tRUST-lab

In May 2020, the tRUST-lab was approached by a non-profit community development corporation in Central/Kinsman known as Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. (BBC) to partner on a community engagement and public space design initiative known as the “Kingsbury Run Nature Reserve” (KRNR). The focus of the studio was to understand the surrounding context of the KRNR, connect with people who call this home, undertake a week-long design charrette with local stakeholders, and develop landscape visions for the KRNR that reflect community priorities. 

Although some trails and ballfields exist, the fully imagined KRNR is not yet built. In the planning stages for 10 plus years – and with highly-resourced foundations in Cleveland and others looking to support the initiative – the KRNR is envisioned as a nature reserve park with multiple programs, ecosystems, and ecologies that will be a unique natural amenity for residents of Central, Kinsman, and Slavic Village. The KRNR aims to provide a significant measure of environmental justice long missing from this part of Cleveland as well as a model for integrating “wilderness” landscapes within an urban environment. 

Once part of a large landscape watershed in the 1800s through southeast Cleveland to the Cuyahoga River west of downtown, the ravine known as “Kingsbury Run” was altered to incorporate industrial and transportation/freight uses at the turn of the 20th century, in parallel with the construction of blue-collar neighborhoods around it, where much of the immigrant workforce resided. In the early 1900s a long wooden footbridge was constructed over the ravine to connect thriving Hungarian and Polish neighborhoods on either side – the bridge was a place of lively connectivity and social/economic interaction at the time. In 1931, a new bridge was constructed, the first (and only) suspension bridge in Cleveland, known as the Sidaway Bridge. Over time, European communities on either side of the bridge were replaced by white and African-American communities. In the mid-1960s, the Sidaway Bridge would be badly burned during racial uprisings that took place in east and southeast Cleveland. Today, the ravine is mostly a wild, successional landscape with the skeletal remains of the Sidaway Bridge still in place as they were left 60 years ago. 

The work took place within this context and occurred in parallel with ongoing neighborhood plans and City of Cleveland and State of Ohio planning, transportations, and development initiatives that have greatly impacted Central/Kinsman/Slavic Village. Cleveland’s “Opportunity Corridor” is a half-billion dollar roadway and economic development project that created a 3.5-mile boulevard through southeast Cleveland; planning began in 2004 and the road was fully constructed by 2022. Though the project represents a significant investment in transportation infrastructure and commuting/service connectivity, the project has been criticized for its lack of sensitivity to surrounding neighborhoods, its emphasis on vehicular mobility at the expense of transit and neighborhood cohesiveness, and the absence of a recognizable and comprehensive green infrastructure network. Importantly, the west portion of the Opportunity Corridor runs directly through the north section of Kingsbury Run and portions of Central/Kinsman/Slavic Village. 

The project was completed during the pandemic, working virtually with partners in Cleveland. Group discussions and one-on-one interviews took place between students and the steering committee between January 2021 and May 2021. These meaningful partnerships highlighted priority community programs and actionable outcomes that resonated for stakeholders and area residents beyond the semester.