Wendy Park is a 22-acre public green space located on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. The park is comprised largely of fill material with no shoreline buffers or stabilization. In four years, from 2017-2021, the park lost more than ten feet of shoreline along a 400-foot stretch of the water’s edge, including an area near popular volleyball courts.
In 2024, Cleveland Metroparks contracted with KS Associates to design nature-based shoreline improvements to protect the shore from erosion, protect the volleyball courts, improve water quality, and promote aquatic and terrestrial habitat. KS Associates was ideally suited for this assignment — a year earlier, KS led the development of Ohio’s first Nature-Based Shoreline Training Program, under contract with Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Coastal Management. The program was designed to promote sustainable shoreline stabilization and habitat restoration techniques. It includes classroom instruction and a day in the field to install a nature-based shoreline. The pilot installation took place at Old Woman Creek State Nature Preserve in Huron, Ohio.
Cleveland Metroparks partnered with ODNR to use Wendy Park as the second training program. Conditions at Wendy Park made it ideal for a real-world classroom.
Mark Cencer, P.E., KS Associates’ Director of Coastal Engineering, led a field visit to the Wendy Park Shoreline as part of the classroom instruction during the “Ohio Nature-Based Shoreline Training Program.”
Working closely with ODNR and geologists at GEI Consultants, KS coastal engineers designed a solution to improve the stability of the dynamic shoreline while mimicking natural shoreline habitats. The design helps to preserve nearshore water depths of one to three feet, restore the natural land-water interface, incorporate native material, increase opportunities for species diversity and productivity, improve water quality, and maintain coastal processes.
KS Associates also led the permitting process, which included coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
The Cleveland Metroparks Wendy Park Nature-Based Shoreline Project showcases effective alternatives to traditional hard-structure shoreline defenses. This initiative is successfully returning the shoreline to its original structure and ecological function, while enhancing its natural resilience against erosion. Through this project, Wendy Park demonstrates how nature-based solutions can not only protect but also rejuvenate coastal areas.
The project was funded in part by an ODNR Office of Coastal Management Assistance Grant.
