About Gordon Park Naturalized Shore
The Gordon Park Naturalized Shore is a 2,500-foot stretch of restored natural shoreline along the lakefacing edge of Gordon Park, completed in 2020 after a decade of planning and engineering. It replaces failing concrete revetment with a layered system of stone, sand, native plantings, and sheltered pools — a living shoreline designed to absorb wave energy, regenerate fish and bird habitat, and provide public access to the water.
The Problem
Failing Revetment
Most of Cleveland's shoreline from the Cuyahoga east to Euclid Beach has been armored in poured concrete or stone revetment since the 1930s. The armoring protected the shore from wave erosion but eliminated the intertidal habitat that Lake Erie's fish populations depend on, and produced a harsh, wave-reflective edge that accelerated erosion wherever the armoring was breached.
Much of the original Gordon Park revetment was failing by the 2000s, with visible undermining, settlement, and failure during winter storms. A conventional engineered rebuild — heavier concrete, larger stone — was the default option and the most straightforward. The Cleveland Metroparks, advised by the Ohio Sea Grant program and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, chose a different path.
The Design
A Living Shoreline
The Naturalized Shore project, designed by SmithGroup and built between 2017 and 2020, replaces rigid concrete with a layered system: a submerged rock reef 200 feet offshore to break the largest waves, a gently-sloping sand beach between the reef and the shore, sheltered pools behind projecting stone headlands for habitat, and native shoreline planting (swamp milkweed, cardinal flower, button bush, native grasses) above the high-water mark.
The result is an actual beach where there was formerly a concrete wall, a dramatically increased habitat for smallmouth bass and perch, and measurable improvements in water clarity within the sheltered pools. Monitoring through 2025 has shown increased fish-nesting activity, and the project is being studied as a model for similar restoration along the rest of the Cleveland shoreline.
Nearby on the Shoreline