Sat 3/26 @ 9AM-noon
The land alongside Cleveland’s Rapid corridor isn’t, shall we say, some of the area’s most picturesque. So, nearly 40 years ago, way back in 1977, Lennie Stover and Matt Koriath, members of the Rotary Club of Cleveland, had the idea to adopt a small parcel of land adjoining the West 25th Street Rapid station and began cleaning and landscaping it.
That modest effort has grown over the years. It is now Red Line Greenway, an ambitious project to create a three-mile recreational greenspace corridor along the near west side rapid line that would link downtown to the Zone recreation center at West 65th and Lorain.
The Rotary Club is still leading the project, and co-founder Lennie Stover is still actively involved as the project coordinator. But in recent years, they’ve gotten an increasing amount of support from partners such as the nonprofit LAND Studio, RTA, the Cleveland Metroparks, and teams of volunteers — individuals, as well as organizations and businesses — who show up to help out on Saturday mornings and some evenings during the warm weather.
Saturday 3/26 @ 9am-noon is the first official work day of 2016. On Sat 4/2 they’ll be digging holes and planting 2,000 hydrangeas — and they’ll definitely need help. If you’d like to volunteer, contact Stover at 440-537-6461 or via twitter.com/LennieStover.
We visited and toured the work site last season and took photos of what’s going on there. View the PHOTOSTREAM here.
One Response to “PHOTOSTREAM: Rotary Club’s Red Line Greenway Project Beautifies a Hidden Cleveland Byway”
Rotary Club of Cleveland
Good afternoon! Thank you so much for your coverage of the Rotary Club of Cleveland’s 40-year “labor of love” which is now known as the Red Line Greenway. We wanted to make you aware of an important correction needed in your story that we know you would want to clarify. Both Lennie Stover and Matt Koriath are the co-founders of the vision of a Red Line Greenway, but there were three Rotarians who actually started this rapid beautification project back in 1977 and are its “fathers” who it is important to recognize and honor. They are the late Past Honorary Presidents Roy G. “Dutch” Harley and Peter H. Presson and Past Honorary President Stanley H. Adams who is 94 years young and would be out there every day at the West 25th Street Rapid Station site if he could supporting this effort. Thank you for your assistance – the telephone number for the Rotary office is 216-556-8637 if you have any questions or need additional information. Thank you CoolCleveland!