Willoughby and Western Reserve Land Conservancy Conserve Critical 105-acre Property along Chagrin River
New public property nearly doubles protected green space along the river, links Daniels Park and Todd Field
The City of Willoughby, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and Western Reserve Land Conservancy have partnered to create a 105-acre permanently protected property along the Chagrin River that will become a public park, eventually connecting Daniels Park to the south and Todd Field to the north. Federal dollars from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act were used to acquire the property and finalize the transfer of ownership to the City of Willoughby.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Office of Coastal Management was awarded $1,705,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to support the City of Willoughby and Western Reserve Land Conservancy in the acquisition and conservation of the riparian habitat along the Chagrin River, approximately four miles upstream from the confluence with Lake Erie. Located within an urban area with mounting development pressure, the project is critical to the climate resiliency of the community, locally and downstream.
The project will double protected green space along the river, expand public access to more than two miles of prime steelhead fishing, and will eventually add an additional two and a half miles of walking/biking trails once the restoration phase is complete. The Property consists of 37 acres of upland forest, 18 acres of floodplain forest, and 36 acres of old field and a former tree nursery habitat. Additionally, the Property contains approximately 13 acres and 5,000 linear feet of the Chagrin River, a Wild and Scenic designated river, and is less than four miles from the river’s confluence with Lake Erie.
The next phases of the project will involve restoring the former tree nursery, increasing stormwater filtration from the surrounding roads and developments, creating and enhancing wetland habitat, and adding trails and bridges to connect the Property to Daniels Park and Todd Field.
The Property was formerly owned by Andrews Osborne Academy, a private co-ed day and boarding school for preschool-12th grade students located in the heart of Willoughby. The Property is adjacent to the Land Conservancy’s recently protected Waite Hill Preserve and is the second phase of a multi-million dollar large-scale plan with more than two dozen partners to create a corridor of protected greenspace along the Chagrin River to Lake Erie. The first phase, the Chagrin River and East Branch Corridor Restoration and Protection Project, is funded through the H2Ohio grant program and being led by Chagrin River Watershed Partners and involves protection of 80 riparian acres, stabilization of streambanks, removal of dam remnants, invasive plant species treatment, riparian wetland restoration, and realignment of the East Branch of the Chagrin River.
Together with the City and other partners, the Land Conservancy staff helped secure over $5.7 million for the acquisition, restoration, and improvements of the project through funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, federal appropriations, the State Capital Budget, an Ohio EPA Consent Degree, and Lake County.