The Wrap Up is Signal Cleveland's year-end series that updates stories we covered throughout 2023. In June, we told you that the Metroparks was moving the barge that formerly housed Hornblowers restaurant to Wildwood Park. Here's what's next.
The Cleveland Metroparks recently announced plans to transform the barge it purchased in June into a nature center and a space for STEM education and workforce development.
In September, the park system moved the barge, which dates to 1892, from its dock next to Burke Lakefront Airport to Wildwood Park on the city’s East Side, near Euclid Beach. But at the time, the Metroparks had not revealed makeover plans.
The park system announced in a recent release that it will use a $750,000 grant from KeyBank to convert the nearly 8,800-square-foot vessel into its sixth year-round nature center. (The grant will also support the continuation of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Youth Advisory Council.)
The new nature center will prioritize STEM-based educational programming and feature interactive exhibits, a wet lab, and classroom and community spaces, according to the Metroparks. A $250,000 contribution from Jones Day Foundation is also funding the project.
“This investment by KeyBank will bring to life an unprecedented opportunity to connect youth to Lake Erie and the natural world through nature-based education,” Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman said in a statement.
The taxpayer-supported Metroparks paid $1.3 million for the barge, which was once home to Hornblowers restaurant and to the software company LeanDog. The Metroparks spent thousands to move it along the lakeshore to its new home.
Also, the park board recently approved adding $100,000 to the original contract of $167,000 to moor the barge at Wildwood. This cost will only cover partial installation through the winter, according to a recent board agenda, which also said the park system will ask its board for more money later to complete installation.
The Metroparks has not set a date for the barge’s opening.