Case Western Reserve University today announced big plans to transform the landscape of Greater University Circle, and we’re thrilled to support their vision with a $1 million grant. The Nord Family Greenway is an innovative urban landscape project that will connect the western edge of Case’s main campus to The Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center on the university’s West Campus parcel with a 430,000 square-foot outdoor commons space.
The vision
Designed by Sasaki Associates, one of the nation’s top landscape architecture firms, the Greenway will vastly improve walkability between the university’s main campus and its properties west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Greenway will also serve as an outdoor civic space featuring an event lawn and amphitheater. Traversing a number of University Circle landmarks, including Wade Oval and Rockefeller Park, the Greenway will unite University Circle’s cultural and educational institutions and strengthen the connection between Case’s campus and the Hough neighborhood.
Our mission
Our $1 million grant continues our long-standing support for Case’s connector project. We sponsored the initial competition among leading architecture firms to design the space with a focus on community integration. Our support for the Greenway aligns with our broader mission to build bridges between the educational and cultural institutions of University Circle and the neighborhoods that surround them.
More than a decade ago, we helped launch the Greater University Circle Initiative in an effort to reduce physical and economic barriers separating University Circle from neighboring communities like Buckeye-Shaker, East Cleveland, Fairfax, Glenville, Little Italy and Hough. The Greenway will improve pedestrian access and physical connections between Case’s campus, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Rockefeller Park, and the Hough neighborhood.
“This project embodies the core mission of our broader Greater University Circle Initiative to better connect residents to the economic and cultural resources of University Circle,” said our President and CEO Ronn Richard. “By reimagining one of Cleveland’s most beloved assets, Rockefeller Park, in such a creative, thoughtful way, this project will redefine placemaking in this neighborhood and help build a stronger sense of community for generations to come.”
With construction of the Nord Family Greenway slated to begin this fall, we look forward to watching as the Greater University Circle landscape continues its remarkable transformation.
