Mayor Justin Bibb, project partners to host Lakefront Future Forum on August 5 on Mall C

Monday, July 29, 2024 - Cleveland - Mayor Justin M. Bibb and his team are pleased to invite the community to the Lakefront Future Forum on Monday, August 5, 2024, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Mall C, located next to City Hall on Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland.

This free and family-friendly gathering will feature interactive stations where attendees can provide input on the North Coast Connector and North Coast Master Plan, a live band, food truck offerings and free ice cream.

"Community engagement is the driving force of this project, and we look forward to continuing the conversation with residents and stakeholders," said Mayor Bibb. "This event is about coming together, celebrating our progress and further refining our collective vision for a more accessible, vibrant and sustainable lakefront."

Starting at 4:30 p.m. Mayor Bibb will convene a panel to present updates, including the city's recommendation for the North Coast Connector - an iconic pedestrian land bridge that will connect Mall C to the lakefront. Debbie Berry, Deputy Chief of Integrated Development, Cuyahoga County, will give introductory remarks.

Panelists include:

• Joyce Pan Huang, Director of City Planning, City of Cleveland
• Keshia Johnson Chambers, Assistant Director, Mayor's Office of Capital Projects, City of Cleveland
• Scott Skinner, Executive Director, North Coast Waterfront Development Authority
• Mordecai Cargill, Co-Founder and Creative Director, ThirdSpace Action Lab

"Cleveland's lakefront has been inaccessible to Clevelanders for decades," Chambers noted. "The North Coast Connector - a reimagining of OH-2, a pedestrian bridge, and a new transit station - is a critical piece of enabling infrastructure that will unlock Cleveland's lakefront for both public access and economic development opportunities."

As a City and as a region, the lakefront has been underutilized and inaccessible for years. The North Coast Connector and the North Coast Master Plan represent a comprehensive and actionable strategy to fundamentally change how Cleveland interacts with our great lake. The planning process for these projects has been, and will continue to be, developed through community input from every neighborhood in the city.

Learn more and register for the forum atClevelandNorthCoast.com.

We encourage residents to carpool, bike, walk or take GCRTA to the event.