Tragedy gives way to healing as Wendy Park has a new connecting bridge

There is probably no grief greater than a parent losing a child before their time. Such was the case of Cleveland Metroparks Commissioner Dan T. Moore III who in 1997 lost his beloved daughter, Wendy (who was renowned as a Los Angeles artist in her own right). Wendy passed away at the young age of 29 from complications from a head injury suffered during a skiing accident.

In order to funnel his grief, Moore decided to develop a living legacy for his daughter in the form of Wendy Park that was part of the Whiskey Island Marina that came about from a partnership that Moore had formed. Throughout her youth, Wendy loved to hike the Whiskey Island area taking photos of the varying landscapes.

Soon with the sale of the property to Cuyahoga County and then to the Cleveland Metroparks additions were added. These included sand volley ball courts, the Whiskey Island Still and Eatery, picnic areas, a rocky beach complete with a paddle craft launch area and finally a connecting trail that linked Edgewater Park to Wendy Park by following the contours of Whiskey Island Drive.

But Moore was not done just yet. His career as a business man for 55 years where he was in charge of 25 manufacturing companies that specialized in the manufacture of metal, electronic and ceramic components for auto, space, medical and military use had made him wealthy. He envisioned a multi-million dollar bridge that would span over the Norfolk-Southern Lakefront Rail Lines as a connection to the already existing city bike trail system that winds it way south to the tow path trail.

Throughout the entire process of acquiring the land rights to Whiskey Island and what later would become Wendy Park, Moore lost money in acquiring the Whiskey Island property and Marina. In spite of this, he decided to invest further in the project by pledging $3 million of the $6 million needed to complete the connecting bridge. Now Clevelanders can hike or bike from Edgewater Park all the way down to Akron and residents of Cleveland now have easy access to Wendy Park and the public marina.

Thus on June 24, 2021 the official dedication of the Wendy Park Bridge (that will be known as Wendy Way) was held. Speakers included Dan Moore III, his two daughters including Halley Moore who heads up the Wendy Moore Foundation, Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian M. Zimmerman, Sean Terry, Ohio Parks for People Program Director with The Trust for Public Land, LAND studio Executive Director Gregory Peckham and others.

As in all projects such as this a tremendous degree of cooperation and trust has to be formed among the various agencies that are involved. For this ten year project the financing came from such sources as The Cleveland Metroparks, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land and LAND studio, applied for and secured a TIGER grant in 2016 from the U.S. Department of Transportation that supported $7.95 million of the project’s overall cost. In addition to the TIGER grant, funds for the overall $16.45 million Re-Connecting Cleveland project were secured from the Wendy Park Foundation, The Trust for Public Land, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds facilitated through Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), Clean Ohio Trails Fund, State of Ohio, LAND studio and Cleveland Metroparks funds.

As a result, the citizens of Cleveland now have over 100 miles of connecting trails in which to walk, bike, skate or skateboard as well as countless picnic areas and sport fields. What had once been a dumping ground for torn down buildings including the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and the Cleveland Public Library is now a grass covered knoll that families can enjoy for generations to come. One thing for sure, Wendy is smiling down on this from above.