News

We are happy to report that our Osborne Park Shoreline planning is well underway, and we recently held a community information meeting to provide an update on this project. Osborne Park is a top priority for the city in 2024.  

For review, in 2021, the city was awarded a $200,000 Emergency Erosion Assistance Grant (EEAG) from ODNR to design and engineer a reimagined Osborne Park lakefront, including erosion repairs and mitigation. This was a critical first step in making our lakefront accessible and enjoyable. The Smith Group, a design consultant with a national reputation for coastal engineering, was retained for this critical work. 

Our latest community information meeting was held on April 17, 2024. SmithGroup shared information on phase one coastal engineering during this meeting, including a comprehensive bathymetric study. This water-based survey maps the depths and shapes of the land-water interface and analyzes the wave patterns, heights, and currents that affect the planned coastal structures/beaches. These studies are essential to ensure our work will withstand wave action, high water events, and storms for many years. Phase one will address immediate concerns, including stabilizing eroded slopes and implementing erosion control measures. This phase also includes creating pathways to the waterfront ensuring public access while safeguarding essential storm sewer and water lines. Once approvals are received from all regulatory authorities and we have a final estimate of costs, we will bid the phase one work.

The designers also presented the current schematic design, the first phase of the architectural design, for phase two uplands. This phase will include walks, overlooks, and other site amenities such as sitting areas and swinging benches.

PRESENTATION SLIDES (from April 17, 2024 meeting)

PROJECT COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK FORM

PAST PROJECT NOTES AND UPDATES

In September 2021, the community gathered at Osborne Park to engage and share ideas about a re-imagined Osborne Park shoreline. The administration and City Council agreed this project should look beyond erosion control and develop a master plan for the Osborne Park shoreline. We expect the plan to be implemented in stages, but the end result would be a new lakefront that engages our residents and provides additional recreational amenities.

At this meeting, the community was presented with two design concepts for a visioning session focusing on what this space could be. This feedback was gathered and a hybrid design (“Master Plan”) was created.

On June 8, 2022, the community reconvened at the Willoughby Senior Center for a project update led by the design team from SmithGroup. The new park design concept* was presented. SmithGroup shared the process taken to formulate the current design concept, budget targets, the plan to seek out grant opportunities and more.

Advancing the master plan is outlined in three steps. Objectives and goals for each step can be reviewed here*. Take a virtual tour* of the design concepts for a re-imagined Osborne Park.

*While the virtual tour application (and previous presentations) has served their purpose during the initial design phase, the evolution of the project and the final design choice have made some of its features outdated. Nonetheless, it remains a valuable tool for providing an overall sense of the project and its initial conceptualization.