Brighten Park: From Urban Blight to Urban Oasis

It is late morning on a beautiful summer day. Temperatures are in the mid 60s and the sun dances from cloud to cloud. Stretching out in front of us there is an all purpose trail that although short is a connecting link to a much larger system of trails. Branching off of the main trail is a half mile loop of natural surface trail that weaves through the park. Birds sing in the trees, the sound of various insects can be heard, Squirrels give chase to each other in the surrounding foliage and two deer amble about in the meadows. While you may think that this is an urban setting it is in fact smack dab in the center of the bustling city of Old Brooklyn, Ohio, a suburb located in Cleveland, Ohio's West Side.

In the 80s The former Henninger Landfill in Old Brooklyn, Ohio closed for good. Along with the debris normally associated with landfills such as abandoned cars, boats, tires and appliances there was the remnants of Cuffin's Go Kart Track at the Pearl Road entrance.

In 2014 the Land Conservancy acquired the disused property through the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund. In 2021 the Cleveland Metroparks entered into a lease and management agreement in regards to conservation, park management and protection.

Once the entire property was secured it was now time to clean up the site. A small portion had to be stripped of two feet of dirt with four feet of clean fill added. The Go Kart track was removed as well as the concrete surrounding the site. A half mile of all purpose paved bike and walking trail was installed as well as as 1/2 mile of a looped natural surface trail.

What was once a community eyesore was forever transformed by persistence and hard work by a number of organizations and individuals that included The Cleveland Metroparks, Western Reserve Land Conservatory and the Old Brooklyn Development Corporation.

Funding came from a variety of sources that included The Ohio Public Works Commission’s Clean Ohio Green Space Conservation Program, the Recreational Trail Program administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes program, Cuyahoga County’s Brownfield remediation funding and Supplemental Grant Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as Bank of America, Cleveland Foundation, Freshwater Future, Howmet Aerospace Foundation, John P. Murphy Foundation, NOPEC, Sears-Swetland Family Foundation, and the Kent H. Smith Charitable Trust.

Cleveland leads the way in the United States in establishing substantial city and suburban green spaces so that city dwellers can reconnect with nature right in their own back yards. Currently in Northeast Ohio you can begin at Detroit Avenue and walk, skate, bike or skateboard all the way down to Akron through a series of connecting tree lined trails totaling over 60 miles.

If we learned nothing else from the events of last year' pandemic as we hunkered down in our small bunkers of isolation is that the need to get outside into the fresh air is vital to our existence. This park is an example of how land that was once abused can be reclaimed and repurposed into a beautiful park. It is a model that every city in America can follow.