Stakeholders Convene to Decide Future of Property
Ohio’s largest land trust Western Reserve Land Conservancy purchased the 28-acre Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park on the shores of Lake Erie at Cleveland’s east edge.
The historic community and the strip of land that surrounds will connect to public lands on each side.
Officials at the land conservancy learned the owner of the property since 1988 might sell and worked with City Councilman Mike Polensek to secure the land from going to private development.
How the property will change, including the fate of the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park, remains to be seen.
“For me, this immediately became a rescue mission. There’s no chance the community would have supported high-rise apartments or commercial development, and neither would I,” Polensek said in a statement put out by the trust.
“I reached out to the Land Conservancy and other nonprofits because it was critical that the property be in the safe hands of an organization that values the region’s best interests and also respects the current park tenants,” he said. “I am confident that the Land Conservancy will proceed thoughtfully and with a full appreciation for how this historic property best fits into our neighborhood’s future.”
“Determining the best path for the future will be a long-term process. If there are any notable changes for the tenants, they won’t happen for at least one year.”
Western Reserve Land Conservancy Senior Vice President Matt Zone
Matt Zone, senior vice president at Western Reserve Land Conservancy, said the land conservancy has reached out to nearly a dozen public and nonprofit organizations to assist in planning and redeveloping the waterfront. The conservancy also has contracted with Blank Family Communities as an adviser for the park and its residents.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to intelligently create a long-term strategy that could be transformational for the North Shore Collinwood neighborhood and the Cleveland-Euclid border,” Zone said.
The Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park once had nearly 300 homes and now has about half that. Currently, it has approximately 150 rental units in the community. It also needs an immediate upgrade to its water utilities.
“We intend to make these repairs as quickly as possible, improve the quality of life for these residents and treat them with compassion and respect,” Zone said.
Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park Initially Used for Workforce Housing
Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park has a unique history. The property once housed temporary employees of Euclid Beach Amusement Park, which closed in 1969. In the 1980s it was converted to a year-round land-lease community.
In a brief history of the park, Collinwood Nottingham Historical Society said that for many just hearing the name Euclid Beach brings back fond memories, dating back as far as 1895.
The amusement park housing was established in the 1930s and by 1948 it was home to 100 families. Renters also used the 160 tent dwellings and some log cabins, as well as the “Tourist Kitchen” building on site.
Another popular feature of the community was the Auto Train, a “people mover” built by the Fadgl Bus Company in 1916 that operated on concrete paths in the amusement park as well as between the mobile home park and beach. It ran for years, and was discontinued when the amusement park closed, now the site of the beachfront Cleveland Metropark.
