events, and identification of site-specific approaches to increase shoreline resilience and improve aquatic and shoreline habitat, while also maintaining/improving public access. The CHEERS project is currently in the Public Engagement Phase (as of Fall 2023) and moving towards implementation along with parallel efforts to improve transportation networks and increase public access to Lake Erie.