Lorain provides updates on Lake Erie shoreline revitalization

On Monday, Lorain's Parks and Recreation Committee received an update on the city's ongoing Lake Erie shoreway redevelopment and voted to send two adjustments to the project to Council. Lorain plans to invest over $15 million in revitalizing its lakefront on the eastern shore of the Black River, with hopes of creating a park, improved public boat ramp and space for mixed-use development. The proposed project consists of three parts: The former industrial site of the Pellet Terminal, the existing Hot Waters public boat launch and the Finger Piers and rest of the actual lakefront, which will become the Sunset Pier Park. Lorain officials released the plan in January 2023, and on Monday Kate Golden, Lorain Engineering Department storm water manager, presented an update on the funding and progress of the project so far. To date, Golden said, the city has secured or itself committed over $11 million for the project, and mostly completed the first phase of redevelopment. The first step of the redevelopment was to remediate the former Pellett site, where iron ore was once loaded off lake carriers for transport to Cleveland, and Golden said phase one of that work is virtually complete. During the initial phase, the city removed contaminated areas from the Pellett site, capped contaminated ground where the Brush Beryllium plant once stood and installed a new entrance and parking lot for the Hot Waters municipal boat ramp. "That parking lot was in very poor shape — Hot Waters in general is not in great shape — so we were able to utilize this funding to expand that roadway and provide new access for the Hot Waters boat launch," Golden said on Monday. Phase one of the project was budgeted at $1.8 million, Golden said, and came in about $130,000 under budget. The second phase of the Pellett site project will see the installation of a road to bring the utilities such as water, sewer and electricity to the redevelopment area as well as provide access to Sunset Pier Park. Councilman Tony Dimacchia said he had been concerned the whole lakefront property would be dedicated to a park, and was excited to see a portion set aside for commercial and residential development. "I didn't want another park, you know what I mean?" Dimacchia said. "Because we can't afford to keep the parks that we have, but that's not what we're dealing with here. The remediation of this property is so important for the future of this… the most valuable real estate we have in this city." Golden said that the city is preparing to go out to bid on phase two of the Pellett redevelopment, and she expected a contract for the project to go before council in December or January. While the bulk of the Pellett area will be set aside for development, the Finger Piers will be combined with a section of greenspace along the lake to become the public Sunset Pier Park. "Ultimately (with) Sunset Pier Park we are looking at improving this asset to improve access to the lake (and) to provide really important safety upgrades," Golden said. The Finger Piers Both items the committee voted in favor of on Monday were related to the Finger Piers. In the first item, the city is considering accepting $200,000 in funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to assess the piers structure of the piers. The Finger Piers are two artificial land masses along the lake shore that jut out from the east bank of the Black River. They were built in 1947 and consist of steel sheet plates bound together by metal cables known as "tie rods." These structures are then filled in with concrete, rocks or earth to create a pier. Last year, ODNR's Office of Coastal Management granted the city a $150,000 matching grant (meaning the city contributed $150,000 of its own) to carry out a structural assessment of the piers. Golden said it quickly became apparent that $300,000 would not be enough to fully evaluate the structural integrity of the piers, so the city requested an additional $200,000 and preemptively contributed an additional $200,000 of its own. Last month the Office of Coastal Management approved the additional funding, which the committee voted to send before Council for final approval on Monday. Golden said getting a full assessment of the health of the piers was critical before deciding how they would play into Lorain's lakeshore revitalization. "All of these decisions have to be advised by sound science," Golden said. "We need to ensure that what we are doing and what we are intending to build here is appropriate for the location." Some possible options for the future of the Finger Piers include docks running between them, a restaurant, a marina or a marina store, Golden said. "There are lots of things we could do, but we won't know if we can do them until the structural assessment tells us whether or not its safe to do so," she said. The city does anticipate needing to make at least some repairs to the Finger Piers before opening them as a park, which are roughly projected to cost $2-4 million, but Golden said it is impossible to say for sure until the assessment is complete. Also on Monday, the committee voted to place an amendment on the lease of the Finger Piers before Council. The Finger Piers are owned by the state and leased to Lorain, and the city is proposing an amendment to that lease, which would see the piers designated as parks. Lorain Law Director Patrick Riley said that after two young adults drowned off of the piers in 2021 the city was sued. Designating the land as a park would further protect the city from liability if such an incident were to happen again, Riley said. Both items were sent to Council. Golden also said that the city also planned to ban driving on the FingerPiers, improve fishing areas and other public recreation facilities, add safety railings and light up the area. While Council members present on Monday said they were happy a portion of the property was being used for redevelopment, several also said they were excited the proposed park would improve public access to Lake Erie. "I wanted to thank you for these plans for the citizens of Lorain. My understanding is that 91 percent of the Ohio shoreway — coast, is privately owned. So how often do people get to come down to the river? I think this is a great opportunity… I think it sounds beautiful and I hope that people will really appreciate what's been done for them once it's completed." Hot Waters Golden said that the Lorain Municipal Pier, more commonly known as Hot Waters, is one of the only free public boat launches in the region, but it is also "aging and deteriorating quickly." The entrance and parking lot for Hot Waters have already been updated as a part of phase one of the Pellett remediation, and Golden said the city also plans to completely remodel the facility. Hot Waters will see brand new concrete boat ramps and floating docks, and the city is also in discussions with ODNR to receive funding for a fish cleaning station at the ramp. Avon Lake received a $580,000 grant from the department for such a fish cleaning station which opened in 2023 at its own boat ramp. Golden said the city was recently awarded $1.6 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, $1.1 million of which will be used for the Hot Waters renovation. $300,000 of that money will go towards the final design for Sunset Pier Park and the final $200,000 will be used for public outreach to teach residents across the area about the new facilities. That EPA funding brings the total secured by the city for the project up to roughly $11.6 million, including an additional $4 million in federal funds earmarked for the project by Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green. Golden said the money secured by Latta would likely go, at least in part, towards repairing the Finger Piers. The city anticipates it may need an additional $7-13 million for the entire project, and is in discussion with the EPA to secure that funding, Golden said. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.