Each year, graduate students from Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design and the staff of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative partner with a community organization on a Community Design Charrette. A charrette is a short, intense community workshop that addresses a real-life urban design and community development challenge.
Brighton Park, a new green space in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood that is part of the Cleveland Metroparks system.
The 2023 charrette took place March 10-12, in collaboration with the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, Cleveland Metroparks, and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. The event included middle and high school students from the CUDC’s Making Our Own Space Rapid Response Team who have been working in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood for over a year.
Making Our Own Space Coordinator Ben Herring on a site visit with MOOS students on Broadview Road in Old Brooklyn.
The charrette focused on Brighton Park, a new green space established and operated by Cleveland Metroparks on the site of the former Heninger Landfill on Pearl Road. The charrette also focused on Broadview Bend, a mixed use district that turns the corner from Pearl Road to Broadview Road. During the charrette, students and community stakeholders explored the relationships between Brighton Park and Broadview Bend, reflecting on the history of the neighborhood while identifying new infrastructure investments, development opportunities, and public amenities. Broadview Bend is the boundary between Wards 12 and 13 so the charrette also explored the spaces where the two wards come together.
Small teams of MOOS students and graduate students looked at:
Broadview Avenue: proposals for infill development and infrastructure investments throughout the corridor.
Entry points into Brighton Park: strategies for integrating the park into the neighborhood and drawing people in at all the locations where the park and the neighborhood intersect.
Broadview and Pearl Road intersection: ideas for anchoring the neighborhood and pointing visitors and residents toward neighborhood amenities.
MOOS students measuring street widths and exploring options for pedestrian improvements.
Community input was encouraged throughout the charrette process. Design recommendations are summarized in this Community Presentation.
For more information, please contact the CUDC at cudc@kent.edu or 216.357.3434.
Pedestrian enhancements and wayfinding signage at the intersection of Broadview and Pearl Roads.