About Voinovich Park
Voinovich Park is a three-acre point of public park at the tip of North Coast Harbor, just north of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Named for George Voinovich — mayor of Cleveland 1980–1989, governor of Ohio 1991–1998, US Senator 1999–2011 — it is the farthest-north piece of downtown Cleveland, extending into Lake Erie from landfill built during the 1980s lakefront redevelopment.
History
Built on Fill
The park exists on land that did not exist as recently as 1980. The northern extent of downtown Cleveland historically stopped at the shoreline bluff just south of the current Great Lakes Science Center. The entire North Coast Harbor landform — encompassing the Rock Hall, the Science Center, the Browns' stadium, and Voinovich Park itself — was built as part of the state-funded North Coast Harbor infrastructure project of 1980–1988.
Mayor Voinovich made the harbor project a centerpiece of his post-default recovery program. The 1978 city bankruptcy had left Cleveland with almost no public investment capacity and a significant crisis of civic confidence. Voinovich's team secured state and federal funding for the harbor infrastructure that enabled, in turn, the private and philanthropic investment in the Rock Hall and Science Center in the 1990s.
Today
An Active Civic Space
The park hosts the annual Cleveland air show over the Labor Day weekend (in conjunction with Burke Lakefront Airport immediately east), a series of summer concerts, and the city's Fourth of July fireworks display. The sight lines north across the lake, west toward the Rock Hall's pyramid, and south back to the downtown skyline make it one of the most-photographed spots in the city.
A 2020 renovation added new seating, shoreline plantings, and improved pedestrian connections between the park, the Rock Hall, and the Great Lakes Science Center. The park is the northern terminus of the downtown lakefront pedestrian circuit.
Nearby on the Shoreline