Gensler worked in collaboration with the City of Avon Lake and ALERG to reposition the site of a recently decommissioned coal-fired power plant. The redevelopment master plan creates a framework to attract new developments, and also reuses portions of the existing historic facilities. It is a model for communities around the world seeking to reposition obsolete power plant sites as we shift away from carbon-intensive energy.
The site is prominently located on the shores of Lake Erie in Avon Lake, a town of 25,000 residents, located about 20 miles west of downtown Cleveland. The closing of the power plant in 2022 had a double-edged impact on the community - while it significantly improved the environment by preventing approximately half a million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year, it also caused a loss of jobs and was a major loss of revenue for the city and its school systems.
The repositioning of the power plant is a monumental opportunity to create a mixed-use development that is a regional attraction while also restoring the lakefront ecosystem. The project features the selective adaptive reuse of the historic turbine hall, stacks, and other key original buildings into housing, creative office, public attractions, and as an exterior backdrop to new public spaces. The surrounding site will also be sustainably redeveloped for the betterment of the environment, connecting the City of Avon Lake back to the shorelines of Lake Erie and providing 17 acres of waterfront land for the beach, walking paths, and shoreline habitat restoration.
The restored and public waterfront creates a new public realm along the lakefront that will serve as a catalyst for new development and will create a regional destination for Greater Cleveland, as well as a new identity for Avon Lake.
View Original